Influencer marketing isn’t in a decline, it’s being redefined. Propaganda’s Social Media Director, Natalie Sharples, shares her perspective on what’s driving that shift and what brands need to do next.
Influencer marketing has been declared “over” more times than most channels in modern marketing. But the reality is far less dramatic. What’s actually fading is the unmeasured, hype-driven version of it.
For too long budgets have been allocated based on optics: follower counts and surface-level engagement metrics dressed up as performance. Creator partnerships have also been treated as one-off media buys rather than as part of a broader, accountable growth strategy.
The consequences of this approach are becoming increasingly clear:
Reporting that feels ambiguous instead of decisive.
Budget scrutiny instead of budget expansion.
Stakeholder conversations focused on cost, not contribution.
At the same time, the landscape has changed; audiences are more commercially literate. Saturation is no longer a future risk; it is the current reality, and trust is no longer automatic. This is precisely why structure matters more than ever.
When influence is rented for a moment rather than built through alignment, confidence begins to erode, both internally and externally. When creator activity operates in isolation from wider media strategy, it becomes difficult to measure, harder to optimise, and nearly impossible to defend.
This doesn’t mean scale is irrelevant, or that every influencer partnership needs to be long-term. Large creators still drive cultural moments and campaign bursts still have value. But without integration and accountability, even the strongest creative ideas struggle to deliver sustained value.
The question isn’t “Does influencer marketing work?”
It’s, “Have we built the framework to understand how and why it works – and how to scale it responsibly?”
What is beginning to emerge is a more mature model, one where creators are not treated as isolated channels but are embedded within the broader performance ecosystem. Their impact is measured through clearer attribution, amplified through paid media, tested systematically, and most importantly aligned with overall growth strategy.
Structure, in this context is not about stripping away authenticity, it’s about protecting it and giving it the conditions to scale.
This is not the decline of influencer marketing. It is a shift in how influence itself is understood, as no longer something brands simply buy, but something they build.