Are Short-Term Metrics Ruining Influencer

Influencer marketing has become a central strategy for brands seeking to connect with audiences, but its effectiveness is increasingly under scrutiny. Recent debates on whether these partnerships deliver real ROI highlight the persistent challenges. A Journal of Marketing study finds that while sponsored content is a powerful tool, the dynamics of influencer–brand relationships are often fraught with ambiguities that can harm both creators and brands.

Our research team explores the nuances of these partnerships and uncovers critical insights for improving their effectiveness. We find that the way brands manage these collaborations—often through excessive control and reliance on short-term metrics—creates imbalances that undermine trust, content quality, and overall outcomes.

The Dynamics of Sponsored Content

Sponsored content operates in a unique space where brands, influencers, and audiences converge. While influencers offer authenticity and audience trust, brands often prioritize reach and sales metrics. This mismatch of goals can lead to friction.

Our study reveals that brands frequently attempt to script influencer content or impose stringent controls on messaging. While this approach aims to ensure alignment with brand objectives, it often devalues the creative expertise that makes influencers effective. This not only damages the influencers’ relationships with their audience but also reduces the perceived authenticity of the partnership.

Power Imbalances in Partnerships

We find that these collaborations often favor brands, leaving influencers with little agency. For example:

Influencers are pressured to prioritize metrics like reach or sales, which can shift their focus away from creating engaging, authentic content.
In response, some influencers resort to acquiring fake followers or engagement to meet brand expectations, which in turn triggers surveillance and distrust from brands.

This cycle of control and distrust weakens partnerships, ultimately harming both parties’ reputations and outcomes.

The Risks of Short-Term Thinking

Short-term metrics, such as immediate sales or engagement rates, dominate many influencer–brand partnerships. While these metrics are easy to measure, they often miss the broader value that influencers bring—such as long-term brand loyalty, deeper audience engagement, and organic reach.

Brands that focus solely on short-term results risk undermining the authenticity of their campaigns and alienating audiences.

Recommendations for Brands and Influencers

For Brands:

Respect Creative Independence: Recognize that influencers have their own unique voices and audiences. Avoid over-scripting or pressuring influencers to change their tone, which can jeopardize their authenticity and effectiveness.
Focus on Long-Term Metrics: Shift away from a narrow focus on reach and sales. Instead, prioritize metrics that reflect long-term impact, such as audience loyalty or sentiment.
Build Trust: Reduce hierarchical dynamics in partnerships. Collaborate with influencers as equal partners, acknowledging their expertise and audience insights.

For Influencers:

Professionalize Business Practices: Invest in skills or outsource management tasks to handle the business side of partnerships more effectively, freeing up time for creative work.
Collaborate with Peers: Engage in collective action to address power imbalances and advocate for fairer terms in partnerships.

The insights from this study extend beyond influencer marketing. We argue that similar challenges arise in other emerging markets involving complex, “epistemic” objects—products or services that are not fully understood by their creators or consumers. Examples include NFTs, the Metaverse, and generative AI. In these contexts, valuation and production often involve ambiguities that lead to imbalanced relationships among stakeholders.

Brands and creators working in these spaces can benefit from more calibrated valuation models and efforts to flatten hierarchies, fostering trust and mutual understanding. Influencer–brand partnerships are here to stay, but their potential remains underutilized. Brands and influencers must move beyond short-term metrics and hierarchical relationships to unlock the true value of these collaborations. By fostering trust, respecting creative independence, and focusing on long-term impact, both parties can create campaigns that resonate deeply with audiences while achieving meaningful results.