Image credit: Advertising Week Europe
Influencer marketing is facing a credibility reckoning, according to a new report by Typeform. To harness the power of creators in 2025, brands must be more strategic than ever and put authenticity at the heart of their content.
The survey, which gathered insights from over 1,300 influencers, marketers and consumers, reveals a growing trust gap in the creator economy.
But while trust is under scrutiny, influence is far from dead. A separate study by IZEA found that 79% of people have purchased a product after seeing an influencer use it.
For brands, the opportunity is there for the taking, but with more discerning audiences, success depends on the strategy behind the content.
Here’s how to make influencer content resonate in 2025.
The trust gap in influencer marketing
Today’s consumers are more attuned to digital smoke and mirrors, and more sceptical when it comes to trusting influencer content.
Unlike most professional environments, where credentials and polish pave paths to success, the creator economy operates by a different rulebook.
The survey found that people don’t follow influencers for their résumés or camera skills. Being “real”, “authentic”, “genuine” and “honest” wins audiences over.
One participant summed it up as: “fake makes me scroll away.”
In influencer marketing, it’s about emotional connection, which raises the big question: how do you make influencer content feel real without losing control of the message?
For brands and agencies, it starts with picking the right people. Choosing relatable creators and collaborating with them to deliver entertaining, human content is key to building trust.
The report found that content that feels overproduced, overly scripted and packed with too many sponsored posts makes users scroll.
40% of consumers say the number one reason they trust an influencer is because they’re relatable.
“I follow if they seem like a real person, not a walking ad. Someone who shares not just highlights, but thoughts, struggles and growth.” said another survey participant.
While engagement rates matter, brands need to zoom out and look at the full picture of the influencer and their content. What story is being told, and does it feel real enough to stick?
The AI dilemma
Influencers are embracing AI, with 81% now using it to create content. From generating ideas to scripting and editing, it’s a powerful tool that allows creators to scale their output and stay relevant in an always-on landscape.
But while AI makes content production more efficient, it also introduces a new trust dilemma.
- 35% of consumers say they actively distrust AI-generated influencer content
- 61% want to be told when AI is involved
As AI adoption rises, so too does the value of content that feels unmistakably human. Audiences are tuning in to creators who sound familiar.
AI itself isn’t the issue. As with any tool, it’s all in how it’s used.
The best influencer content doesn’t look like it was made by a machine. Each creator’s authentic voice and style should come across – after all, that’s the unique selling point of influencer marketing that builds brand trust.
The rise of the candid influencer
Creators like Madeline Argy have gained traction through unfiltered opinions over perfect aesthetics. Her followers know the most intimate details of her life, like a best friend (except you’ve never met).
Admittedly, like most things online, this is often a curated version of ‘candidness’. Your average ‘candid’ influencer is still planning their content, but their execution feels more relaxed and relatable.
@madelineargy i promise im never gonna do it again
♬ original sound - madz
And when ‘candid influencers’ do brand partnerships, the best content still leans into their cult of personality and laissez-faire style.
Take the example of Madeline Argy’s recent brand trip to Florence. Filmed between a shaky handheld camcorder and an iPhone, we followed her around as she tried on clothes, posed for pictures, went for dinner and had her makeup done.
The style felt more like clips from an early 2000s family holiday, mixed with her usual face-right-up-to-the-camera close-ups, than the kind of aspirational content we expect to see from influencers’ luxury brand collaborations.
It’s effortless on the surface, but crafted to entertain.
@madelineargy florence with @Gucci ♬ original sound - madz
So while the data shows a breakdown in trust, it also reveals a path forward: people still want to follow creators, but they prefer the ones who come across as real, three-dimensional people.
How does this work for influencer marketing in practice?
Reflecting on Brandnation’s influencer marketing work for online off-price retailer MandM, Junior Account Manager Louise Dentten emphasises the importance of brand-creator alignment, relationship building and starting the process well before the paid campaign goes live.
“It’s about choosing influencers who are already aligned with the brand’s values,” Louise explains. “You’re not asking them to change their content. You’re asking them to bring the brand into what they’re already doing.”
With MandM’s core proposition of ‘big brands, low prices’, Brandnation’s influencer team created the MandM Makers ambassador programme – a group of influencers whose content already echoed themes of value and affordability.
Brandnation worked closely with the MandM product team to align on hero products and key seasonal moments, ensuring talent were briefed to integrate the ‘three Es’ of marketing – engage, entertain and educate.
Through product seeding, influencers had time to genuinely connect with the brand, allowing it to show up naturally in their content. This approach helped build trust and familiarity with creators and their audiences.
Money Mum styled three pieces in three different ways, resonating with cost-conscious mums looking for affordable, versatile staples. Sam Hulme engaged his male-leaning audience with cost-effective styling content built around challenges like ‘How to build a wardrobe on a budget’ and a £100 outfit haul.
Fitness influencer Talila Henchoz brought her spin to the brief, leaning into humour with an ‘expectation vs reality’ take on dating a gym girl, head-to-toe in MandM gear. This post alone gained over 500k views and 11k likes.
Each influencer put MandM’s offering front and centre, but through content that was unmistakably them and genuinely entertaining for their audiences.
“We encourage proactivity from our influencers, but we also invest in strong, long-term relationships,” says Louise.
“When creators have a good relationship with us and genuinely like the brand we’re representing, that shows in the content. Often, they’ll post organically outside the brief, just because they want to.”
“Some of our influencers have now been working with us on MandM for nearly a year,” Louise adds. “You don’t stay in a partnership that long unless it’s real. And that’s exactly what audiences respond to – they know when something’s genuine.”
Want to build influencer campaigns that audiences actually believe in?
Get in touch with Brandnation’s influencer marketing team here. We’d love to talk.
About the author
Natalie Clement | Digital
Marketing Executive
With international experience as a digital marketer, writer, and editor, Natalie has worked across sectors including lifestyle, technology, and tourism.
