In a culture powered by communities and creators, most brands are still stuck in broadcast mode. They drop into timelines with one-off partnerships or shout into the void with a campaign they hope will trend. Audiences can spot the difference between being included and being considered, so if brands want to stay relevant, they need to rethink how they work with creators and the people behind the scenes who make the internet feel alive.

At Hello and We Are Social, we talk about two types of creator: Influencers and Makers. Influencers are those with an audience, big or small, built through content that consistently earns attention. Influencers can also be makers, but it’s often the case that makers - who are equally creative - haven’t built a platform of their own. Both bring unique value. Influencers can help brands enter conversations they weren’t previously a part of. Makers can help brands' own channels feel native, human and current.

Both matter more than ever. 49% of all consumers say their purchasing decisions are being influenced by creators. Meanwhile, content that feels user-generated, like that often made by Makers, gets 4x higher click-through rates than polished, brand-first creative.

From media to mediator

The influencer economy isn’t just a media buy. It’s an ecosystem built on trust, tone, and cultural fluency. Too many brands treat creators as the final step, but the smartest bring them in early in the creative process, shaping briefs, building ideas, and sense-checking cultural cues before anything goes live.

Brands that involve creators at the ideation stage see higher engagement rates compared to those that use them just for distribution. Influencers are keen on this too, with 65% preferring to be involved from the start, not just handed a brief, because it leads to more authentic, culturally relevant content.

Whether it’s TikTok’s ‘Tube Girl’ moment or our work at Hello interviewing the ‘Charva Boys’ mid-viral climb, the most successful work doesn’t come from scripting culture, it comes from participating in it. For us, that meant over a million organic views in 48 hours and the kind of community interaction that even paid media can’t fake.

Mind the gap

There’s often a gap between what a brand wants to be considered a community and what a respected voice in that community knows it needs to be. If brands want to show up meaningfully across different subcultures, they need to move beyond reach and focus on fit, tone of voice, aesthetic and values.

This is why Influencers bring the highest value when they become collaborators, not just content machines. They help shape campaigns, not just amplify them.

This isn’t just true of the bigger influencers. In fact, nano influencers (under 5k followers) consistently get the highest engagement rates.

Influencers help you show up in culture. Makers help you show up with culture.

Makers are the fast-moving, format-fluent creatives who make brand channels feel alive. They know when to post a carousel, what audio is trending this week, and what editing style feels “scroll-stopping” versus “corporate”, and because they’re not making for their own audience, they’re freer to take creative risks and push the work further.

This content - which is often reminiscent of UGC – is exactly what today’s audiences are drawn to. 60% of consumers say user-generated content is the most authentic form of brand communication, so when brands lean into that style on their own channels, conversion rates increase remarkably.

At Hello, we’re leaning into this by building and collaborating with a global group of creatives - our Maker Network - to unlock that energy at scale. The focus is on delivering trend-aligned, brand-safe content that makes feeds feel like someone’s actually home. It’s not just about keeping the calendar full, it’s about making sure content stays culturally fluent.

Better together

This isn’t about choosing between big-brand thinking and creator craft. It’s about letting both do what they do best. Brands bring the ambition, the access and the products. Creators bring the tone, the immediacy and the reality check. When both lead in the right areas, the message doesn’t get diluted, it lands stronger.

Influencers help brands flex into different communities without losing their identity. Makers bring speed, fluency, and freshness to every touchpoint. The magic isn’t in choosing one or the other. It’s in knowing how and when to use both.

Remember, audiences don’t care about your strategy deck, they care about whether what you’re posting feels relevant, respectful and real. They can smell a box-ticking collab or a copy-heavy caption a mile off, so if you want to bridge the online gap, stop standing behind creators and start standing alongside them