The validity of influencer marketing as a loyalty driver is frequently questioned, as the rise of AI and paid promotions has placed credible reviews under increasing pressure.
Consumers are becoming more aware of sponsored recommendations, while AI-generated content risks making authentic opinions harder to identify at scale.
CX leaders should assess whether their marketing partnerships are driving only discovery or also building the transparent, meaningful relationships that encourage customers to return.
In conversation with CX Today, James Moir, CEO of easyfundraising, explained why brands need to look beyond paid endorsements for lasting customer loyalty.
“You can buy clicks, you can buy traffic, but trust has to be earned,” he said.
“As sponsored recommendations proliferate and AI accelerates the volume of marketing content online, attention is becoming easier to purchase while genuine credibility becomes harder to establish.”
The Credibility Squeeze
Influencer, creator and affiliate marketing have remained important tools for helping brands reach new audiences and drive product discovery after the rise of social media.
In fact, Northwestern University’s Medill Spiegel Research Center found that 91% of brands running creator marketing now have an always-on element, while 80% are increasing their creator budgets in 2026.
However, as creator marketing becomes more embedded in the marketing mix, customers are now becoming more aware of paid promotions, meaning brands may need to think more carefully about what these partnerships are delivering.
The research center also found that creators were most associated with brand sentiment and awareness, while brands rated conversion and loyalty as the areas where creator recommendations had the greatest influence.
This reveals a gap for brands using creators to generate visibility and relying on them to build lasting customer relationships.
“I’m not sure I would say it’s the end yet, but I certainly think that we’re experiencing an evolution of the role,” notes Moir.
That evolution is partly being driven by greater scrutiny of sponsored content from real customer reviewers.
As they become more familiar, audiences have more reason to consider whether a recommendation reflects a creator’s genuine opinion or a commercial agreement.
Moir acknowledged:
“Influencer and creative content have played a really important role for brands in terms of discoverability, in terms of reach.”
However, reach does not automatically translate into trust.
As commercial marketing becomes the content majority, individual recommendations can become harder to distinguish.
