Where people, culture, and food collide.
US brands spent more than $10.5 billion on influencer marketing in 2025 and is on track for $13.7 billion by 2027.
Foodie creators aren’t a media buy anymore. They run full businesses, with UGC deals, affiliate links, flat fees and repurposed content.
We work with creators every day. Recently we sat down with 20 hand-selected Midwest creators at Creator Con, and came back with fresh insights on where brands go wrong.
Stop scripting
You picked a creator because of how they talk to their audience. Over-scripting turns that into an ad nobody trusts.
Creators told us directly: if the brand scripts it, the brand isn’t doing it right (unless it's UGC, that's a different story, of course).
Instead, be upfront about the objective. If you want maximum awareness, tell your creators. If this is a conversion play, clue creators in on this too. They appreciate the transparency and can tailor their content accordingly.
The brand move: Be clear on the objective. Stay flexible on the execution. Brief the guardrails and give insight into the broader objective, and let the creator handle the creative.
Who’s doing it right: PorkRinds.com. For a new flavor launch ahead of the World Cup, we handed King Kennedy Hart one brief: make the skit your audience loves, with the product in it. The result fit right in with his usual content and landed just in time for the tournament.
One post is a coin flip
Creators want monthly, quarterly or yearly deals, not one-offs. Repetition builds trust with their audience and gives them room to refine what works.
Most brands still flip the coin once and walk away. 63% of brand-influencer relationships end after a single collaboration. On TikTok, it’s 71.8%.
The brand move: Build the program in quarters, not posts. Need to stretch budget? A post from 6 to 12 months ago can be reposted for less and still deliver.
Who nailed it: Dunkin’. Charli D’Amelio was already posting about her cold brew order. In 2020, Dunkin’ made it a menu item called The Charli. Hundreds of thousands sold in five days. Cold brew sales rose 20% on launch day and 45% the next. App downloads jumped 57%. Merch and follow-up campaigns came next, not a goodbye.
Lead with the why
Creators lit up over brands with a mission: a bottle-return program, a family-run legacy, a give-back component. Purpose gets the yes.
Their audiences care too. 55% of consumers ages 18 to 34 have stopped buying from a brand because its values clashed with their own. And just 17% of consumers say follower count matters when they follow a creator. They follow for what the creator covers.
So skip the follower count. Scroll back past the brand deals instead. What a creator posts when nobody’s paying them shows what they actually value. Vetting that well across a full roster is where most programs slip.
The brand move: Lead the brief with why your brand exists. Real people telling your real story beats any ad you can buy.
The through-line
Creators are storytellers. The brands that win treat them like partners with a point of view, and stay long enough for the audience to notice.
Real people. Real stories. That’s what builds trust.
