I’ve realized that my approach to influencer marketing was all wrong. For years I’ve been treating creators like vendors—post this content, get paid, move on to the next one. But I keep seeing the best campaigns come from creators who’ve worked with the same brand multiple times. The content is better, the audience response is stronger, and the creators actually care about the results.
Working in LATAM has taught me this lesson even more sharply. In this region, relationships matter. Trust is earned slowly, and once it’s there, collaborations are much more authentic. I’ve watched creators turn down higher-paying one-off deals because they preferred working with brands they had relationships with.
The shift I made:
From transactional to relational: Instead of briefing a creator for a single post, I now have conversations about their audience, their content style, and what brands they genuinely enjoy working with. This takes time, but it filters out the creators who are just chasing money.
Regular check-ins: After the first campaign, I don’t disappear. I share results, ask for feedback, discuss what worked and what didn’t. Some creators have told me this alone makes them want to work with me again—no other brand does this.
Retainer models: I’ve started offering a few top creators a small monthly retainer ($500-1500) to stay involved with the brand, share feedback on products, and be ready to create content when opportunities arise. It’s cheaper than one-off campaigns and the content quality is noticeably better.
Real feedback loops: I actually listen to creators when they say something won’t work for their audience. A creator rejected one of my campaign ideas recently because they said it didn’t align with their community’s values. Instead of pushing back, I trusted them, and we pivoted. The revised campaign performed 2x better.
Long-term UGC collaboration: Some creators now create UGC assets for us on an ongoing basis, giving us a library of authentic content we can repurpose across channels. They get paid per asset, and we get consistent, authentic content.
The timeline feels slower at first—building relationships takes 3-4 months minimum before you see real ROI—but once it clicks, it’s so much more efficient and effective than constantly hunting for new creators.
I’m curious: are others building retainer partnerships with creators in LATAM? What’s your threshold for moving a creator from “one-off” to “partner”? And how do you structure those conversations without it feeling transactional?