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In this interview, we cover everything from the top trends in influencer marketing to how any brand - from early-stage B2C to late-stage B2B - can get the most out of this growing channel. 

1. To start, can you share your background and career journey? What led you to specialize in influencer marketing?

I've been in the influencer marketing world since almost the very beginning—about 15 years now. My career started at Google, where I led fashion and lifestyle influencer partnerships for Google+. Back then, Google was trying to build a social platform, and my job was to bring creators onto it, help them make content, and grow the community. One of my biggest projects there was creating and patenting Shoppable Hangouts, which was an early version of live shopping—kind of like what you see now on Instagram and TikTok.

From there, I moved over to Google’s hardware team, leading celebrity and influencer partnerships. I built their first-ever micro-influencer program and worked with artists like Jeff Koons and John Legend. After six years, I left for Lyft, where I built out their entire influencer strategy and led strategic partnerships at cultural moments like Sundance, the Emmy Awards, and Coachella. Then I joined Hims & Hers to create their influencer and celebrity ambassador programs, launching major campaigns like our mental health partnership with actress Kristen Bell.

While I was at Lyft, I started consulting on the side. Eventually, I decided to go all in and launch my consultancy. Now, I work with brands at all stages—from startups to Fortune 500 companies—helping them to build and execute influencer strategies and partnerships. I also teach influencer marketing and celebrity partnerships at Parsons, which has been a cool way to share what I’ve learned.

2. How do you define influencer marketing today, and how has that definition evolved? Who benefits most from it?

Influencer marketing used to be all about brand awareness - just getting your name out there by partnering with people who had an audience. But today, it’s much more performance-driven. Now, the big question is: Can this influencer get people to take action? Whether it’s buying a product, downloading an app, or signing up for something, brands expect real results.

I also like to distinguish between influencers and creators. Influencers have built trust with their audience, and that trust drives purchasing decisions. Creators, on the other hand, are focused on making beautiful, engaging content that shapes culture, but they’re not necessarily driving sales. The most effective influencer strategies mix both; creators help build the brand’s cultural relevance while influencers move products.

Who benefits most? Honestly, any brand that understands how to integrate influencer marketing into its broader strategy. Whether you’re a startup or an established company, the key is knowing how to work with influencers to drive the right results.

3. What are the biggest influencer marketing trends in 2025? How do these trends compare to shifts you've seen in recent years?

There are a few major trends shaping influencer marketing right now:

• Micro-influencers are still key. Platforms like Instagram have changed their algorithms to favor smaller influencers (10K–200K followers), who often have higher engagement and stronger audience trust.
• AI is shaking things up. I’m seeing AI tools that help brands find influencers faster, automate parts of the campaign process, and even assist creators with business tasks like invoicing. We’re also seeing AI-generated influencers, like Lil Miquela and Lu Do Magalu, being used in campaigns. There is also the controversial side of AI with deepfakes being used to create content.
• UGC (User-Generated Content) creators are on the rise. These aren’t traditional influencers. They’re just people who know how to create content that looks like influencer content. Brands are paying them a fraction of what they’d pay an influencer, and in return, they get content they fully own.
• Gifting strategies are making a comeback. Some brands are seeing big returns just by sending free products to influencers rather than paying for placements. One of my clients saw 12% of their sales coming from influencers, and they only did gifting instead of paid partnerships.
• Influencers are becoming mainstream celebrities. A great example is Poppi’s 2025 Super Bowl ad. Instead of using Hollywood actors, they put influencers like Alex Earle and Jake Shane in a national TV spot. We’re going to see more of this — brands using influencers in their biggest campaigns, just like they would with A-list talent.

4. For companies at different stages – startups, mid-sized businesses, and enterprises – how should they approach influencer marketing differently?

For startups, the biggest challenge is knowing when to start. Many early-stage brands want to jump into influencer marketing, but if the product isn’t ready, it’s better to wait. You only get one shot with influencers. If they don’t love the product, they’re not going to post about it.

Once a startup is ready, I usually recommend setting aside at least $50K to test with around 15-20 influencers. That gives you enough data to figure out what’s working. If you go too small – just one or two influencers – you won’t have a real sense of what’s driving success. And you can’t just rely on organic posts. The best-performing brands are taking influencer content and putting paid spend behind it to run it as ads on Instagram and TikTok.

For bigger brands, the challenge is often internal hesitation. A lot of companies know they need to be in the space but are scared to fully commit. My advice? You can’t just dip a toe into it. You need to build out a real strategy, test, optimize, and iterate over time. The brands I’ve worked with that see the most success are the ones that commit to influencer marketing as an ongoing channel, not just a one-off campaign.

5. What are some of the most common mistakes companies make when running influencer campaigns, and how can they avoid them?

One big mistake I see is brands insisting on owning influencer content forever (in perpetuity). It sounds good in theory, but it’s not realistic. Social content moves so fast. After three or six months, most content is outdated. If brands want to fully own content, I tell them to work with UGC creators instead of influencers. It’s cheaper and gives them the rights they’re looking for.

Another mistake is micromanaging influencers. Influencers know what works for their audience, and when brands try to control every little detail, the content comes off as inauthentic. Instead of feeling like a real recommendation, it just feels like an ad. The best influencer campaigns happen when brands give influencers creative freedom within a solid brief.

The last big one is underestimating how long things take internally. Too many brands get stuck in endless rounds of approvals because there are too many decision-makers involved. I always encourage my clients to figure out who needs to be in the room so the process doesn’t slow to a crawl.

6. Many people associate influencer marketing with lifestyle and consumer brands. How can B2B companies effectively leverage influencers to drive results?

B2B influencer marketing absolutely works. You just have to approach it differently. The biggest opportunity right now is on LinkedIn. We’re seeing more professionals build personal brands there, sharing industry insights and positioning themselves as thought leaders. These are the influencers B2B companies should be partnering with.

I ran a campaign for Mural, a B2B company, and we tested influencers on both Instagram and LinkedIn. What we found was that LinkedIn outperformed Instagram. The audience there is just more primed for business-related content.

Another growing trend in B2B is turning company executives into influencers. More brands are investing in building their C-suite’s presence on LinkedIn, positioning their CEO or CMO as an industry thought leader. This builds credibility and creates direct engagement with potential customers.

7. How can companies effectively think about measurement and attribution in influencer marketing?

Tracking influencer marketing success isn’t just about vanity metrics like likes and comments. Instead, you need real performance data. The best way to do this is through UTM links that track clicks and conversions. If a brand can offer a discount code, that’s even better because not everyone clicks a link right away - some people come back later and buy. Once you know that conversion data, you can evaluate things like ROAS and CAC. 

For products, Instagram Stories tend to be the best-performing format for driving conversions. It’s the easiest way for someone to see a recommendation and immediately click a link to buy. Even if an influencer doesn’t have crazy engagement on their regular posts, they can still have super high conversion rates in Stories.

Some brands take it a step further and integrate influencer tracking into their checkout flow. Two of my clients have this set up. They ask customers, “Where did you hear about us?” and let them select influencer marketing or even type in the specific influencer’s name. It’s a great way to get additional insights into how well the campaigns are performing.

9. Can you elaborate on how AI is changing the landscape today?

AI is changing everything in influencer marketing. We’re seeing AI used in influencer discovery, helping brands find the right creators faster. It’s also being integrated into contract management, campaign tracking, and even content creation – some tools are helping influencers streamline their business operations, like invoicing and negotiations.

Then, there’s the rise of AI-generated influencers. This isn’t new, but it’s becoming more common. One of the first major AI influencers was Lil Miquela, and now we’re seeing more brands experiment with digital personalities. There’s even an OnlyFans-style influencer who created an AI chatbot that interacts with her followers—it’s wild how fast this space is moving.

AI is also making it easier for brands to scale content production. More companies are using AI-generated content alongside influencer marketing, testing different versions of ads, captions, and creative formats before rolling them out at scale.

10. Can you walk us through a typical engagement with a client? What does your process look like from strategy to execution?

Every engagement is different, but generally, I come in and work directly with the head of brand, growth, or a founder - whoever owns influencer marketing for the company.

First, I build out the strategy: What are we trying to achieve? Are we focused on sales, brand awareness, or building an ambassador program? What types of influencers make sense for the brand? 

Then, I create the brief, which acts as a blueprint for the influencers, outlining the key messaging and deliverables.

Next, I handle influencer sourcing. I build out a robust list, looking at everything from follower count to engagement rates to video view rates (which is a great indicator of virality). Once the brand signs off, I handle outreach, negotiations, and contracts. Then, I manage all the content approvals and deliverables to make sure everything runs smoothly.

After the campaign launches, I focus on measurement and optimization. I use tools like Traackr to track performance, and I put together reports to analyze what’s working. From there, we decide if we want to scale up, pivot, or test new influencer segments.

For some clients, I also build long-term ambassador programs so that influencer marketing becomes an ongoing, rolling strategy instead of just one-off campaigns.

11. What sets your approach apart in this space? Are there any unique frameworks, tools, or strategies you bring to your clients?

I approach this from a brand marketer’s perspective, not an agency or PR background. Many people in this space come from PR or talent management, but I’ve spent my career building influencer strategies from inside major brands like Google, Lyft, and Hims & Hers. Sitting within a brand team has allowed me to have an integrated mindset when building strategies.

I also position myself as a fractional head of influencer marketing who practices what I have begun calling outfluencing. I am discovering and activating influencers from outside corporate walls, which allows me to stay closer to culture and trends, but I bring this knowledge into the strategies I build. This also means I’m not just consulting from the outside, I’m embedded in the team. I’m in their Slack, I have a company email, and I work directly with their internal teams. That’s different from an agency, where you’re often getting more of a surface-level service.

Agencies can be great for scaling, but a lot of times, they don’t have the hands-on experience to know what works. Because I’ve built these programs myself, I know how to quickly spot influencers that are a great fit and, just as importantly, which ones aren’t.

12. Looking ahead, what excites you most about the future of influencer marketing? Are there any emerging technologies, platforms, or shifts in consumer behavior that you’re keeping a close eye on?

One of the biggest things I’m excited about is the rise of influencers replacing traditional celebrities. As I mentioned, we just saw this with Poppi’s Super Bowl campaign. That’s a huge shift, and it shows that influencers aren’t just social media personalities anymore. They’re becoming mainstream household names.

I think we’re going to see more influencers in TV shows, movies, and major ad campaigns. It’s something I’ve been watching happen for years. Back when I was at Google, I helped put social influencers on billboards, which was unheard of at the time. Now, it’s becoming the norm.

Overall, influencer marketing is only getting more integrated into every part of brand strategy. It’s no longer just about one-off sponsorships—it’s about building real communities, driving long-term loyalty, and merging digital culture with mainstream media. That’s what makes it such an exciting space to be in.

About the Author

Bette Ann Fialkov (BA) is an expert in influencer marketing, celebrity partnerships, and strategic brand partnerships. With 15+ years of experience, she builds high-impact influencer, celebrity, and experiential campaigns that drive real business results. She’s worked across industries — in-house at Google, Lyft, and Hims & Hers, and in her consultancy across Fortune 500 brands as well as startups — delivering influencer strategies that fuel awareness, engagement, and conversion. She practices a term she created called outfluencing, working from the outside in, giving brands access to emerging voices shaping culture while acting as a seamless extension of internal teams. Her deep relationships across fashion, music, art, and entertainment — along with her ability to move fast — enable her to turn cultural moments into marketing opportunities.From brand launches to product drops, she executes with speed and precision, ensuring influencer programs hit at the right time and in the right way. 

About RevelOne
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