The Tension of Scale in the Creator Economy

In an Ever-Changing Industry, Relationships Will Always Reign Supreme

As the creator economy grows, scale comes into question. Brands are investing in influencers as a core part of their marketing strategy, which I love and have been waiting to see since I started my career almost a decade ago. The issue is that this industry was built on relationships between brands and creators, and the more scale comes into conversation, the more transactional these partnerships can feel. Shoppers can read the lack of authenticity, which ultimately breaks the cycle, and success, of the industry.

Scale is inevitable, but it has to be multi-faceted, and it can’t look the same for every brand. Influencer marketing should exist as a full ecosystem. You shouldn’t just be working on paid partnerships without incorporating affiliate, and you shouldn’t just be using creators’ content for UGC if you aren’t truly utilizing their reach on their owned channels.

This topic became top of mind after reading about Devotion, the new AI Creator Platform, promising brands they can move from working with 20 to 30 creators a month to 500 to 1,000. That sounds incredible on paper and is likely appealing to leadership who’s comparing themselves to the next ‘viral’ brand. But if you go from building deep relationships with 20 people one month to working with 500 creators the next, those core 20 are going to feel that change in attention and investment.

To be fair, AI can be great for discovering new creators, but scaling the management of that many relationships is a different story. With the founders of Devotion coming from consumer brands, I imagine they are thinking through these nuances. I’m curious to see how it plays out in practice and whether there are different approaches depending on the brand, product, and budget. It takes time to reach out, introduce your brand, negotiate payment or gifting, and stay in touch with each creator.

The brands that win are those investing in real relationships, taking the time to get coffee with creators, staying close to their analytics, and identifying the talent that naturally drives revenue. They understand that not every influencer plays the same role. Some are powerful brand builders who create affinity and long-term advocacy, while others are highly effective at driving immediate sales because their audience is primed to shop. Rather than prioritizing one over the other, they recognize the value of both and build strategies that make each type of partnership work together.

Even a tool that’s designed to help track content and analytics of 500+ creators, the backend work is still manual, meaning brands still have to take the time to build those relationships. If you are only relying on a platform for mass communication, you’re neglecting the humans on both sides of the screen. When going into business with someone and hiring them to promote your brand, they deserve to feel heard and have the ability to ask questions, try out the product, and understand the best ways to speak about it.

Not to mention the cost of working this way. Influencer marketing is booming and rates are higher than ever. What used to get you hundreds of pieces of UGC for little to no cost now involves creators with even 10K followers having management and set fees. When you build real relationships, it is easier to find terms that work for both sides. Influencer marketing needs to scale, but it cannot lose the relationship piece it was built on. Without that connection, brands miss the opportunity to build trust, making creators and their managers less likely to negotiate or engage in longer-term partnerships.

So when we talk about scale, it worries me. Successful influencer work will always prioritize quality over quantity because transactional partnerships will never beat authentic connection and endorsements. The consumer is smart, and we shouldn’t pretend that they aren’t. You have to remember that you are working with real people, so scaling can’t look one-dimensional.

I would rather have conversations about tiering and building a thoughtful influencer ecosystem, with someone on your team working across affiliate, paid, and events to scale in a way that actually makes sense for your brand. Because the reality is, scale requires infrastructure. Yes, you can work with 500 creators, but only if you have a dedicated team, not just one or two people, who can manage those relationships with intention. Otherwise, you end up relying on one person and a tool, which turns into mass emails instead of real relationship building.

There are brands that appear to do scale well, like Rhode, but the reason it works is not just volume. It is because they have built a brand that creators genuinely want to be a part of. That kind of scale is earned, not something you can replicate overnight by simply increasing output.

Tools and platforms can help organize your ecosystem, but they should support your relationships, not replace them. If brands are going to scale the number of creators they work with, the investment cannot just be in AI tools. It has to be in people, whether that is building out a team, working with freelancers, or bringing in consultants, so relationships don’t get lost in the process.

That is why scale done haphazardly is so concerning. The most successful influencer strategies will always come back to fit, relationships, taste, and a clear understanding of your brand and audience. More creators does not mean more impact without the people in place to support it.