Marketing used to be built on predictability. A brand would broadcast a message, drive awareness, move audiences through consideration, trigger conversion, and then hope retention followed. The funnel was neat, linear and traditional.
But today, the funnel is breaking. Not because marketing stopped working, but because people changed, attention fragmented and trust became the real currency.
In 2026, the brands that win are not the ones shouting louder, although paid media has (certainly) made this possible. They are the ones building relevance through real human connection, at scale. That is exactly why creators and influencers have become the new golden thread of marketing.
The biggest lie in social media marketing
There is a misconception that still shapes how many organisations allocate budgets and structure teams: that social media was created for brands.
I know this will break your heart, but it was not. Social media was built for people. Brands moved in after the fact, trying to earn space in places they were initially not designed for. But this does not stop the humanification of brands on social and the mimicking of influencers.
“Social media wasn’t made for business, it was made for people.” ~ Neal Schaffer
System update: Influence 2.6
We have entered what I call Influence 2.6, the latest influencer software update. A new era where creator marketing is no longer a channel or a campaign add-on. It is becoming the infrastructure of modern brand building.
What defines Influence 2.6:
- Advocacy has become standardised: Influencer marketing has matured. Expectations are clearer. Deliverables are more structured. Measurement is increasingly tied to business outcomes, not vanity metrics. Well, that’s if you have the right technology partners. #ShamelessPlug
- Creators are shaping all social content: Creators do not just post, they shape the creative language of platforms. Creators set the tone, create the trends, and decide what is platform worthy.
- Influencer marketing is no longer a line item: Budgets are growing but, more importantly, they are shifting. Brands are increasingly integrating creators across the full marketing mix, not isolating them inside social or PR.
From the broken funnel to the connection circle
The traditional funnel assumes audiences move forward in one direction. But modern customer journeys do not move linearly anymore. Attention is fragmented and trust is the new currency.
People discover, doomscroll, forget, rediscover, ask friends, watch reviews, scan comments, wait for payday, see a creator again, click a link, abandon a cart, come back later, buy in-store and, only then – maybe – post about it.
Almost like multiplying the ‘rule of 7’, the consumer journey now needs multiple touchpoints to lead to conversion. Although we suggest a full-funnel approach with advocacy, the funnel has changed dramatically.
This is why the future model is better represented as a connection circle. A continuous loop where content feeds community, community feeds trust, and trust drives action. Brands need to attract audiences, engage with them, and reward them.
In this circle, the goal is not just conversion – obviously. The goal is connection that compounds, tapping into:
- Content that sparks relevance
- Community that builds belonging
- Creators who translate brand value into human truth
- Peer-to-peer sharing that becomes a powerful distribution engine
But first, we need to understand community
One of the biggest strategic mistakes brands make is believing they can build a community the way they build a campaign. Another? Believing that a database is the same thing as a community.
“You don’t build communities, you join them.” ~ Jeremiah Owyang.
Great brands do not force communities into existence. They create the conditions for communities to form, merge, and evolve on their own terms, with the brand acting as a catalyst rather than a controller.
Creators are essential to this because creators do not enter communities like brands do – they generally created them. They already speak the language. They already have trust. As our global marketing officer, Pierre Cassuto, would say: ‘Influencers are hosting parties, and brands need to try and get invited to these parties.” The best outcome is if we manage to become the DJ, but remember that DJs don’t stay at a party for long.
The golden thread is not a campaign
We’re moving from a marketing world dominated by broadcast, to one dominated by peer-to-peer influence. Creators sit at the centre of that shift because they connect paid and organic, social and traditional channels, as well as in-feed engagement and real-world conversation. This is why influencer marketing is no longer something you add on; it is something you design around.
The golden thread is the constant presence of creators connecting awareness, engagement, and conversion. Influencers are not just at the top of the funnel. They are not just content creators. They are not just a PR tactic.
They are – increasingly – the connective tissue between what people notice, what people trust, what people talk about, what people buy, and what people recommend.
In a world where trust is the new currency, creators are often the most efficient trust-builders brands can possibly invest in. This is why it is imperative to have a partner who understands this and is able to measure the entire conversion circle.
Michael Cost is head of strategy and client development at Humanz.
