Why Brands Are Ditching One-Time Influencer Campaigns For Long-Term Partnerships
Consumers Need Repeated Exposure
What “Trust Compounding” Actually Looks Like
How To Structure A Recurring Partnership That Actually Performs Well
Brands are getting more creative with the way that they’re working with influencers on brand partnerships, including opting for long-term partnerships versus simple one-time posts. Traditionally, most brands adopted a spray-and-pray approach, where they’d hire as many creators as possible throughout the year in order to generate maximum exposure. However, this method often fails for many reasons, and even creators are opting out of this partnerships structure.
Statista and NeoReach surveyed 1,050 U.S. consumers and 539 creators to generate their 2026 Creator Impact Report, where they found that only 12% of consumers will purchase from a single exposure. Yet creators are hired for one post to generate sales everyday.
“Brands that ‘rent’ creators for one-offs get content and impressions, but brands that build with them earn trust, and trust is what impacts and converts,” says Johanna Rose, Talent Management and President at 33rd Avenue Influencer Management.
Considering how much noise there is in the online shopping space and how many consumers are skeptical of products that they’re influenced to buy from creators every time they scroll their For You Page, trust is a mandatory part of driving purchasing behavior.
Consumers Need Repeated Exposure
Roughly a third of consumers require 2-3 exposures before making a purchase, and 14% need 4-6, according to the NeoReach 2026 Creator Impact Report. This makes it clear that when brands hire creators for a single Instagram or TikTok post, there’s a structural problem. They only deliver one exposure, which statistically reaches the smallest segment of ready-to-buy consumers.
Smart........
