How to Write an Influencer Brief
I spoke with Marissa Hoffman, Creator Marketing Manager at Hinge, about her "open brief" philosophy.
Today’s newsletter is a conversation with Marissa Hoffman, Creator Marketing Manager at Hinge. It’s an important role at the brand—they haven’t posted on their own social channels since 2020, instead partnering with creators to help tell their story. You’ve likely seen her work through campaigns like this video with Meet Cutes NYC, this comic with Anna-Laura Sullivan, and this profile review with Carly Rivlin.
We walk through her step-by-step process for engaging creators—from talent sourcing all the way to analytics reporting. She also discusses her “open brief” philosophy and talks through a template you can replicate for your own brand. It’s clear the brand has invested deeply in creator marketing and I loved hearing all about Hoffman’s strategy.
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Rachel Karten: First, can you tell me a bit about your role?
Marissa Hoffman: I’ve been at Hinge just shy of two years now, managing all of our creator marketing for North America. I was a 2021 pandemic graduate and have been in the creator industry for all of the four-ish years of my career so far. Previous to Hinge I was doing creator and growth marketing for Caraway Home, the pots and pans and bakeware you likely see ads for all over social lol.
RK: Talk to me about your personal philosophy when it comes to working with creators.
MH: As a brand, you hire creators for a reason. They put out beautiful work, their audience is your target demographic, their community engagement is quality, all of the above. Why in this industry are we hellbent on having creators follow a 30-page brief exactly that potentially pigeonholes their content into something that doesn’t resonate with the audience you hired them to reach in the first place? When it comes to specific ways in for a partnership, the best move you can make is to give the creator all the right tools to guide them, but let the creator do what they do best and create content that is natural and exciting to them.
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RK: How has that philosophy changed over time? Is there a belief you had when you first started working in this industry that has changed?
MH: I used to believe that if a brief was less than 10 pages, I didn’t put in enough effort. Quality was equated to length in my mind. The more details you can provide, the better. Now I believe the opposite to be true. The reality of the industry is that the longer and more detailed a brief is, the more chances a creator or their management will skim or simply take your brief and turn it into a one-pager. You owe it to everyone to be clear, succinct, and find meaning in the philosophy of “fewer, better”.
RK: I want to get into the nitty gritty here, and dig into your broad approaches to creator marketing. To start, how do you find the right influencers? Are there any tools you recommend?
MH: Soooo many different ways. I scroll a lot. I always follow and save creators that just exude a certain energy where I’m like, I feel like I’ve gone on a life journey watching your videos—I’ve laughed, I’ve cried, I’ve sent your posts to friends, I relate to you. Instant save.
I am the first to admit my FYP and explore page are not representative of every quality creator that’s out there. I rely a lotttt on cool humans to tell me what’s cool, what’s being talked about. I’ve famously coerced my coworkers into sending me creators and videos that they love, laugh at, or resonate with. I have friends do the same, especially ones whose social media scroll looks completely different from mine. It really is a crowdsourced exercise.
One tip I’ve learned to do regularly is ask partners who were wonderful to work with if they would recommend any creators to partner with in the future! Creators are the most in-tune with the internet and I’ve genuinely built a lot of great relationships over time. I get great content from asking that one simple question!
RK: Okay, so you've made it to the briefing stage. How do you like to handle that? In previous conversations, you've mentioned the idea of the "open brief".
MH: I love an open brief. When I say an open brief I don’t mean fully open, but rather open to interpretation and creative liberties. I want to equip a partner with all the guidelines they need to know—posting requirements, brand guidelines, how we want an audience to feel when seeing content, maybe even some inspiration or thought starters! In the end, it should be up to a creator to decide which way they want to take a campaign brief. Brands should really lean into that, you hired the creator for a reason.
RK: I'm sure a lot of people would love to see a very rough template of a brief. Can you list out what you include in a creator brief?
MH: Absolutely.
Brand Low Down. Creators should have context on your brand before jumping into content creation.
Campaign Guidance. The who, what, when, where, why of a campaign.
The Message. Do you have a specific message you’re trying to convey with this content?
The Ask. What exactly are you looking for from the creator?
Tone of Voice. How do you want your message to come across? Is the content meant to be earnest? Humorous? How do you want people to feel when engaging with this content?
The Nitty Gritty Details. Specific deliverables and usage you’re seeking. Visual timeline of due dates. Brand guidelines. Content safe zones.
RK: Oh I love that. I made a template here for Link in Bio readers to use! Do you ask for a script or concept before a creator actually makes something?
MH: I don’t really believe in scripts unless you’re doing a pretty specific ad that you’re running on paid social. I do think concepts are an important step to clarifying ideas and intentions before a creator puts time and effort into content creation. I always ask for a concept before.
RK: Are there any specific things that you think effect the performance of a post? Can be real or gut feelings!
MH: Content needs to feel as organic to a creator’s page as possible, while still following the FTC guidelines!
Some of my hunches on things that impact post performance, which are absolutely and completely unverified:
Brand names or logos in the thumbnail or at the beginning of a video.
Any kind of salesy call to action. I can tell you’re reading a script and it makes me not want to buy whatever product you’re selling.
Not including captions on video content. Not only do captions make content accessible, but they are also more native to social.
RK: Okay, fast forward. The creator posts. It looks awesome. What sort of metrics are you tracking?
MH: Heavily debated, but I really try to track the things that make the most impact outside of cost-per-[insert metric] performance. It's still important, but I also think that algorithms across socials are always changing so no one can 100% accurately predict performance.
I try to get specific with demographics—who are we looking to target, how old, where in the world are they? All of this is relevant! I also think engagement rate is hugely important—even if the post didn’t get half as many views as you were hoping for, did the creator’s audience engage with their content? Comment sentiment is important as well—were the majority of the comments positive about the brand or product? An analysis of comments isn’t the most quantifiable, but I think it’s often overlooked as a KPI.
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RK: Are there any influencer collabs you've worked on that you are particularly proud of?
MH: Oh my gosh I’ve had the opportunity to work with the most fun creators. I may be most proud of my recent work at Hinge on Substack with some really really spectacular writers—an example is our partnership for Feed Me with Emily Sundberg we did for Hinge’s No Ordinary Love campaign.
Selfishly I also love the carousel @annalaura_art did recently with Hinge because my boyfriend and I have been sending her posts back and forth for literal years going ‘Look! That’s us!’.
RK: Can you talk a little bit about Substack sponsorships?
MH: Substack partnerships have kind of been the wild west for myself but in a really thrilling way. I am such an advocate for testing and learning, and that’s pretty much what I’ve been doing with Substack.
The cool thing about Substack is that there’s sooo much room to play compared to a :30-:40 second TikTok or Reel. You could write an entire essay as a sponsorship, start a community conversation, or even sponsor a video—they have so many new features they’re trying to get off the ground. The best part is, the audience is really engaged with the creator.
RK: What do you love about working in creator marketing?
MH: Being able to give creative autonomy to the most inventive individuals on the internet.
It’s important for a brand to have a distinct tone of voice on social, but I also think leaning on creators to expand that voice is vital. These posts make people laugh or think deeply, in a way that your brand maybe hasn’t been able to achieve on its own. It’s something really extraordinary.
You can support free interviews like this one with a paid Link in Bio subscription!
It’s likely an educational expense at your company—here’s a template for you to use when asking your manager. I personally think the Discord is worth the subscription alone.
Lastly, there are lots of new jobs on the Link in Bio Job Board!
sending this to my ENTIRE agency for tips on brief writing! love what Hinge has been doing and always some of the most creative creator partnerships. big ups to Marissa and the team!
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