In today’s Marketing Pulse, gain insight into how:

• Your customers—not your marketers—own your brand, and why actively engaging customer advocates can become your competitive advantage.

• Creator-led brands like Feastables are reshaping consumer products, making creators your brand's most powerful ally or fiercest competitor.

• Small businesses can leverage influencer marketing by choosing the right partners to boost audience reach and build trust effectively.

These articles are penned by members of Forbes Communications Council, key marketing and communications leaders shaping the future of these fields.

Let’s dive in!

Your Brand Belongs to Your Customers—Here's How to Make It Work

In today's online-dominated buyer journeys, your brand isn't just defined by the finely tuned content you create. Customers shape your reputation through their conversations, reviews, and testimonials.

It might feel uneasy to lose control, but embracing this reality presents powerful opportunities to enhance your brand through strategic customer engagement.

Here's how marketers can harness this shift effectively:

🗺️ Map the Customer Journey: Understand exactly how and where your customers influence potential buyers, from initial interest to final purchase.

🔍 Uncover Weak Points: Proactively investigate areas where customer feedback may be outdated, sparse, or negatively impactful.

🚀 Identify Opportunities: Prioritize tactics that amplify positive customer voices and address identified weak points.

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Are Creators Your New Best Friends—or Fiercest Rivals?

From MrBeast's Feastables chocolate outselling his YouTube earnings, to creator-led products taking grocery shelves by storm, we're clearly witnessing a seismic branding shift.

Traditional consumer goods giants, accustomed to shelf dominance, must now compete with influencers who command vast audiences and powerful purchase intent.

Here’s what's accelerating this trend:

🛍️ Easier Product Creation: New logistics solutions simplify manufacturing and distribution, empowering creators to access quality products.

🛒 Retailer Demand: Stores like Walmart and Target may soon feature dedicated aisles filled exclusively with "social-made-me-buy-it" products, increasing visibility for creator-owned offerings.

🌟 Limited Editions & Collaborations: For quick cultural lifts, think Dunkin' with Charli D'Amelio’s custom drink and McDonald’s celebrity meal deals.

🚀 Launching Entirely New Brands: Nestle’s partnership with Alex Cooper for Unwell Hydration exemplifies co-launching energetic, impactful brands alongside creators.

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Grow Your Small Business With Influencers—Here's How

Influencer marketing isn't just for big brands—it’s a powerful way for small businesses to expand their reach, trust, and sales, using authentic partnerships that resonate with your audience. With over 70% of consumers trusting influencers' opinions, leveraging these voices provides real, scalable opportunities for growth.

Here's a quick-start guide on mastering influencer collaborations:

🎯 Define Clear Goals First: Align influencer strategies with measurable objectives like website traffic, increased sales, or brand awareness growth. Understand your audience and select influencers whose content and behaviors match your needs.

⚡️ Choose the Right Influencer Tier 

• Nano-influencers (1k-10k followers): Offer niche reach with high engagement—perfect for local or specialized marketing.

• Micro-influencers (10k-100k followers): Balance reach, engagement, and affordability.

• Macro/Mega-influencers (100k+ followers): Broad visibility but often higher cost and risk of lower engagement—evaluate carefully for ROI.

🕵️‍♂️ Research & Vet Your Influencers Carefully: Look beyond follower counts. Analyze engagement quality, audience demographics, authenticity, and brand fit thoroughly. Tools like Upfluence or AspireIQ can streamline this process.

🤝 Build Strong Influencer Partnerships: Approach influencers with personalized messages, clear expectations, and transparent compensation plans tailored for small businesses (think product perks, commission agreements, and reasonable budgets).

📊 Measure & Refine Your Campaigns: Track metrics (engagement, traffic, sales) and regularly solicit influencer feedback to enhance ROI continuously.

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Wrapping Up

If these articles sparked your interest, we have a network that you will absolutely love: Forbes Communications Council.

This exclusive, vetted community brings together the brightest minds in marketing and communications — founders, CEOs, CCOs, CMOs, and other senior leaders of marketing and communications teams.

Put yourself at the forefront of innovation with access to publishing opportunities on Forbes.com, a personalized, SEO-friendly Executive Profile, and the chance to network with other respected leaders in the field.

Join Forbes Communications Council today, and become part of a group driving transformation in marketing.