Influencer PR is the practice of building relationships with creators and well-known personalities in the same way PR teams have always built relationships with journalists – so that they talk about your brand because they genuinely find it interesting, not only because they are paid. It covers gifting and product seeding, press and influencer events, launches, exclusive news and long-term ambassador relationships. Done well, it creates earned visibility that feels credible and lasts longer than a single campaign.

The shift is easy to see. In Muck Rack’s State of PR 2025, almost all PR professionals – 98 percent – said earned media has become harder to get, and many pointed to slower responses from journalists. At the same time, creators have become a media channel of their own: in Muck Rack’s study of self-publishing creator journalists, 82 percent said at least some of their stories start with a PR pitch.

What is influencer PR?

Influencer PR sits between classic PR and paid influencer marketing. The difference lies in how the content comes about:

• Paid influencer marketing: you agree on deliverables, channels and fees in a contract.

• Influencer PR: you create reasons for creators to want to talk about you – a strong product, a story, an experience or exclusive news – and build relationships over time.

In practice, most successful brands combine the two. PR creates the relationships and the buzz; paid collaborations secure reach and content when it matters most.

Why does influencer PR matter heading into 2027?

Trust is the main reason. Edelman’s 2025 special report on brand trust found that 80 percent of people trust the brands they use, and that trust now weighs as much as price and quality when people choose what to buy. Recommendations from people audiences already follow are one of the most direct ways to build that trust.

Influencer marketing is also a large and growing channel – Influencer Marketing Hub estimated the global market at 32.55 billion dollars in 2025. As competition for attention grows, relationships with the right creators become an asset: they make launches easier, give brands a faster route to new audiences and create content that can be reused in paid media.

Which influencer PR methods work best?

1. Gifting and product seeding

Send products to carefully selected creators with no obligation to post. Choose people who would genuinely use the product, add a personal note and make it easy to share. It is not about volume – a smaller group of well-matched creators often creates more and better content.

2. Launches and exclusive news

Give creators the chance to be first – a preview, an early release or a behind-the-scenes look. Exclusivity is as valuable to creators as it is to journalists.

3. Press and influencer events

Events let creators and media experience the brand together. At Collabri we have, for example, planned and run a launch with an influencer and press event for Carolina Gynning’s sofa collection with Chilli, and worked with strategic gifting, creator collaborations and influencer events for Shaping New Tomorrow.

4. Long-term ambassadors

The strongest influencer PR relationships often grow into ambassadorships, where a well-known personality represents the brand over months or years. Repeated, genuine mentions build more credibility than one-off posts.

How do you build relationships with creators?

• Do your homework: follow the creator, understand their audience and what they care about.

• Be personal and relevant – no mass mailings.

• Respect their creative freedom and their time.

• Follow up, share results and keep in touch between campaigns.

• Be clear about what is a gift and what is a paid collaboration.

What are the rules for influencer PR in Sweden?

Gifts and free experiences can count as compensation. If a creator publishes commercial content – for example because they have received a product, an invitation or a fee – it must be clearly marked as advertising, according to Konsumentverket’s guidance on hidden marketing. A good rule: be open with creators about what you expect, and never ask them to hide a commercial relationship.

How do you measure influencer PR?

• Reach and mentions: how many creators posted, and how many people saw it.

• Quality: how the brand and message were described, and the tone of comments.

• Earned media value and traffic: visits, searches for the brand and use of unique codes.

• Relationships: which creators want to continue, and who could become an ambassador.

Summary

• Influencer PR builds relationships with creators and well-known personalities, much like media relations with journalists.

• Earned media is harder to get – and creators have become a media channel of their own.

• Gifting, launches, events and long-term ambassadors are the core methods.

• Combine PR with paid collaborations for the best mix of credibility and reach.

• Mark commercial content clearly and measure both reach and relationships.

FAQ

What is the difference between influencer PR and influencer marketing?

Influencer marketing usually means paid collaborations with agreed content. Influencer PR focuses on relationships and earned visibility – creators talk about the brand because they want to. Most brands benefit from both.

Do creators have to post if they receive a gift?

No, not if nothing has been agreed. But if they do post about a gift, the content may need to be marked as advertising.

Is influencer PR only for big brands?

No. A well-chosen gifting campaign or a small event can work well for smaller brands, as long as the match between product and creator is right.

Can a talent agency help with influencer PR?

Yes. An agency with close relationships to creators and well-known personalities can open doors, plan gifting and events and turn the best relationships into ambassadorships.

Read also

• Influencer Seeding: Gifting Strategies That Create Real Buzz

• Influencer Events: How to Plan a Brand Event With Creators and Celebrities in 2027

• How to Build a Brand Ambassador Program with Influencers and Celebrities

• What Is Influencer Marketing? A Complete Guide for 2027

Sources

• Durée & Company – Insights from Muck Rack’s 2025 State of Public Relations Report (2025): https://dureeandcompany.com/muck-racks-2025-state-of-public-relations-report/

• O’Dwyer’s – PR pitches still resonate among creator journalists (Muck Rack, State of Creator Journalism) (2025): https://www.odwyerpr.com/story/public/23877/2025-11-10/pr-pitches-still-resonate-among-creator-journalists.html

• Edelman – 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer Special Report: Brand Trust, From We to Me (2025): https://www.edelman.com/trust/2025/trust-barometer/special-report-brands

• Influencer Marketing Hub – Influencer Marketing Benchmark Report (2025): https://influencermarketinghub.com/influencer-marketing-benchmark-report/

• Konsumentverket – Dold marknadsföring i sociala medier – regler för företag: https://www.konsumentverket.se/marknadsratt-foretag/dold-marknadsforing-i-sociala-medier-regler-for-foretag/

Want to build relationships with creators and well-known personalities around your brand? Contact us at info@collabri.se. You can also browse our talents and client projects.

This article was written with the help of AI and reviewed by Collabri.