Engagement metrics and content alignment are not enough to predict performance.
by Ronit Cohn, Cohn Talent Group August 20 2026
For 25 years, I've worked at the intersection of brands, entertainment and creators, building hundreds of brand partnerships and working with creators to stress test what their audiences will support. We have launched products, built businesses, developed original IP, created live experiences and discovered new ways to engage communities.
As the industry matured, I noticed something missing in the consideration equation. A category vertical tells you what a creator talks about and traditional metrics tell you how many people they reach, but neither tells you how their influence actually works.
Even more of a conundrum, although brand marketers are inundated with more data than ever to help creator selection, the most important consideration remains glaringly absent. It’s the simple question, ‘What can this creator actually move people to do?’
