Content Approval Workflows: Why Scripts Kill the Story Creators Already Have

Colleen Kelly, Influencer Marketing and Brand Partnerships Director at ClearStem, breaks down her content approval workflow for paid influencer partnerships, starting with one firm rule: never give creators a script. Scripts kill authenticity and worse, they can cause an influencer to forget the genuine story they were already planning to tell. Instead, Colleen begins every partnership with a one-on-one call to educate the creator about the product and identify which specific ingredient or benefit resonates most with their personal experience. She shares a real example: creator Alyssa Lynch struggles with dermatitis, so Colleen guided her toward ClearStem's Hydra Berry Moisturizer and its arnica ingredient, which reduces inflammation, because that story was genuinely hers to tell. The brief exists to open a conversation, not close one. Colleen argues that the discovery call is where the real content approval workflow begins, because you cannot brief what you have not yet uncovered.

Watch to see exactly how she structures that first call to surface the story she actually wants the creator to tell.