Influencer marketing needs a trust layer as regulation and risk grow, Stamp founder says

The influencer marketing industry is ready for a certification layer that helps brands, agencies and creators navigate rising audience-safety risks, the founder of creator standards platform Stamp has said.

Murphy Hopkins-Hubbard told The Daily Influence that the sector has reached a point where punitive enforcement alone is no longer enough, particularly as creators face fast-changing rules and growing scrutiny over the real-world impact of their advice.

“This ‘wild west’ is actually crazy,” she said. “You can just say whatever you want, and it’s no longer contained to social media – it’s bleeding into real-world impact.”

Hopkins-Hubbard’s comments come as influencer culture faces renewed scrutiny. Netflix’s recent Louis Theroux: Inside the Manosphere documentary has reignited debate around the influence of online personalities on young audiences, while UK regulators are stepping up enforcement.

The Financial Conduct Authority this week warned consumers about financial advice promoted by unauthorised influencers, highlighting ongoing risks tied to social media-driven investment content. It previously secured criminal convictions against several UK influencers over illegal financial promotions.

The push for clearer standards is also becoming global. Certification and accreditation schemes have recently launched in markets including the US, India and Canada, as brands look for more reliable ways to assess creators and rebuild consumer trust.

“It’s not just fashion or beauty anymore,” she said. “It’s financial advice, relationship advice – things that have real consequences.”

Stamp-ing out the problem

Stamp, currently in live beta, is positioning itself as a certification platform for creators, designed to assess compliance on an ongoing basis rather than through one-off accreditation.

The concept was built in response to a broader trust problem in the creator economy, where audiences are increasingly influenced by online personalities across areas far beyond traditional lifestyle content, Hopkins-Hubbard said.

She added that the issue is compounded by how content is consumed. Without social cues or shared context, audiences are often engaging with advice in isolation, increasing the potential for harm.

To shape Stamp’s model, Hopkins-Hubbard drew on her background working with B Corp organisations, arguing that commercial and social objectives do not need to be in opposition. “We don’t need a corporate world and a charitable world,” she said. “We can do good and make money at the same time.”

Unlike existing regulatory systems – which often focus on punishment or minimum standards – Stamp is designed to function as a more supportive layer embedded within the creator economy itself.

Turning trust into a selling point

The platform assesses creators across three pillars: regulation and compliance, brand safety and audience care, and personal values and authenticity.

Creators complete a self-assessment, gain access to training modules and are then screened across their content, with scoring designed to remain live rather than being reviewed annually. Stamp is also building tools to review content for potential risks and check whether creators are a good fit for brands.

Done well, the goal is to create a commercial signal that helps creators stand out in an increasingly crowded market.

Hopkins-Hubbard said that creators have been more receptive to certification than expected, particularly when positioned as a way to strengthen media kits and simplify brand conversations.

Looking ahead, she said certification could help address one of the creator economy’s more persistent problems: unequal access to opportunity.

“So often, diverse creators are brought in halfway through a project or once it’s already started,” she said. “They’re given less time, paid less, and then expected to deliver the same results.”

She said the focus now should be on putting those standards into practice across the industry.

“I feel like the industry’s ready for it,” she said.

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