“Virality is useless without longevity”: PR founder Emily Blair Marcus on why micro, mediagenic creators are the real power players

The next phase of the creator economy won’t be decided by who racks up the biggest follower counts, but by creators who feel closest to their audiences and can translate that connection into long-term credibility, the founder and chief executive of PR firm Emily Blair Media has said.

Emily Blair Marcus told The Daily Influence that follower numbers and slick online profiles are “not moving the needle” for brands or journalists, unless creators have a distinct point of view and a story the media can actually tell.

“You could be doing everything, and if nobody knows about it, it really doesn’t matter,” she said. “You could have 9 million followers, but if you Google yourself and you just see famous birthdays or some random Wikipedia page… that’s not going to get you to events, that’s not going to help you win awards.”

Marcus’ PR focuses on digital-native talent such as TikTokers, podcasters and reality stars, a category she began working with during the pandemic after identifying a gap in how traditional entertainment journalism understood emerging creators. 

She said coverage at the time often flattened or misrepresented creators’ influence, revealing a clear lack of infrastructure for translating digital relevance into mainstream credibility, a gap her firm set out to solve. That gap, she said, is fuelling the firm’s momentum and shaping her outlook as the industry heads into 2026.

Next year, Marcus predicts creators with the strongest traction will be micro-influencers with high-intimacy communities, such as those who have 10,000 followers, but whose audiences feel “like you’re just in a giant group chat.”

“It’s not someone who feels untouchable,” she added. “People are really seeking relatability because so much of what we consume is not real. With AI and everything we’ve seen this year, the response has been: how do we keep everything as real as possible and just be human?”

Even online polish, she believes, is losing cultural power and airbrushing and over-editing photos will fall to the wayside. “People will just be who they are and really embrace that rawness.”

Mastering longevity

Still, if micro-creators are the ones capturing attention, Marcus argues that PR is what determines whether that attention lasts. Her firm has carved out a niche in translating short-lived reality-TV exposure or viral moments into multi-year careers. She cites podcaster and social media personality Harry Jowsey as one of the clearest examples.

“We started working with Harry in 2021 and he had just gotten off Too Hot to Handle,” she said. “Since then, Harry has launched one of the top podcasts on Unwell, he has been on Dancing with the Stars, he now has his own reality show… and he’s launched a skincare brand called Pash.”

Marcus said many creators initially underestimate the importance of PR because they assume their online visibility will automatically translate into industry recognition. Instead, she said, momentum often stalls without strategic positioning behind it. 

She noted a lot of the hesitancy is also fuelled by a lack of understanding about what PR is, particularly in her home base Los Angeles, where the term is used so loosely – from party access to event photography –  that creators often arrive with misconceptions shaped by bad experiences rather than by true strategic communications.

Unlike agents and managers, EBM does not take percentages of brand deals. The retainer model can be a sticking point, but Marcus is blunt that opting out limits long-term opportunities. “If you want to achieve your goals and find your value add, you do need press,” she said.

Looking ahead, Marcus sees opportunity in rising creator markets, particularly Australia, where creators are bringing “something a little bit more elevated and premiere” that global brands are starting to embrace.

Markets such as the Middle East, South Africa and Nigeria are also on her radar. “I just want to keep expanding my cultural competency,” she said. “Different parts of the world speak to people in ways we wouldn’t understand unless we take time to learn.”

As for AI, Marcus believes it will reshape discovery and searchability, without replacing human taste. “You might ask Chat for generic options, but if there’s a creator whose style you love, you’re going to their page,” she said.

Meanwhile, the next chapter, she argues, will belong to creators who combine small, sticky communities with a serious long-term strategy.

“Being known online is not the same as being known full-stop,” she said. “Virality is useless without longevity. The creators who understand that, and build for it, are the ones who will win.”