Photo courtesy of Professor Tiffanie Petett.
“Even if you’re not working in influencer marketing, it’s working on you. I want students to have real conversations about this space — to understand not just what’s happening, but why.”
When Tiffanie Petett first noticed beauty bloggers asking to be paid rather than being grateful for the exposure, she realized a seismic change was underway. The power no longer belonged primarily to media platforms. Instead, it flowed directly between creators and audiences, reshaping how credibility, attention and persuasion operate online today.
Today, Petett operates at the center of that transformation. As an executive leading strategic partnerships at Influential — a global leader in influencer marketing for businesses — she is a dynamic force in the field. And as an adjunct professor in USC’s Online Master of Science in Public Relations and Strategic Management (PRISM), she helps prepare professional and aspiring communicators for successful futures in this rapidly evolving sector.
Transforming the Media Landscape
Petett began her career as a beauty editor for an online publication, shaping product coverage and reviews for a large digital readership. But as social platforms matured, she watched creators build audiences that rivaled — and sometimes surpassed — those of established media outlets. “One might have gotten six million views yesterday on a single video,” Petett says. As a result, she noted, traditional assumptions about reach and authority no longer applied.
That realization led her away from editorial work and into the emerging creator economy. She joined Maker Studios, then one of the world’s largest multichannel networks for YouTube creators, managing digital portfolios for top beauty, fashion and lifestyle talent. Her career grew to span talent development and brand partnerships to fulfill multimillion-dollar guarantees as she connected creators with major corporations from Target and Verizon to L’Oreal and Pepsi.
“It was like ‘YouTube University’ when I started,” Petett recalls. “We were educating influencers on how to grow their social media presence and create their own businesses in a way that would remain authentic to their established audiences.”
Petett’s own media expertise expanded as well. Maker had been acquired by Disney when she joined the company, so her work included digital marketing strategies for such film and television series as the Star Wars franchise and Black Panther.
Backed by Data
At Influential, Petett adds another factor that has transformed influencer marketing from intuition to accountability: data. Advances in analytics and application programming interfaces, which allow data to be shared securely, have enabled influencer marketing to move beyond follower counts into detailed measurements of the benefits influencers can bring to clients.
“‘Influencer’ used to solely live within the context of PR because, while valuable, it wasn’t easy to measure,” she explains. “Now it’s expanded across marketing, advertising, performance media and paid social because we can actually see what’s working, why it’s working and optimize accordingly in real time.”
That shift — from earned attention to accountable impact — has helped elevate influencer relations into a core commercial strategy. For Petett, it also illustrates the importance of up-to-date training and hands-on education in the field. As budgets grow and campaigns expand, so do the strategic, cultural and even ethical stakes.
Influential Design
Petett teaches PRISM 540, Influencer Relationship Management. She also designed the course, drawing from her own experiences and those of colleagues, sharing firsthand understanding of what makes influencer strategies effective and how to foster successful campaigns. The eight-week class, she notes, “gives students a crash course of what it’s like to work in this space, so they can have the best toolkit at their disposal.”
The course is structured around real-world application. Students analyze case studies, examine campaigns that succeeded — or failed — and engage directly with influencers as part of their final projects. They learn how to evaluate, manage and build relationships responsibly and strategically.
Influencing the Influencers
As the PRISM program has grown, Petett has seen what might be the best sign of its impact: a growing number of students who are already established influencers or who work with them. “It’s really rewarding because students are so enthusiastic about using the program to invest in their own futures in various ways that impact this industry — whether in front of camera or behind the scenes,” she says.
That investment will continue paying dividends even as times keep changing.
To keep pace, “no two courses are the same,” Petett notes. “The platforms change constantly, the news changes constantly and the students all come in with different experiences.” Some arrive with no background in influencer marketing, while others are creators themselves or manage influencer programs in their day jobs.
“I want students to have real conversations about this space,” she adds. “To understand not just what’s happening, but why.”
Earned Media in a Creator-First World
A recurring theme in Petett’s teaching — and her profession — is the changing relationship between traditional media and influencer-driven earned media. While some narratives frame this shift as a zero-sum replacement, her view is more nuanced.
“There’s definitely been a shift toward influencers,” she says, “but I don’t see traditional publications going away entirely.” Instead, many outlets have adapted, developing creator rankings, influencer-focused lists and digital-first coverage that acknowledges the authority creators hold with audiences.
For brands and organizations, Petett emphasizes, credibility increasingly comes from a hybrid approach. Influencers offer speed, authenticity and cultural proximity, while established media can still confer validation and broader legitimacy. The most effective strategies, she teaches, understand how those forces interact rather than compete.
Real-World and Up-to-Date
What Petett enjoys most about teaching in the PRISM program is its immediacy. The online format allows for real-time discussion of breaking developments — from platform policy changes to Federal Trade Commission requirements, AI-generated content, and evolving norms around disclosure and authenticity.
“Students are being taught by people who are actively working in the space,” she says of PRISM. “That makes a huge difference in a field where the rules are still being written.”
The program’s interdisciplinary design also mirrors how communications functions now operate in practice, intersecting with data analytics, performance media and business strategy. For Petett, that alignment is essential preparation for careers that demand both creative insight and operational fluency.
Defining the Profession
The word “influencer” first entered the Merriam-Webster dictionary in 2019, so the profession is still relatively young. However, Petett observes, it is here to stay, even if specific aspects change as new outlets appear and older platforms fall away.
As influencer marketing continues to mature, Petett is clear-eyed about both its promise and its pitfalls — from burnout and backlash to political and cultural polarization. These realities, she believes, make thoughtful education more important than ever.
“Even if you’re not working in influencer marketing,” she tells students, “it’s working on you.” Understanding how influence operates — who benefits, who is impacted, and how trust is built or lost — is now an essential part of that toolkit for communicators to thrive.
For Petett, helping develop the PRISM program was like coming home, as she contributed to her own career by earning a Master’s in Strategic Public Relations at USC.
It was also at USC where she saw the job posting for Maker Studios that began her professional path through the world of influencers and social media. “If it wasn’t for USC, I wouldn’t be where I am today,” Petett says.
And that advantage is what she strives to provide every student aiming to navigate a creator-first communications landscape.
Learn more about the Online MS in Public Relations Innovation, Strategy and Management.