Not long ago, influence was relatively easy to follow and track.
If you wanted to build credibility, shape opinion or reach decision-makers, you knew where to look. Journalists, analysts, industry associations and major publications sat at the centre of the conversation.
They still matter. In many cases, they matter more than ever. But influence no longer sits in a handful of places.
Today it is distributed across executives, founders, practitioners, creators, journalists, analysts and communities. People increasingly follow individuals as much as they follow institutions.
Influence happens in publications, on LinkedIn, through podcasts, newsletters, industry events and increasingly through the content that powers search and AI-driven discovery.
Yet many organisations are still building visibility the way they did ten or twenty years ago. The channels may have changed, but many leadership and communications strategies haven’t.
The organisations cutting through today understand that influence is no longer about controlling the message. It’s about earning the credibility to shape the conversation.
The most trusted organisations don’t simply react to industry change. They help explain it, challenge it and, where appropriate, lead it.
Influence is becoming more human
Over the past few years, I’ve noticed something interesting in conversations with clients. When we talk about influence, the discussion rarely starts with influencers. It starts with trust.
Who do our customers listen to? Which journalists consistently shape conversations in our industry? Which analysts are people quoting? Which founders are showing up in LinkedIn feeds? Which experts are being invited onto podcasts, panels and industry events?
The answer is almost never a single person or channel.
Influence today is more fragmented, more distributed and more human than it was even five years ago.
People follow people
One of the biggest shifts I’ve observed is the broadening of who influences business decisions and industry conversations.
Yes, we are seeing the rise of what many now call “bizfluencers,” the founders, practitioners and subject matter experts who have built audiences around their expertise.
The rise of the bizfluencer is one of the clearest examples of how influence is becoming more individual, visible and expertise-led. But influence isn’t limited to creators.
Many journalists, analysts and industry commentators have also become influential voices in their own right, extending their reach beyond traditional publications through newsletters, podcasts, events and social platforms. In fact, some of the most influential people in technology today aren’t traditional influencers at all. They are journalists whose expertise, analysis and perspective extend well beyond the publication they write for.
People increasingly follow individuals as much as they follow institutions. In many cases, audiences build trust with a person long before they engage with a brand. That’s changing the way organisations think about communications, leadership visibility and influence.
Expertise is becoming the differentiator
Think about the people you follow most closely in your industry. Chances are they aren’t traditional influencers. They may be a journalist whose analysis you trust. A founder who shares practical lessons. An
industry expert who consistently explains complex issues clearly.
What makes them influential isn’t audience size, it’s credibility.
They have spent years building expertise, trust and relevance within their field. They show up consistently, contribute useful perspectives and help others make sense of change.
Many wouldn’t describe themselves as influencers at all. They’re journalists, analysts, founders, practitioners and executives. In a world where everyone can publish, expertise has become a powerful differentiator.
Being seen is one thing. Being believed is another.
For years, organisations could rely on visibility. If people saw enough of your brand, the assumption was that awareness would eventually translate into trust.
Over the years, we have built campaigns designed to reach people at multiple touchpoints – on a cereal box, on the radio, in a newspaper, on a billboard or at an event. But the challenge today isn’t visibility, it’s credibility.
Audiences have more information, more sources and more competing demands on their attention than ever before, but they are more selective about who they listen to and what they trust.
Being seen is one thing. Being believed is another. The organisations building influence today understand that trust is earned through consistency, relevance and contribution over time.
The leaders and brands that cut through aren’t necessarily the loudest, they are the most useful.
What this means for leadership
This shift is also changing expectations of leadership. Twenty years ago, if you wanted to understand an organisation, you went to its website. Today, you’re just as likely to look at the CEO’s LinkedIn profile, listen to a podcast interview, read commentary from an industry journalist or as an AI tool for an overview.
Increasingly, those AI-generated answers are drawing on the content, commentary and expertise that organisations and individuals publish publicly. People want to hear directly from the people behind an organisation. Not polished corporate statements. Not generic content. Perspective.
The most effective executive profiles I’ve worked on haven’t been built around self-promotion. They have been built around contribution. Helping customers understand change, sharing lessons learned, providing context on industry issues, and participating in conversations that matter.
The goal isn’t simply to be visible. It’s to be valuable enough that people seek out your perspective. Leadership visibility is no longer about profile, it’s about participation.
Trust remains at the centre
People increasingly follow people as much as they follow institutions. That’s not a trend, it’s a fundamental shift in how trust is built.
The organisations and leaders creating influence today are not necessarily the loudest. They are the ones whose perspectives are actively sought out because they consistently contribute to, and help shape, the conversations that matter.
Influence may have changed. Trust hasn’t.
Monique Haylen is Founder of MINT PR, a modern communications agency helping organisations build influence through strategic communications, thought leadership and executive profiling. A former technology journalist, she works with leaders across business and technology to build credibility, trust, and visibility.
If you’d like to read more about how influence has changed within organisations, read our piece about how Six Degrees Executives is responding to changes in technology here.