As the social media manager for Keys Soulcare, I worked with our PR teams on influencer campaigns. However, personal relationships matter.

As a result of my personal relationships, I was able to secure posts from influencers including Cordel Brodus, Snoop Dogg, Aiyana Lewis, and Lil Rosie's (Bird Vision Artist) — content that was reposted by Alicia Keys herself, and more.

This is one of the most important lessons in social media management that rarely gets talked about: the difference between a transactional influencer campaign and an organic moment of genuine endorsement. The former can be bought. The latter has to be earned.

When Snoop Dogg posts about your brand because someone he trusts asked him to — not because of a paid deal — that carries a different kind of weight. Audiences can feel the difference. And so can the algorithm.

Building those relationships takes time, consistency, and genuine care for the people in your network. It means showing up for people before you need anything from them. It means being someone worth calling when an opportunity arises.

At Keys Soulcare, we were building something that deserved to be celebrated — a wellness brand rooted in affirmation, self-care, and Alicia Keys' genuine philosophy. The influencer moments that landed hardest weren't the ones we paid for. They were the ones that came from people who actually believed in what we were building.