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Rochelle Humes has advised brands to give influencers the freedom to create content based on the brand’s goal.

Speaking to ��������pk10 at the Cosmopolitan Influencer Awards, in partnership with Pandora, where she was crowned Celebrity Influencer of the Year, Humes said: "Let that person help you create the content rather than telling them what you think the idea is. 

"Tell them your goals and let that person give you an idea, rather than pitching around a random idea they’re not going to do."

Humes was one of eight influencers to take home a gong last night (28 May) at the annual awards that champion those who changed the way brands market to their audiences. She was presented the award by her husband, former JLS member Marvin Humes. 

The Saturdays-singer-turned-TV-presenter added that, for her, it’s important to have an authentic relationship with the brand she promotes: "I only ever work with brands that I feel like I really believe in. So I do a lot with John Frieda, New Look and also Marks & Spencer's food.

"And that’s because I love all three of those brands. I think, for me, I have to believe in it [the brand], believe in the product and support it, otherwise I couldn't be genuine with it."

This chimed with research commissioned exclusively for ��������pk10 as part of the Post-Influencer Culture report that found 25% of social media users think authenticity is the most important factor when it comes to deciding whether to follow an influencer.

Other brands the award-winning influencers have collaborated on content with include Made.com, Asos and eBay.

Cosmopolitan’s editor-in-chief, Claire Hodgson, stressed the importance of quality over quantity when picking the winners.

She said: "We used thousands of reader votes to determine the shortlisted nominees. From there, we enlisted the help of two key groups. Firstly, our expert category judges, who ranged from Alice Liveing and Megan Crabbe to Lou Teasdale and Lottie Tomlinson, to get their opinion.

"Secondly, we worked with influencer marketing firm Zine to assess engagement, growth, UK audience and more.

"With those two elements ensuring content quality was looked at rather than just audience size alone, we then ultimately return to our reader votes to influence the final decision."