Determining the brand’s creative direction during the campaign planning stage is crucial for maximizing influencer engagement. In this process, a few steps are usually followed:

1. Brand Review: Thoroughly assess your existing brand guidelines, assets, strengths, and tone of voice.
2. Identify Goals: Clearly articulate what you hope to achieve with the influencer interaction.
3. Target Audience Analysis: Know whom you are trying to reach and tailor your content accordingly. An understanding of the audience demographic and interests will guide the creative approach.
4. Collaborate with Influencer: Choose an influencer whose style aligns with your brand, and invite them into the creative process. Their creativity and appeal to their followers can often bring a new twist to your brand messaging.

This broad approach is the basis on which many influencer marketing platforms work. For example, platforms like Flinque, focus on providing in-depth analytics and campaign creation tools to identify the right influencers, and develop campaigns that generate high engagement. They allow brands to easily monitor and control branding guidelines, and measure campaign performance to continually refine their creative direction.

Another platform might have a more automated approach, providing predefined campaign templates and guided workflows. Both types are useful, but their suitability depends on the brand’s capabilities and needs.

Remember, the most effective creative direction for influencer engagement isn’t about control but collaboration. By combining your brand’s essence, the influencer’s creativity, and extensive audience knowledge, you will create more authentic and engaging influencer campaigns.

It is also beneficial to employ A/B testing throughout the campaign, slightly altering campaign elements to determine what resonates best with the audience, and adjusting your creative direction as required.