Each week, we'll bring you select insights from our newsletter, How to Build Brands and Influence People (HBBIP). To have all of these insights delivered directly to your inbox, subscribe today!
Today is basically my Christmas. I know that I’m always going on about how excited I am for various brand spotlights and announcements and what have you, and these things do excite me, but this one always hits different. To draw another analogy, this is the Super Bowl and Coachella and World Cup of Creator Marketing all rolled into one, and that’s coming from someone who covers the Super Bowl, Coachella, and the World Cup.
In case you couldn’t tell, I’m pretty hyped, folks. And that hype is warranted, because CreatorIQ just released the greatest report we’ve ever written. If I’ve said that before, it was true then, but it’s not true anymore. We—by which I mean Cherline Bazile—have done it bigger and better than ever. The bar has been raised, and you can reap the spoils.
That’s a whole lot of cliches. Let me get a little more concrete:
It’s back.
That’s right—I’m talking about:
The Top Report of All Time (No, For Real, All Time): The State of Creator Marketing 2027
Our signature report has returned, and the creator economy—not to mention your brand’s creator marketing strategy—might never be the same.
Along with our good friends at Sapio Research, we surveyed over one thousand brands and nearly one thousand agencies about their creator marketing practices and predictions for the space. All that data added up to a treasure trove of insights.
I’m just scratching the surface of everything this report has to offer. It’s truly filled to the brim with actionable data points, counterintuitive findings, and creator marketing goodies. If you’re a creator marketer, a creator, a marketer, someone with an interest in the future of commerce, or someone who can read or who has access to someone who can read, then this report is for you.
Let’s dive into a few of the takeaways that stood out to me.
Throughout our CreatorIQ marketing materials, we often claim that brands are investing more resources in their creator marketing programs, and that the creator economy is expanding accordingly. Well, now we can quantify it:
/State%20of%20Creator%20Marketing%202026%E2%80%942027%20Data%20Avg%20annual%20influencer%20marketing%20budget%20from%2021-26%20chart.png?width=700&height=528&name=State%20of%20Creator%20Marketing%202026%E2%80%942027%20Data%20Avg%20annual%20influencer%20marketing%20budget%20from%2021-26%20chart.png)
Well that’s pretty clear-cut. Over the last six years, influencer marketing budgets have soared to an average of $4.8M across our global respondent pool, which reflects everything from massive multinational enterprises to smaller stateside brands. That’s a 33% uptick from last year, a sign that the market is still booming.
But those investment dollars wouldn’t be flowing if brands weren’t seeing a notable return. Fortunately, they are, and were kind enough to tell us all about it:
/State%20of%20Creator%20Marketing%202026%E2%80%942027%20Data%20ROI%20for%20brands%20chart.png?width=700&height=308&name=State%20of%20Creator%20Marketing%202026%E2%80%942027%20Data%20ROI%20for%20brands%20chart.png)
Like it says on the chart, 81% of our surveyed brands reported seeing ≥2x ROI from their creator marketing programs, while vanishingly few brands reported losing money. (Note that percentages might not add up to 100% due to rounding.)
As with so many things in life, you get what you give: of the 12% of brands who reported ≥5x ROI from their creator programs, 80% invested a majority of their marketing dollars into creator marketing. Nothing confirms the rise of an industry and a marketing practice like the notion that creator marketing can truly serve as a cohesive, holistic solution, yielding content to be repurposed across multiple platforms, channels, and funnel stages.
Speaking of that repurposing…
/State%20of%20Creator%20Marketing%202026%E2%80%942027%20Data%20Where%20brands%20repurpose%20content%20chart.png?width=2604&height=1271&name=State%20of%20Creator%20Marketing%202026%E2%80%942027%20Data%20Where%20brands%20repurpose%20content%20chart.png)
I’d love to talk to the 1% of brands that don’t repurpose creator content. Get with the program, friends!
Otherwise, we see a pretty even split across primary channels, with a plurality going to paid social, followed by organic social, followed by brand websites. For more insights into how these channels have changed over time, and where brands are seeing the biggest bang for their buck…well, you’re just going to have to download the report.
/State%20of%20Creator%20Marketing%202026%E2%80%942027%20Data%20Resourcing%20roadblocks%20over%20time%20chart.png?width=700&height=373&name=State%20of%20Creator%20Marketing%202026%E2%80%942027%20Data%20Resourcing%20roadblocks%20over%20time%20chart.png)
For further proof that these programs are adequately resourced, look at the precipitous drop for what were previously brands’ primary influencer marketing roadblocks—the twin boogeymen of Inadequate Staff and Inadequate Budget. Creator marketing is no longer a matter of scrapping for every last dollar (after all, some of the top ROI-getters are investing more than 50% of their marketing bucks).
To see which new roadblocks have emerged…you guessed it, download the report.
/State%20of%20Creator%20Marketing%202026%E2%80%942027%20Data%20How%20AI%20affects%20complexity%20chart.png?width=700&height=561&name=State%20of%20Creator%20Marketing%202026%E2%80%942027%20Data%20How%20AI%20affects%20complexity%20chart.png)
As for everybody’s favorite hot topic, don’t worry: we’ve got plenty of material on AI. I found this stat particularly illuminating: for both brands and agencies, AI has increased complexity, rather than reduced it. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing; increased complexity often correlates with increased output, after all. By allowing us to do more, AI also…compels us to do more. So it goes.
/State%20of%20Creator%20Marketing%202026%E2%80%942027%20Data%20What%20marketers%20believe%20AI%20shouldnt%20fully%20replace.png?width=700&height=942&name=State%20of%20Creator%20Marketing%202026%E2%80%942027%20Data%20What%20marketers%20believe%20AI%20shouldnt%20fully%20replace.png)
Since I love you guys, I’ll give you a sneak peek at just what that ‘doing more’ entails—but only by telling you what our respondents don’t want AI to replace. As with last year when we asked this question, the answers skew more toward the human side of the equation: relationship management, ideation. Others cited important upstream operations like creator vetting and insights generation.
Meanwhile, 2% of respondents are in favor of AI replacing everything. I wonder whether there’s any overlap with the 1% of respondents who don’t repurpose content. Maybe they’re just waiting for the computer to do it for them.
As for what respondents are using AI for, might I suggest etc. download etc. report?
You’ll also find information like:
- Which marketing channels are respondents rerouting resources from in favor of creator marketing?
- Which social platforms are brands and agencies using for their creator content?
- How are brands measuring the impact of their creator marketing programs?
- How are brands leveraging creator-driven commerce in their programs?
- Which creator marketing activities are driving the most ROI?
I’m not exaggerating or playing hypeman when I say that this report may be the most thorough, relevant, and practical guide to contemporary creator marketing ever produced—not just by CreatorIQ, but any entity. So what are you waiting for?
One last time, I promise: download it here.
*All data, unless otherwise specified, stems from CreatorIQ's public-facing brand leaderboards. We will never share performance metrics from a customer's CreatorIQ profile, or any brand's private information.
To get all of these stories, plus much more, delivered to your inbox weekly, be sure to subscribe to our newsletter.
