New research shows creator marketing investment is drawing budget away from paid media, driving measurable growth, and entering a new phase of operational maturity
LOS ANGELES, October 1, 2025 — According to new data from CreatorIQ’s sixth annual State of Creator Marketing report, creator marketing has entered a phase of unprecedented maturity, where investment decisions are guided not by experimentation but by proven impact and scalable ROI.
The growth of investment is substantial: average reported annual influencer marketing budgets rose 171% year-over-year. Overall, 71% of organizations reported budget increases, and nearly two-thirds of those increasing spend pulled directly from paid media funds. Enterprises now invest an average of $5.6M–$8.1M annually in creators, and industry leaders average $7.8M in spend.
“Creator marketing is no longer a side tactic—it’s become the growth engine where content, community, and commerce converge. We've seen the impact of creator marketing, and increased investment has followed. But the story now is how maturity brings new responsibility and complexity,” said Chris Harrington, CreatorIQ CEO. “The next era isn’t just about bigger spend; it’s about proving ROI, safeguarding trust, and building the infrastructure to scale responsibly. That’s how we push the industry forward and ensure creator marketing delivers lasting value for brands and consumers alike.”
The Era of Efficacy: Operational Challenges Now the Biggest Barrier—and Potential Unlock— to Success
For years, limited budgets were the No. 1 blocker to constrained creator marketing growth. Today, the barriers are different: measurement (26%), content velocity (21%), navigating AI (20%), and brand fit (20%) are the leading challenges. These challenges reflect an industry evolving past experimentation into disciplined, ROI-driven programs—where credible measurement provides the validation for reinvestment, and workflows that improve content velocity bottlenecks provide scale.
Enterprise “Industry Leaders”—brands spending at least $1M+ annually and reporting at least double the return on their creator marketing investment—now devote, on average, 54% of their entire marketing budget to creators, indicating that operational maturity drives outsized returns.
“As creator marketing budgets have risen, so have demands for financial accountability. Many organizations now hold the tactic to the same measurement standards as performance media, while a volatile macro-environment adds increased pressure to justify spending,” said Jasmine Enberg, VP and Principal Analyst at EMARKETER. “Meanwhile, speed and scale have become a top priority for marketers as AI brings new challenges and opportunities to creator marketing.”
AI is Pervasive, but Relationships and Content Creation Should Be Left to the Humans
AI is transforming marketing operations: 95% of brand respondents report using it, most commonly for generating captions (45%), research (44%), and video or graphic editing (41%).
At the same time, 69% of brand respondents say they would like to fully automate influencer marketing workflows. Yet marketers are least willing to use AI for creator relationship-building, creative direction, and vetting—the areas where human judgment and trust are irreplaceable. And creators agree: 41% say their voice or likeness should never be replaced by AI.
This new equilibrium defines the Era of Efficacy: AI fuels efficiency, but its limits underscore the value of the human creativity, voice, and trust that are core to effective creator marketing.
Follower Count Falls from Favor; Brand Suitability Now the No. 1 Factor for Creator Selection
For brands and agencies, the days of “bigger is better” are over when deciding which creators to partner with. Once the top criterion, follower count now ranks at the bottom of brand and agency marketers’ considerations when selecting creator partnerships. Suitability and brand fit now top the list, selected by 22% of brands, versus just 8% for follower count.
This increased importance of reputation management and authentic partnerships is a result of a maturing industry with more enterprise players. Agencies cite creator vetting and compliance as their number-one challenge, while 72% of enterprise brands say brand safety has become more critical year-over-year—signaling that creators who align with brand values—not just offering high reach—are driving both trust and growth.
From Gifting to Growth: ROI Takes the Wheel
Creator marketing has matured from single-channel tactics into a multi-layered growth engine. Once the backbone of the industry, gifting and seeding have steadily declined—cited as a top ROI driver by just 20% of brands in 2025, down from 71% in 2020. While still useful for building creator goodwill, it’s now just one tool in a broader, more sophisticated toolkit.
Today, marketers are activating across a diversified mix of strategies—boosted creator posts (39%), sponsored content (38%), affiliate partnerships (33%), and user-generated content campaigns (31%)—each delivering distinct, measurable value. This breadth of activity reflects growing confidence in creator-led marketing, where investments span from performance-driven tactics to community-building initiatives.
Rather than relying on a single approach, brands are layering strategies together to maximize impact—blending authentic storytelling, scalable reach, and accountable ROI. The result is an ecosystem where creators influence not just awareness but every stage of the funnel, driving both immediate performance and long-term brand equity.
Meta Remains the Backbone of Influencer Campaigns, but the Landscape is Diversified
Over the last six years, the social platform landscape for creator marketing has grown both broader and more complex. Instagram dominance endures in the creator economy, but on average, organizations are now leveraging five social platforms to power their influencer campaigns, signaling the increasing complexity and scale of modern programs.
Download the full report here.
Methodology
The 2026 State of Creator Marketing report is based on a global survey conducted by Sapio Research of 1,723 marketers, agencies, and creators across 17 industries and nine regions. It provides the most comprehensive view of how organizations are navigating this new era—where ROI, authenticity, and scalability matter more than ever. By building on six years of research, the report highlights long-term trends and fresh insights shaping the future of content, community, and commerce. Access the full report here.