Creators function like standalone media channels

• Spending on sponsored content will rise 3.5 times faster than social ad spending will this year. Social ad spending, including YouTube, still dwarfs influencer marketing spending, at $83.72 billion versus $5.14 billion in 2023, per our forecasts. But the different spending patterns are a clear indication that creators aren’t tied to social media. The trend holds true on every platform, as marketers continue to shift more budget into influencer marketing, particularly video.

• Almost all US influencer campaigns now include creator content amplified as paid media. According to The Influencer Marketing Factory, 90% of influencer marketing campaigns by the agency’s clients now include paid media. That’s on par with data from Linqia, which found that 88% of its clients’ creator campaigns included paid media amplification in H1 2023. We count boosted content in our social ad spending forecasts, but if we were to count it as influencer marketing, our estimates for influencer marketing spending would be noticeably higher.
• No platform has a monopoly on influencer marketing. Multichannel campaigns are now the norm, and US marketers will dedicate over $1 billion to sponsored content on each of the top four influencer marketing platforms in 2024, per our forecast. As production budgets remain tight and creators continue to prove themselves as strong brand ambassadors, marketers will also continue to tap creators for content for TV, out-of-home, and other digital media.

• No platform has a monopoly on creators or their audiences, either. Creators made money from about two social platforms at a time on average, according to November 2022 data from influencer marketing platform Collabstr, and most are active on many more. Among consumers, there isn’t a clear No. 1 platform for following creators. That’s true even for Gen Zers: At least half had viewed influencer or creator content on each TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube in the previous month, per our June 2023 survey.

We define influencer marketing spending as payments made to influencers or creators, or their representatives, to promote products and services primarily on social media or other platforms featuring user-generated content. Figures exclude noncash payments and creator content amplified as paid advertising.