US Creator Economy 2025

How Creator Pay Transparency Benefits Brands

Report by Jasmine Enberg  | UPDATED: Apr 15, 2025
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Table of Contents
Executive Summary
Why pay transparency matters now
How pay transparency benefits brands
What needs to be done
EMARKETER Interviews
Sources
Media Gallery
About This Report
Most conversations around pay transparency center on equitable and predictable income for creators. While creators deserve to be paid fairly and on time for their work, more visibility into creator pay rates has tangible benefits for brands, too.
Topics
Influencer Marketing
United States
Table of Contents
Executive Summary
Why pay transparency matters now
How pay transparency benefits brands
What needs to be done
EMARKETER Interviews
Sources
Media Gallery

Pay transparency isn’t only about ensuring equitable and predictable income for creators. It’s a business benefit for brands, too.

Key Question: How can more visibility into creator pay rates help brands improve their influencer marketing strategies and optimize budgets?

US Marketers Face Many Challenges When Determining Creator Compensation (% of US marketers who work with creators, Feb 2025)
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Key Stat: Marketers face a host of challenges when determining creator compensation, including internal budget constraints (23%), a lack of standardized pricing benchmarks (21%), and inflexible or high rates from creators (20%), per February 2025 data from Traackr.

This report can help you:

  • Develop media strategy and allocate budgets for campaigns (brands and agencies)

Here’s what’s in the full report

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5expert perspectives

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    Table of Contents

    1. Executive Summary
    2. Why pay transparency matters now
    3. How pay transparency benefits brands
    1. What needs to be done
    2. EMARKETER Interviews
    3. Sources
    1. Media Gallery

    Charts in This Report

    US Marketers Face Many Challenges When Determining Creator Compensation (% of US marketers who work with creators, Feb 2025)US Sponsored Content Spending Will Top $10 Billion in 2025, Earlier Than We Previously Predicted (billions in US sponsored content spending, current vs. previous forecast, 2021-2025)
    About One-Fifth of US Marketers Rely on Audience Metrics When Determining Creator Pay Rates (% of US marketers who ranked each factor as the top consideration when determining creator pay, Feb 2025)Creator Campaign Costs Are on the Rise, Especially for Multiplatform Posts (median price of creator endorsement deals among Instagram and TikTok creators in North America*, by deal type, 2020–2024)
    Payment Delays Are the Biggest Pain Point Creators Face When Working With Brands (% of creators worldwide who encounter each pain point when working with brands, Q3 2024)

    Interviewed for This Report

    Brooke Erin Duffy
    Cornell University
    Associate Professor
    Interviewed March 19, 2025
    Jamie Gutfreund
    Creator Vision
    Industry Expert
    Interviewed March 26, 2025
    Emily Herrera
    Center for Creator Policy and Research
    Co-Director
    Interviewed March 17, 2025
    Holly Jackson
    Traackr
    Vice President, Influencer Marketing Innovation and Insights
    Interviewed March 26, 2025
    Lindsey Lee Lugrin
    FYPM
    Founder and CEO
    Interviewed March 13, 2025

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    First Published on Apr 14, 2025

    authors

    Jasmine Enberg

    Contributors

    Rahul Chadha
    Director, Report Editing
    Vladimir de Leon
    Chart Editor
    Zach Goldner
    Senior Forecasting Analyst
    Minda Smiley
    Emman Velasco
    Chart Editor
    Paul Verna
    VP, Content
    Ali Young
    Senior Copy Editor and Manager of Content Operations