Influencer Marketing Statistics 2026: Spend, ROI and AI

US creator economy ad spend is projected to reach $37 billion in 2025, a 26% increase year-over-year, about 4x faster than the media industry overall, according to IAB. Ad spend in the creator economy has more than doubled since 2021, from $13.9 billion to $29.5 billion in 2024, and brands now treat creators as a distinct channel rather than a tactic inside social media, which is where the influencer marketing statistics below begin.

Budgets are still climbing faster than the tools that measure them. Influencer Marketing Hub’s 2026 benchmark survey found 87.49% expect their influencer marketing budget to increase, while regulators in the UK and EU keep finding sponsored posts that are not labeled clearly. The figures below cover spend, budgets, ROI measurement, platforms, creator tiers, social commerce, AI adoption, consumer trust, and disclosure enforcement.

Key Takeaways

• Nearly half (48%) of ad spenders consider creators a “must-buy,” ranking only behind social media and paid search.
• 72.22% of respondents expect their influencer budget to increase by 50%+, yet promo/discount codes lead adoption (45.9% of those answering) as the main measurement tool.
• Sprout Social found only 24% of companies design campaigns around revenue outcomes, so most new influencer money is judged on awareness.
• TikTok Shop accounts for 66.17% of platform selections among adopters of social commerce, far ahead of Instagram Checkout.
• A large majority (60%) of Instagram Reels now reach audiences where more than 70% of viewers are non-followers.
• The UK ASA estimates approximately 57% of influencer content on Instagram and TikTok in the UK would likely be adequately disclosed as advertising.
• The EU sweep found nearly all (97%) of these influencers posted commercial content, but only one in five systematically indicated that their content was advertising.

Editor’s Choice

• US creator ad spend: $37 billion in 2025.
• US influencer marketing spend (Emarketer definition): $10.52 billion in 2025.
• Creator economy market forecast: could roughly double in size over the next five years to $480 billion by 2027, per Goldman Sachs Research.
• YouTube Shopping affiliate program: over 1.3 million creators, driving a 13x growth in Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV) over the last two years.
• Brands with room to grow influencer spend: 75% of brands still possess significant headroom to increase their influencer investment, per Circana.
• FTC civil penalty ceiling: up to $53,088 per violation of the Consumer Review Rule.

Creator Economy Ad Spend and Market Size

Figures are compiled from 32 source excerpts across 14 publications: 8 from regulators and official company channels (Tier 1) and 24 from industry research and trade bodies (Tier 2). Sources run from April 2023 to September 2026, and only publisher-owned reports and regulator findings qualified. Figures are reviewed on a rolling basis and updated when sources publish new editions.

• IAB’s projection measures the ad dollars brands intentionally invest in creators through direct partnerships for sponsored content, amplified sponsored content, and planned creator adjacencies, so affiliate links, tips, and merchandise sit outside the $37 billion figure.
• Goldman Sachs Research estimates the total addressable market of the creator economy could roughly double in size over the next five years to $480 billion by 2027 from $250 billion.
• The same report expects the 50 million global creators to grow at a 10-20% compound annual growth rate, with earnings splits tracked in our creator economy statistics.
• Brand deals are the main source of revenue at about 70% of creator income, per Goldman Sachs survey data.
• Only about 4% of global creators are deemed professionals, meaning they pull in more than $100,000 a year.

Source: IAB 2025 Creator Economy Ad Spend and Strategy Report

How much do companies spend on influencer marketing?

US brands are projected to spend $37 billion in 2025 on creator advertising, per IAB, a measure that counts intentional brand investment in creators. Emarketer’s narrower forecast adds another $1.37 billion to the market, pushing spending to $10.52 billion in the same year, so the answer depends on which definition a buyer uses.

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US Influencer Marketing Spending Growth

• Emarketer found US influencer marketing spending will surpass $10 billion in 2025, after Emarketer previously expected spending to reach the $10 billion mark in 2026.
• Emarketer’s 2024 estimate is an upgrade from our previous 2024 growth forecast of 16.0%.
• Emarketer expected influencer marketing spending growth on TikTok to slow to 17.0% in 2025, roughly on par with Instagram and YouTube.
• Instagram and YouTube each attract over $1 billion more in influencer marketing spending than TikTok, according to the same forecast.

Is influencer marketing still growing?

Yes. Emarketer expects influencer marketing spending growth to tick up slightly to 15.7% in 2026 after a slower year, and IAB’s creator ad spend series was projected to grow 26% year-over-year in 2025. Growth has cooled since influencer marketing spending rose by 23.7% in 2024, but both forecasts still point up.

Recent Developments

• September 2026: YouTube said over 1.3 million creators are part of the affiliate program at Made on YouTube, and that it is expanding its affiliate program to 35 countries by the end of the year.
• September 2026: YouTube Creator Partnerships, now available in 20 countries, added brand access codes, while YouTube is investing hundreds of millions of dollars in incentives to agency partners.
• September 2026: YouTube reported more than 20 million videos uploaded to the platform every day.
• September 2026: IAB’s Creator Signal research surveyed 2,200 consumers in five global markets and found consumers want creators included in AI shopping recommendations, especially younger generations.
• August 2026: Sprout Social’s 2026 Influencer Marketing Report found 81% of Gen Z consumers made a direct purchase based on an influencer recommendation this past year.

Influencer Marketing Budget Statistics

• Influencer Marketing Hub found only 5.55% expect a decrease in their 2026 influencer budget.
• Linqia reported one-third planning to spend more than $5 million in 2026 among enterprise marketers.
• Budget growth is not matched by revenue measurement: only 24% of companies design campaigns around revenue outcomes, leaving most of that new investment measured against awareness alone.
• Sprout Social found Half of all companies (50%) still deploy creators primarily for “brand awareness,” often using follower count as a proxy.

Key finding: Influencer Marketing Hub’s 2026 survey found 72.22% of respondents expect their influencer budget to increase by 50%+, while promo/discount codes lead adoption (45.9% of those answering) among measurement tools. Sprout Social adds that only 24% of companies design campaigns around revenue outcomes, so most new spend is judged on awareness.

Influencer Marketing ROI and KPI Statistics

• Among those answering, 65.9% expect payback within 1 month, including 48.4% within 2 weeks.
• Brand awareness is the most selected KPI, reported by 55.1% of those answering, ahead of revenue KPIs.
• IAB found 40% of buyers rank overall ROI as their top KPI for creator campaigns.
• IAB’s top campaign goals are building brand awareness (43%), reaching new audiences (41%), enhancing brand reputation/trust (35%), and driving online sales/conversions (32%).
• Measurement after promo codes runs through affiliate links (26.0%) and native shop features (25.0%).

A one-month payback expectation paired with awareness-first KPIs is a mismatch, because awareness rarely proves itself inside four weeks.

Influencer Marketing Platform Statistics

• Influencer Marketing Hub found that 31% of respondents included TikTok in their influencer plans, the most selected platform.
• After TikTok, selection drops, with every other platform clustering in a narrow band, roughly 8-15%.
• Emarketer expected over half of US marketers to use influencer marketing on YouTube for the first time in 2025.
• In the EU sweep, 82 influencers had over 1 million followers, 301 over 100,000 and 73 between 5,000 and 100,000.
• TikTok’s lead in budget intent sits beside Instagram’s larger creator base, a split our TikTok vs Instagram data tracks platform by platform.

Creator Tier Statistics: Nano, Micro and Macro

• For nano creators, only 10.00% indicate contraction (7.14% “decrease” + 2.86% “stop”).
• Micro creators have just 7.55% reporting a decrease and 0% saying they’ll stop.
• Mid-tier creators split, as 21.21% plan contraction (15.15% decrease + 6.06% stop).
• Cost planning concentrates at the small end: Nano (29.54% of all cost selections) and Micro (22.36%), far ahead of macro (4.35%).
• Sprout Social found only 17% of consumers say they consider follower count when deciding to follow a creator.

Recommendation feeds reward topic fit over audience size, and budgets are following, with expansion intent concentrated below the macro tier. The pattern fits our Instagram follower data, where follower totals are only one input to reach.

Influencer Content Format Statistics

• Influencer Marketing Hub found long-form has one of the highest percentages in the set at 83%, short-form is equally effective at 80%, and as much as 62% of brands put live shopping in their top three most effective content formats.
• Linqia found that 100% of respondents said they are using creator content beyond the creator’s wall.
• Linqia also reported that 81% of marketers say that creator content outperforms brand-created assets.

Short attention windows help explain why short-form sits so close to long-form, a shift our social media attention span data has tracked for several years.

Social Commerce and Influencer Shopping Statistics

• Influencer Marketing Hub found 53.33% of respondents say they are not currently using social commerce, while 46.67% say they’re planning to test in 2026.
• YouTube reported that YouTube Shopping tags drive more than twice as many clicks as adding links in the description.
• Wider GMV and conversion figures for shoppable feeds sit in our social commerce statistics.
• The YouTube affiliate program recorded a 13x growth in Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV) over the last two years.

By the numbers: 53.33% of respondents say they are not currently using social commerce, while 46.67% say they’re planning to test in 2026, per Influencer Marketing Hub. On YouTube, shopping tags drive more than twice as many clicks as adding links in the description, and a 13x growth in Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV) over the last two years gives that testing cohort a second platform to learn on.

AI in Influencer Marketing Statistics

• IAB found nearly three-in-four creator ad buyers are already using or planning to use AI within the next year.
• IAB lists AI uses as content editing (49%), creator briefs (46%), and content personalization (45%).
• Yet 95% of advertisers have concerns about using AI in creator marketing overall, per IAB.
• Linqia found 74% of marketers use AI to generate ideas, write influencer briefs, and streamline workflows, but 89% are still not planning to work with virtual influencers or digital avatars.
• Sprout Social found 44% of consumers are not comfortable with brands partnering with AI influencers.

Brands trust AI to find creators far more than to verify them. Attitudes toward synthetic creators are covered in our AI influencer marketing statistics.

Influencer Marketing Challenges

• Influencer Marketing Hub found economic pressure totals 40.68% of reported challenges once creator costs and budget limits are combined.
• Measuring ROI and attribution complexity combine to 15.84% of reported challenges.
• Linqia reported that 79% of marketers cited ROI as the top challenge, while 48% said attribution is the largest gap in measurement.
• Sprout Social found that finding creators who align with their target audience (42%) and brand values (41%) are companies’ top challenges.
• IAB found creator reputation (58%) and audience alignment (56%) are among the top criteria when brands select a creator.

How do algorithm changes affect influencer marketing?

Influencer Marketing Hub respondents report platform volatility and algorithm changes sit at 8.07% of challenges, behind costs and authenticity. Sprout Social’s data shows the practical effect: reach has become decoupled from audience size as feeds prioritize interest over follows.

In-House vs Agency Influencer Programs

• Influencer Marketing Hub found the most commonly outsourced function is creator discovery and vetting (19.44%), followed by content production (15.28%).
• Contracting and negotiation work remains a meaningful outsource category at 11.1%.
• The least outsourced function is reporting & analytics at 6.9%.
• Linqia’s enterprise sample differs: Nearly half (49%) of marketers now work with specialist influencer agencies, up from 28% in 2025, while in-house management dropped to 23%.

Source: Influencer Marketing Hub Benchmark Report 2026

The two surveys sample different buyers, so program size appears to decide the operating model.

Consumer Trust in Influencers

• Sprout Social found that more than 80% of consumers believe influencers should use products they promote.
• 61% of consumers believe companies should compensate employees extra for their social promotion efforts.
• Sprout Social’s consumer survey was conducted from May 14, 2026, to May 20, 2026, among 2,250 social media users across the US, UK, and Australia.
• Gen Z purchase behavior is a recurring theme in our Gen Z social media data.

Source: Sprout Social 2026 Influencer Marketing Report

UK Influencer Ad Disclosure Statistics

• The ASA found one in every four pieces of content on Instagram captured and returned by our monitoring was categorised as being likely advertising.
• On TikTok, that number dropped to one in every six pieces of content.
• Platform rates were close: Instagram (55%) and TikTok (60%).
• Over 50% of ads relating to the Fashion and Travel sector were undisclosed or inadequately disclosed.
• The ASA used its Active Ad Monitoring system to capture and process over 50,000 individual pieces of content from 509 UK- based accounts by 390 influencers.

Worth noting: The ASA estimates approximately 57% of influencer content on Instagram and TikTok in the UK would likely be adequately disclosed, but a fifth of the undisclosed ads did make some attempt at using a disclosure label such as gifted or affiliate. The ASA and the Competitions and Markets Authority say those labels do not convey commercial intent.

EU Influencer Disclosure Sweep Statistics

• The sweep covered national consumer protection authorities of 22 Member States, Norway and Iceland.
• Posts of 576 influencers published on major social media platforms were checked.
• 38% of them did not use the platform labels that serve to disclose commercial content, such as Instagram’s paid partnership toggle.
• 40% of influencers endorsed their own products, services, or brands. 60% of those did not consistently, or at all, disclose advertising.
• 119 influencers were considered to be promoting unhealthy or hazardous activities, including gambling and crypto trading.

Source: European Commission and CPC network influencer sweep, February 2024

What percentage of influencers disclose ads?

Disclosure rates depend on the regulator and the method. The EU sweep found only 20% systematically disclosed this as advertising, while the ASA estimates approximately 57% of influencer content on Instagram and TikTok in the UK would likely be adequately disclosed. The UK figure measures content, while the EU figure measures influencers.

Influencer Fraud and FTC Enforcement Statistics

• On December 22, 2025, Federal Trade Commission staff sent letters to 10 companies, warning them of potential violations of the agency’s Consumer Review Rule.
• The Rule contains additional provisions relating to company-controlled review websites, suppressing certain reviews, and misusing indicators of social media influence like the number of followers or views.
• Influencer Marketing Hub found Fake engagement and authenticity issues account for 12.73% of selections of reported challenges.
• AI is rarely pointed at fraud, with fraud detection at 7.22% of AI selections.
• Agencies handle part of the load, with fraud detection/authenticity checks, all at 12.5% of outsourced functions.

Why it matters: The FTC’s Consumer Review Rule covers misusing indicators of social media influence like the number of followers or views, and its warning letters cite civil penalties of up to $53,088 per violation. Fake engagement and authenticity issues account for 12.73% of selections among reported challenges, so inflated audiences now carry legal as well as budget risk.

Buyers running creator programs at scale increasingly pair manual vetting with dedicated affiliate fraud detection and audience-authentication tools.

Conclusion

IAB projects $37 billion in annual US creator ad spend, and Influencer Marketing Hub found 72.22% of respondents expect their influencer budget to increase by 50%+. The weak point is proof: awareness still dominates KPIs, and regulators keep finding undisclosed ads, so the brands that benefit most will be those that measure beyond reach and treat disclosure as part of the brief.

IAB’s Creator Signal research found consumers want creators included in AI shopping recommendations, and FTC warning letters cite civil penalties of up to $53,088 per violation for review and influence misuse. Readers comparing platform-level usage can follow the trend lines in our social media screen time statistics.