The news: Social marketing teams are being asked to produce more and work across more channels, and budgets are moving toward formats that can help them meet that demand.

• 86% of marketers in the US, the UK, Australia, and New Zealand say the amount of content and campaigns they manage has grown over the past 12 months, including 37% who call it a significant increase, per Emplifi.
• 53% plan to increase their influencer budgets over the next year.
• 55% think short-form video will be the fastest-growing content format, followed by genAI content (41%), creator and influencer content (37%), and carousel posts (33%).

Meanwhile, amid user aversion to AI-generated influencers, only 35% plan to increase investments in virtual creators, down from 58% in 2025.

Zooming out: Marketers are looking for content formats that can expand their output and audience reach without every post needing to be produced from scratch by an internal team. Influencer partnerships could relieve production pressure by giving brands a steady stream of platform-native content that reaches established, trusting audiences.

Meanwhile, AI’s role in content creation may be more valuable behind the scenes, as declining investment in virtual creators suggests marketers are getting more selective about consumer-facing AI content.

Short-form video’s popularity could intensify content demands, though, as marketers may need to produce more variations tailored to different platforms to avoid repetition.

Recommendations for marketers: To manage a heightened demand for social content, teams should invest in reusable content assets that can be used across multiple channels. This can include using AI to produce variations of content for different platforms, which is less likely to produce user backlash than using AI to fully generate creative.

Working with influencer partners who have a cross-platform presence can help increase the likelihood of reaching a diverse audience, but firm guidelines should be established to ensure that, as the pool of creators a brand is working with grows, brand voice and product presentation remain consistent.

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