Home Depot introduced The Home Depot Creator Portal, a centralized hub that offers resources and earning opportunities for creators developing home improvement content. The creator portal is intended to inspire creators while giving them access to advertising opportunities with Home Depot and its extensive supplier network. More retailers are setting up their own creator platforms as they look to tap into influencer marketing and ensure relevance as more product discovery shifts to social media. Establishing a creator platform allows retailers to bring greater standardization and quality control to their influencer partnerships, while still taking advantage of all the opportunities that influencer marketing can offer.

Later has transformed from a scheduling tool into a full-scale creator-commerce engine. One year after acquiring Mavely, the combined platform is processing more than $2.4 billion in annualized GMV and has paid out over $250 million to creators. During Black Friday–Cyber Monday alone, creators drove $50 million in sales through Later and Mavely systems. With link-in-bio tools, affiliate rails, workflow software, and AI-powered attribution stitched into one stack, Later now acts as a performance channel for brands like Southwest and Bissell. Its EdgeAI engine ties creator posts to SKU-level results, reflecting a broader shift toward creator marketing as a full-funnel, revenue-driving discipline.

Meta has rolled out major upgrades to partnership ads on Facebook and Instagram, introducing new AI-enabled tools, broader creator discovery surfaces, and an API that lets advertisers programmatically convert UGC and creator posts into paid ads at scale. Partnership ads already outperform standard formats—19% lower CPAs and 13% higher CTRs—and with Gen Z more receptive to creator messaging and most consumers taking action quickly after seeing creator content, Meta is formalizing the path from organic influence to paid performance. For marketers, the message is clear: creator content is now a foundational performance lever, not an experimental add-on.

The Home Depot launched a new creator portal this week, a hub where creators can access content inspiration, campaign opportunities, and expertise to build content around home improvement, DIY projects, and decor tips.

Social networks will claim close to 32% of US digital ad spending in 2026, as powerful AI systems and improved video monetization help push social past a plateau in time spent among US consumers.

Substack is testing its first structured sponsorship program, allowing selected writers to insert paid brand placements directly into newsletters—an opt-in beta that keeps creators in full control and avoids programmatic ads. The move follows significant audience growth, with US uniques doubling in a year, but minimal marketer adoption: only 5% of brand marketers use Substack today. Sponsorships offer a way to monetize large free audiences while preserving the platform’s editorial identity. For advertisers, the beta introduces a premium, high-intent environment suited to thought leadership and niche expertise—an early indication that creator newsletters may become more formal components of influencer and upper-funnel strategy.

For social platforms, AI hype is colliding with user fatigue and rising regulations. In the US, they face stalled engagement and tougher rules as people demand more control and more human experiences.

Shifts in what consumers watch, how they search, and where they shop are reshaping Latin America’s digital economy—and how brands will reach audiences in 2026. Explore the five trends to watch in the year ahead.

YouTube and NBCUniversal are doubling down on creator-led Olympic storytelling for Milano Cortina 2026 after Paris proved how strongly younger viewers gravitate toward digital personalities. Top YouTubers will chronicle the journeys of 40 Team USA athletes, with unprecedented access inside trials, training environments, and even the Athlete Village. Nearly half of global sports fans—and 59% of adults ages 18 to 44—follow sports influencers, while YouTube captured 17% of all global Olympic engagement in 2024. For marketers, creators now sit at the center of Olympic discovery, highlights, and cultural relevance, making YouTube indispensable to Games-era planning.

Consumers increasingly have a negative perception of generative AI (genAI) in the creator economy while fewer see it positively, per a Billion Dollar Boy Study. AI is becoming a necessity across marketing strategies. Negative consumer attitudes toward AI in the creator economy suggest that it’s not whether advertisers and creators use AI, but how they use it that will determine if they see success or face backlash.

The IAB’s 2025 Creator Economy report shows creator marketing has become a full-fledged media channel—one projected to reach $37.1 billion in spend next year, growing 26% YoY and outpacing the broader ad market by a factor of four. Nearly half of advertisers now call creators a must-buy, yet workflows remain fragmented across budgets, discovery tools, and measurement systems. With AI accelerating both production and complexity, the report lays out the emerging mandate: treat creator marketing as its own discipline with centralized budgets, standardized vetting, unified measurement, and formal AI governance. For marketers, real performance now requires real structure.

Jack Dorsey is reviving nostalgic short-form video culture with diVine, a Vine reboot designed for authenticity at a time when AI-generated creator content is surging. The new app launched with over 100,000 restored Vine videos. Vine gives diVine an emotional head start—but survival will hinge on converting that sentiment into fresh creative momentum. Brands that lean into authenticity will find diVine a clean slate—one where trust and creativity drive engagement. Still, it must overcome one hurdle: persuading audiences to make room for one more app in an already-saturated attention economy.

The news: YouTube’s global reach is rewriting entertainment power dynamics. Creator-led channels now rival and surpass traditional studios, signaling a shift from centralized production to audience-driven storytelling. That dominance extends beyond mobile screens and into the living room. What this means for brands: Half of the top 10 YouTube channels cater to kids and families, offering reliable spaces for brand-safe storytelling and high retention, provided that compliance with child privacy rules is prioritized. Brands that treat creators as strategic media partners—not just influencers—will command trust, deeper engagement, and measurable ROI.

Podcasts are emerging as the most credible, persuasive arm of the creator economy. According to Acast, 84% of listeners have changed their mind because of a podcaster, yet 75% don’t view them as influencers—proof that credibility, not celebrity, fuels podcast influence. Two-thirds of listeners say they’ve purchased something a host recommended. Despite the rise of video, most podcast engagement remains audio-first, underscoring the medium’s intimacy and staying power. For advertisers, podcasts offer a rare trifecta—attention, authenticity, and conversion—at a time when influencer fatigue and algorithmic feeds erode audience trust elsewhere.

The global mediascape has shifted rapidly over the past decade and continues to change as new formats attract users of all ages. The 2025 Global Media Intelligence (GMI) report is a deep dive into country-level and regional habits relating to time spent with media, media adoption, and device ownership.

Influencer marketing is no longer optional—it’s a performance-driven growth engine. As consumer trust and expectations reshape engagement, brands must adapt their strategies to sustain returns in a fast-moving yet maturing channel.

Twilio’s new tools solve a major marketing bottleneck: unreliable customer data signals. Its update turns Twilio Segment into a real-time control tower by giving marketers and engineers a shared view of what’s working and what’s broken across the customer journey, per MarTech. Marketers don’t need more data—they need usable data. Twilio’s tools clean the pipes and light up dashboards, turning signal chaos into signal clarity while giving brands the confidence and autonomy to act without second-guessing. Brands that delay addressing unreliable signals risk falling behind as data blind spots widen and personalization breaks down.

YouTube now reaches 76.3% of Mexico’s internet users and has become the default screen in Mexican homes, per DataReportal. But the bigger story is how it’s being watched—mostly through connected TV (CTV). YouTube now sits at the center of Mexico’s CTV and cultural ecosystem. There’s an opportunity for marketers to capture attention by seeking out partner creators for sponsorships. Brands looking to connect should prioritize long-form CTV strategies that hold attention on the big screen, collaborate with local creators who understand community dynamics. and develop original, Spanish-language content that reflects local culture and values.