The “TikTok effect” on influencer marketing is palpable, but Instagram and YouTube are still highly relevant venues for creator video.

Facebook Reels’ global rollout comes with fresh ad formats: The new banner and sticker ads both attract creators to the platform and offer marketers performance ad options for short-form video.

Instagram introduces subscriptions as it vies for control of the creator economy: As Instagram’s cachet diminishes among younger audiences, it hopes monetization tools will keep creators from turning to other platforms.

Video is a growing part of advertising on social media. Here’s how advertisers are using video ads on social platforms to drive ad performance throughout the funnel.

It’s still early days, but augmented reality is showing real potential for social commerce. Brands can use the technology to improve the experience and help customers make more informed purchase decisions.

Social media platforms are betting on social audio as part of the creator economy: Live audio is becoming less about the platforms that started the trend as more big firms launch creator-focused features.

YouTube Shorts is bringing its Shorts Fund to over 30 new countries: The platform is stressing the importance of original content as it goes up against TikTok for creators.

Twitter’s latest product road map updates put an emphasis on user experience and, of course, creators: The moves come amid increased competition from other major social players.

Twitter’s Super Follows isn’t to attract new creators—it’s to keep the ones it has: As the platform slowly sheds US users, new monetization options and better anti-harassment features are the least it can do.

TikTok’s Shopping tab marks a big but necessary shift: The feature will let select Shopify merchants add product catalogs to their profiles, likely the first of many interface changes to facilitate ecommerce on the TikTok.

US influencer marketing spending will rise by 33.6% in 2021 to $3.69 billion. Our inaugural forecast shows that US marketers will allocate nearly $1 billion more to influencer marketing this year than they did in 2020, representing the strongest spending growth in the industry since 2019.

Facebook earnings: The company's Q2 earnings could shed light on the effects of Apple’s iOS 14.5 update, but it’s still on track to clear $100 billion in revenues by the end of the year.

This quarter, we are adding TikTok to our social media update series, which analyzes key developments for marketers from the major social platforms.

The explosion in vertical video is creating both opportunities and challenges for the Story format. Stories are evolving quickly on Instagram and remain a top venue for influencer activations. But Twitter’s decision to kill off Fleets shows they aren’t popular on all platforms.

Influencer marketing spending in the US is set to grow more than 30% this year and surpass a key milestone. According to our inaugural forecast on US influencer marketing spending, the category will exceed $3 billion in 2021 and will surpass $4 billion next year.

On today's episode, we discuss which “digital habits” are just myths, whether travel has reached pre-pandemic levels, whether conversational commerce can take online shopping by storm, social audio getting some new big partners, which platforms creators want to create for, what it would look like if companies were mini countries, and more. Tune in to the discussion with eMarketer principal analyst Paul Verna, forecasting analyst Peter Vahle, and analyst at Insider Intelligence Blake Droesch.

Creator economy crescendo: Amazon is quickly building out areas of its business that center on influencers, as the walls between social media and ecommerce erode and creators' roles in those spaces start to blend together.

BuzzFeed will pay up to $10K to creators: The program will award prizes for top-performing content. Though it will only last through the summer, it's likely a pilot program or a precursor to a more social BuzzFeed Community hub.

Creators have never been hotter: Social platforms want them, and marketers want to work with them. The creator economy is offering up new or improved opportunities for creators to make money outside of brand partnerships. So, where does that leave brands?

Many marketers had long underestimated the value of creators in their marketing mix. That’s no longer the case. Most brands today have incorporated influencer marketing into their media plans, and many intend to allocate even more funds to the tactic this year.