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.

Creators now have more ways than ever to make a living online. This report explores how brands should approach and engage creators for partnerships in the new monetization ecosystem.

NewFronts recap: Exclusive content on ad-supported platforms, shoppable shows, and creator-driven video content on social media were three major trends we saw at the NewFronts this past week.

Scroll on, Twitter: The platform's acquisition of ad-free news startup Scroll is the latest in its effort to build out enough features and content to feasibly sell paid subscriptions to its users.

Tipping comes to Clubhouse: The social audio app will now let users tip hosts, likely a play to keep creators on the platform as they’re in danger of being poached by bigger players like Twitter and Twitch.

Clubhouse has buzz, but social audio isn’t as simple as it looks. The most promising marketing use cases are for thought leadership, virtual events, and influencer marketing.

YouTube Shorts debuts in the US: The feature may just be another TikTok clone for now, but if YouTube can successfully harness its existing base of video content creators, it could set Shorts apart.

User-generated short videos are all over the internet, from TikTok to Instagram Reels to Triller, and the marketing opportunities are exploding. Here’s how the main venues compare across usage, paid advertising, organic and influencer marketing, and commerce.

Livestreaming has become a prominent feature across the social media and digital video landscapes. Here’s how marketers are taking advantage of opportunities within the space.

From the growth of TikTok and of social commerce to the challenges of brand safety and the cookieless future, 2021 will be another year of big stories for social media.