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.

This sponsored video by Awin will explore how affiliate partnerships are transforming influencer marketing.

Most (63%) of global social media users prefer short videos from creators, according to a March impact.com and EMARKETER survey.

Entertainment brands are partnering with influencers to drive engagement with Hollywood properties, according to an Advertising Week New York panel of film and TV industry leaders and creators. While partnering with creators for Hollywood productions is especially important amid volatile box office revenues struggling to reach pre-pandemic levels, the panel’s insights stretch to all marketers working with influencers.

Linear TV and streaming have mastered how to present ad products alongside their top talent to win marketing dollars, and more audio players are following suit. On Monday, SiriusXM hosted “Built with Audio,” an upfront-style showcase scheduled around Advertising Week New York that packaged talent interviews and performances with executive presentations tailored to an audience of marketers.

Gen Zers are avid personal care and beauty shoppers, and their habits often diverge from those of older consumers. While they shop in-store as much as non-Gen Zers, they're more likely to turn to digital channels for research and purchases. This report contrasts Gen Z behaviors with those of non-Gen Z shoppers across the personal care and beauty landscape.

This sponsored video by Awin will explore how affiliate and referral marketing are driving digital buyer growth among Gen Z.

At Advertising Week New York, creators are no longer side players—they’re center stage. Global president Ruth Mortimer told EMARKETER that influencers now operate as media channels in their own right, shaping programming with four dedicated tracks, a creator lounge, and even an Adobe-backed live pitch where creators can secure $25,000 contracts on stage. As creators revive entertainment formats and build their own businesses, brands should view them as long-term partners driving cultural relevance—not just campaign amplifiers.

YouTube will allow creator accounts banned for election and COVID-19 misinformation to apply for reinstatement after mounting pressure for platforms to reverse Biden-era restrictions. YouTube’s policy shift signals a new norm in online content moderation where platform rules are more fluid and politically contested.

YouTube wants to be the home for both product discovery and ecommerce as it rolls out new shopping features across long-form videos and Shorts, per The Verge. Incoming additions include dynamic brand segments for swapping out sponsors, AI tagging of eligible products, and brand links in Shorts. YouTube is announcing new features—like shoppable masthead ads and text-to-video tools—at a breakneck pace, looking to capitalize on its growth across platforms. Brands should partner with both top creators and smaller influencers to boost discovery and purchases.

YouTube creators aren’t just publishing more TV-like content; they’re reinventing the TV medium. Brands can’t just shift TV budget to YouTube; they must also shift their thinking about what “television” is.

New York Fashion Week (NYFW) is no longer about who sits in the front row—it’s about who shares the clips. N4XT Experiences has tapped Viral Nation as its exclusive social partner across NYFW, LA Fashion Week, and BEAUTYDAYS, enlisting 900 creators to capture and amplify content in real time. Influencer voices now account for nearly a quarter of NYFW’s media impact, showing how creators have become central to fashion’s cultural resonance. Viral Nation will manage NYFW’s entire digital presence, tracking social performance and ensuring fashion weeks function less as insider events and more as global cultural engines.

Even as advertisers shift budgets to creators, consumers are more distrusting of influencer marketing than other advertising, per a National Advertising Division (NAD) of BBB National Programs report. Authenticity is the differentiating factor that will earn consumer trust even as audiences remain skeptical of influencers.

Threads, Patreon, and Substack escalate fight for writers: Platforms add features and perks to encourage creator loyalty.

Our exclusive data explores how social commerce and AI are reshaping the beauty path to purchase for US consumers.

Despite brands increasing influencer marketing spending, creators are struggling to grow their content business and earn more from sponsorship deals, per Digiday. And while holiday season typically provides a boom, 70% of creators expect traditional sponsored posts to account for under a quarter of their holiday content as focus shifts to performance-driven efforts, according to Collective Voice. Influencer marketing continues its growth trajectory, and the future of the sector relies on how creators adapt to the rise of third-party inventory solutions that divert brand spend away from traditional sponsorships.

Backlash over e.l.f. Beauty’s partnership with controversial creator Matt Rife and debates sparked by Sydney Sweeney’s American Eagle ad shows that advertisers are facing a moment of heightened scrutiny that requires rigorous vetting of influencer partnerships. As audiences turn to influencers for purchasing decisions and rethink brand loyalty for those who turn their backs on social issues, brands who remain selective and thorough about the creators they work with will win trust.

As the creator economy continues to expand, consumer attention is further fragmenting across a growing number of creators and platforms. But revenues are increasingly consolidating into top names, squeezing the long tail of creators and other creator economy stakeholders.

The news: Instagram added new limitations to its livestream feature, now requiring creators to have a public account with over 1,000 followers to go live, per TechCrunch. Our take: While it could benefit Meta’s competitive position in the livestream space, Instagram’s latest restrictions will harm creators looking to break into the influencer space—necessitating rapid adaptation. Smaller creators could shift attention to other platforms with less restrictive livestream requirements—think YouTube, which only requires 50 subscribers to go live, and Twitch, which has no livestream minimum.