Influencer marketing is maturing and diversifying. While the turmoil at TikTok and the escalating trade war are causing temporary uncertainty, the industry will remain resilient as momentum around influencer marketing grows.

This year’s festival highlighted a maturing creator economy, a reality check for AI, and bigger and bolder brand activations and marketing trends.

As customers grab the same grocery staples they have for decades, Walmart is betting that gamifying the experience will challenge those habits. The retailer plans to launch Walmart Unlimited, a three-part miniseries that features the entrepreneurs behind its products. Launched last month on Spatial, the game includes full commerce integration that enables in-app purchases.

The creator economy asserts itself at SXSW: Panels with creator platforms underscored their crucial place in the marketing ecosystem

While retail media networks (RMNs) sell brand safety and predictability to marketers, influencer marketing boasts direct access to loyal audiences. Pairing these two channels together, experts stress, can drive significant growth for brands. Nine in 10 US marketers plan to promote their creator partnerships via RMNs in 2025, according to an October 2024 LTK survey.

On today’s special edition podcast, we talk about how brands are rising to the challenge of finding the right influencers and creators for campaigns. Listen to the discussion with Senior Analyst, Minda Smiley, as she hosts N’Yaisha Aziz, Global Social Media Lead at Uber, and Rodney Mason, the Head of Marketing and Brand Partnerships at LTK. Listen everywhere and watch on YouTube and Spotify.

How can Spotify grow its advertiser appeal? The music platform must tread carefully to attract advertisers while retaining customers.

TikTok returns to US app stores, hinting at a secure future: Regulators and storefronts say they want to keep the app around, putting it on much stronger footing.

On today’s special edition podcast, we discuss how marketers and advertisers are beginning to treat influencer marketing as a need-to-have as more serious industries from B2B to politics and healthcare are developing their own creator strategies. This discussion is from the keynote of EMARKETER’s The Creator Economy Trends 2025 and is hosted by Vice President and Principal Analyst Jasmine Enberg and Principal Analyst Sarah Marzano. Listen everywhere and watch on YouTube and Spotify.

2025 is the year marketers will get serious about the creator economy, according to our analyst Jasmine Enberg.

On today's podcast episode, we discuss how TikTok Shop has changed the way people shop on social media, how the brands who sell on the platform will be impacted if TikTok goes away, and what they should be thinking about next. Listen to the conversation with our Senior Analyst Sara Lebow as she hosts Principal Analyst Sky Canaves and Vice President and Principal Analyst Jasmine Enberg.

59% of US shoppers are most influenced by honest creator reviews that showcase the pros and cons of a product, according to a September 2024 survey by Bazaarvoice and Savanta.

Instead of casting a wide net on social platforms and pursuing the creators with the highest follower accounts, marketers are now more focused on resonating with the right audience.

Not everyone gets news from creators and influencers. But alternative voices, especially podcasters, hold a lot of sway over key demographics, including Gen Z, men, and consumers who feel marginalized by mainstream media.

Snapchat launches ‘Find Your Favorites’ campaign: Creator-focused strategy aims to grow engagement and revenue amid TikTok's uncertain US future.

Beauty’s run of strong retail sales growth is winding down, but new audiences and sales channels will offer opportunities for savvy brands and retailers to regain momentum.

The loss of TikTok in the US would cause a ripple effect across the media, marketing, and commerce landscape. Meta and YouTube stand to gain the most, but there is a long list of other winners—and losers.

3 2024 retail misconceptions: Retail media, QR codes, and microcommunities Brands and retailers got a lot right in 2024. Commerce media expanded further into non-retail channels like payments and travel. Brands found their own voices on TikTok. And in-person events helped drive traffic to stores. But the year also came with a number of lessons for retail. Here are three misconceptions retail experts noticed in 2024, and how brands can get them right in the 12 months ahead.

Physical campuses for creators set to return: These spaces could offer creators and brands opportunities to collaborate and learn as the industry professionalizes.

As social media strengthens its grip on consumers’ digital lives in 2025, political polarization, regulation, and a desire for deeper personalization will shake up the landscape.