2024 was a year of legitimacy for the creator economy. 2025 will be a year of professionalization, as creator content scales beyond social media and marketers focus on proving the ROI of their growing influencer marketing investments.

Snap’s play for adrift creators: A simplified payment program could entice creators who are left stranded by a TikTok ban.

News influencers are overwhelmingly male and lean right-wing: Brands looking for creators have to carefully pick apart values to ensure an ideological match.

Social commerce is gaining momentum in the UK—with sales set to double by 2028—as major brands join TikTok and as more people shop on social platforms.

The phrase “retail apocalypse” once dominated industry conversation, Ethan Chernofsky, senior vice president of marketing at Placer.ai said during the EMARKETER Summit on November 1.

Companies large and small will net hundreds of billions in US incremental ecommerce and digital ad dollars in the next two years. Who will be the big winners?

Affiliate marketing shifts to creator-driven strategies: Influencers bring engagement and trust to brand partnerships.

Gen Z is looking for “besties,” said speakers at ZCON, a conference featuring Gen Z speakers, creators, marketers, and business leaders. Speakers and attendees emphasized connections, personal branding on social media, platforms for networking, and more. Here are four takeaways from the event.

Influencer marketing is a natural way to reach Gen Z: Gen Zers rely on influencers far more than millennials do, per GoDaddy.

Social shoppers find inspiration for their purchases from many different types of content, but none more so than creator, influencer, or celebrity influencer content.

Three in four consumers are concerned about fake reviews, according to January 2023 data from Bazaarvoice. Amazon and other retailer websites have a fake reviews problem, and it’s driving consumers—Gen Zers in particular—to seek information about products on social media sites like TikTok and Reddit.

Contrary to popular belief, not every creator has a podcast. But those who do are a driving force behind the roughly $1.50 billion US creators will generate from digital audio distribution channels this year.

Instagram brings brands into the group chat: Channels feature offers brands a more intimate way to engage, but conversion success is uncertain.

Roblox plants deeper roots in the creator economy: The video game platform is at a fascinating crossroads of gaming and digital advertising.

As ecommerce grows in back-to-school shopping (34.9% of total back-to school sales this year versus 33.5% in 2023), content creators are playing a pivotal role in how consumers find school supplies. This shift is driven by younger parents buying classroom supplies for K-12 children and college students outfitting their dorm rooms. Both groups favor online shopping for its convenience and the ability to compare prices, our analyst Sarah Marzano said in a recent edition of our “Behind the Numbers: Reimagining Retail” podcast.

On today's podcast episode, we discuss standout data points from this year’s back-to-school season, creators' role in this shopping period, and what back-to-school is trying to tell us about this year's upcoming holidays. Listen to the conversation with our analyst Sara Lebow as she hosts analysts Sarah Marzano and Zak Stambor.

Influencer marketing can help payment brands shore up their marketing strategies now before their ad budget growth slows.

Influencer marketing is often associated with Gen Z and millennials, and for good reason. Nearly half of both generations are more likely to trust an ad featuring an influencer they trust, according to June 2024 data from Captiv8. But 79.8% of US Gen Xers and 53.9% of US baby boomers will use social media this year, per our May 2024 forecast. To ensure marketers seize the untapped potential for reaching these generations, we’ve compiled a generation-by-generation breakdown on how and where to reach them.

Quieter Vidcon spotlights maturing creator economy: Growing sector turns focus to scaling up and revenue diversification.

Gen Alpha is “very savvy when it comes to brands,” said Dani Mariano, president of Razorfish. But the young generation has different attitudes toward technology and learning than their older counterparts. They’re open to learning from brands, especially when creators are involved. And they’re eager to interact with others, both on and offline. Here are five key stats from Razorfish’s recent report on Gen Alpha.