AI is reshaping brand safety by amplifying risks around placement, accuracy, and authenticity while offering new tools to control them. As automation scales, marketers face a growing tradeoff between performance gains and trust.

Brands from PepsiCo to Ulta are leaning on wellness framing to nudge cautious consumers to spend.

57% of ad buyers will prioritize creator ads in 2026—but success will be driven by repeat partnerships with genuine brand advocates.

Newsletters are becoming creator power centers; onfluencers owning their audiences is reshaping how they monetize—and how brands leverage those audiences.

Podcasts are emerging as the most credible, persuasive arm of the creator economy. According to Acast, 84% of listeners have changed their mind because of a podcaster, yet 75% don’t view them as influencers—proof that credibility, not celebrity, fuels podcast influence. Two-thirds of listeners say they’ve purchased something a host recommended. Despite the rise of video, most podcast engagement remains audio-first, underscoring the medium’s intimacy and staying power. For advertisers, podcasts offer a rare trifecta—attention, authenticity, and conversion—at a time when influencer fatigue and algorithmic feeds erode audience trust elsewhere.

Paramount is betting on creator credibility to rebuild trust in mainstream news. The company’s $150 million acquisition of The Free Press brings its founder, Bari Weiss, to CBS News as editor-in-chief—an unprecedented crossover between creator-led media and legacy broadcasting. Weiss’s Substack-born outlet, with 1.5 million subscribers, will remain independent while lending its audience trust to Paramount’s broader news portfolio. The move reflects a growing convergence between individual-led journalism and traditional networks struggling to regain public confidence. Success will hinge on whether CBS and The Free Press can balance editorial independence with corporate oversight while preserving the authenticity audiences value most.

B2B social media has evolved from an awareness tool into a central part of how brands build trust, influence buying decisions, and drive business growth. AI, video, and influencer marketing are reshaping strategies and raising expectations for measurable impact.

In this report, CMOs share how they’re transforming influencer strategies to deliver business impact—and what solution providers can do to help.

B2B influencer marketing has become a key strategy for driving trust and engagement. Buyers turn to industry experts, micro-influencers, and thought leaders for credible insights. Marketers should use video and events to maximize reach as well as AI for efficiency and measurable ROI.