Influencers are advising people to take their money from banks and deposit it with a credit union.

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

Substack vies for video content: While video use on the platform is growing, Substack has a long way to go—and risks alienating its core base.

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

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.

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.

One in 5 (21%) US adults regularly gets their news from social media news influencers, according to a November 2024 report from the Pew Research Center.

Horizon Media is hunting for acquisitions: The US agency is targeting companies in the influencer marketing and retail media sectors.

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.

Instagram is looking more and more like TikTok: The company is launching a video editing app, Edits, which is strikingly similar to TikTok’s CapCut.

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.

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.

41% of US consumers want brands to participate in meme culture and social media trends, according to M Booth. But just 25% want to see brands using popular phrases, expressions, and slang in their content, meaning brands need to be careful their voice doesn’t seem forced or corporate when posting online.

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.

Temu and Shein’s ad bidding war drove spending away from search: CPCs spiked after the two retailers claimed in-demand search ad space.

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

In today’s episode of The Banking & Payments Show podcast we talk about how financial services companies partner with creators on social media to reach younger audiences. In the ‘Headlines’ segment we examine the partnerships between banks and influencers by discussing the EMARKETER article, “How to make finfluencer partnerships work with a smaller marketing budget.” And in the ‘Story by Numbers’ segment, we shift the conversation to how many financial influencers there are on social media and the steps a bank needs to take to find the right finfluencer to partner with. Join the discussion with host, Rob Rubin, content creator and finfluencer, Taylor Mitchell, and analyst, Lauren Ashcraft.

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.