Influencer Marketing Statistics 2026

$29.5B

U.S. creator-economy ad spend reached $29.5 billion in 2024.

$37.1B

IAB estimated U.S. creator-economy ad spend at $37.1 billion in 2025.

+26%

Estimated U.S. creator ad spend grew 26% from 2024 to 2025.

$43.9B

IAB projected U.S. creator-economy ad spend to reach $43.9 billion in 2026.

48%

48% of surveyed creator ad buyers considered creators a necessary “must buy” for their media plan.

$2.9M

Brand respondents reported spending an average of $2.9 million annually on influencer marketing.

The report calculates an absolute average from spend bands and warns that expanded high-end answer options affect year-over-year comparison.

$4.4M

Agency respondents reported an average annual influencer marketing budget of $4.4 million.

71%

71% of surveyed organizations increased influencer marketing investment year over year.

80%

80% of enterprise organizations increased influencer marketing investment year over year.

98%

98% of brand respondents repurpose creator content across other channels.

64%

64% of brands increased their use of creator content over the preceding year.

40%

Overall ROI was the most selected creator-campaign KPI, chosen by 40% of surveyed buyers as a top-three KPI.

39%

39% of creator ad buyers named proving ROI as a top-three measurement and attribution challenge.

34%

34% selected attributing sales to creators as a top-three measurement challenge.

94%

94% of surveyed organizations said creator content drives more ROI than traditional digital advertising.

This is a self-reported comparison, not an independently calculated return multiple.

74%

74% of enterprise brands reported that creator marketing ROI increased year over year.

10× scale

Low-followership targeting outperformed high-followership targeting by an order of magnitude across three ROI measures.

The measures were revenue per follower, revenue per reached follower, and return on influencer spend.

1,881,533

The peer-reviewed revenue study analysed 1,881,533 attributed purchases worth more than €17 million.

319

Three follow-up field studies tested 319 paid influencer endorsements across Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok.

43%

Building brand awareness was the most selected creator-marketing goal, chosen by 43% as a top-three objective.

32%

Driving online sales or conversions was a top-three creator-marketing goal for 32% of surveyed buyers.

58%

58% of creator ad buyers rated creator reputation as very important when selecting partners.

56%

56% rated audience alignment as very important when selecting a creator.

8%

Follower count was selected by 8% as the single most important creator-selection criterion.

$300 median

Creators below 10,000 followers had a median asking price of $300 for one posted video.

$350 median

Creators with 10,000 to 25,000 followers had a median asking price of $350.

$750 median

Creators with 25,000 to 100,000 followers had a median asking price of $750.

$1,500 median

Creators with 100,000 to 250,000 followers had a median asking price of $1,500.

$2,500 median

Creators with 250,000 to 500,000 followers had a median asking price of $2,500.

$3,999 median

Creators with 500,000 to 1 million followers had a median asking price of $3,999.

$7,000 median

Creators above 1 million followers had a median asking price of $7,000.

49%

49% of surveyed consumers made purchases at least monthly because of influencer posts.

30%

30% of surveyed consumers trusted influencers more than they had six months earlier.

80%

80% were more willing to buy from brands that partner with influencers beyond social media content.

77%

77% of U.S. social media users found influencer content more compelling than professionally scripted advertising.

86%

86% said they were at least somewhat likely to search social platforms before a purchase.

79%

79% said they had purchased a product after seeing it used by an influencer.

77%

77% had purchased through a social platform’s shopping feature at least once.

85%

85% were more likely to trust a sponsored post from an influencer than from an A-list celebrity.

40%

40% of U.S. social media users said they followed influencers or content creators.

30%

30% had purchased something after seeing an influencer or creator post about it.

39%

39% said influencers affected their purchase decisions at least a little.

54%

54% of social media users aged 18 to 29 said influencers affected what they purchased at least a little.

62%

62% of female social media users aged 18 to 29 said influencers affected their purchases at least a little.

85%

85% of brand respondents used Instagram for creator marketing, the highest share among measured platforms.

5 platforms

Organizations used an average of five social platforms for influencer campaigns.

70B+

YouTube reported more than 70 billion average daily Shorts views in March 2024.

200B+

YouTube reported more than 200 billion average daily Shorts views in June 2025.

20M+

More than 20 million videos were uploaded to YouTube on an average day in 2025.

$55B

Oxford Economics estimated that YouTube’s creative ecosystem contributed $55 billion to U.S. GDP in 2024.

490,000

The same study estimated that YouTube’s U.S. creative ecosystem supported the equivalent of 490,000 full-time jobs in 2024.

44%

44% of creator respondents said better communication would make brand partnerships more successful.

43%

43% said more creative input would improve brand partnerships.

41%

41% said consistent or long-term collaboration would make partnerships more successful.

75%

75% of creator ad buyers were using AI or planned to use it within the next 12 months.

46% were currently using AI and 29% planned to use it within 12 months.

49%

49% of AI-using creator marketers used it for content editing.

46%

46% of AI-using creator marketers used it to develop creator briefs.

35%

35% of AI-using creator marketers used it for creator selection.