Industry Insights
Influencer Marketing by the Numbers
Key statistics from leading industry reports — curated to help you understand the state of creator marketing, consumer behavior, and where the industry is headed.
The Big Picture
Market Size & Growth
$32.55B
Estimated global market value of influencer marketing in 2025.
$250B+
The total estimated value of the broader creator economy.
171%
Year-over-year increase in average influencer marketing spend in 2025 — more growth than the prior four years combined.
$40B
Influencer marketing has grown from a campaign tactic into a $40 billion channel in less than a decade, outpacing every other emerging marketing format.
$6.9T
Projected global retail ecommerce sales — a 430% increase over the last decade. Social commerce in the U.S. alone is expected to surpass $100 billion in 2025.
Source: GRIN — The Power of Influence
59%
Increase in total dollars paid to creators year-over-year, while the number of creators participating in campaigns grew by 183%.
$10B
Creator revenue from sponsored content in the U.S. is set to cross $10 billion in 2025 — double the 2021 figure.
Source: The Goat Agency — 2026 Unfiltered (citing Statista)
$376B
Projected global creator revenue by 2030 — up from a 20% increase expected in 2025 alone.
Source: The Goat Agency — 2026 Unfiltered (citing WPP Media 2025)
Consumer Behavior
How Consumers Discover & Buy
3 out of 4
Shoppers have purchased a product or service because an influencer recommended it.
45%
Of consumers buy at least one item per month based on creator recommendations. For Gen Z, that rate jumps to 69%.
55%
Of U.S. consumers have been influenced to take a real-world action by creator content.
59%
Of consumers said they would purchase based on a creator recommendation — and 22% converted within a day of seeing the initial recommendation.
62%
Of consumers have purchased a product directly through a social media app. Among Millennials, more than 2 out of 5 do so at least once per week.
Source: GRIN — The Power of Influence
2–3x
Most consumers need to see a product at least 2–3 times before buying. One-off activations don't drive the repetition required to convert.
Product Discovery
Where Consumers Find New Products
42.2%
Of Gen Z consumers prefer TikTok for product discovery — with Google coming in at a distant third place.
Source: GRIN — The Power of Influence
61%+
Of consumers over 35 still prefer Google for product discovery — but that number shrinks to 39% among Millennials as TikTok gains ground.
97%
Of consumers do at least some research before purchasing — and for Gen Z and Millennials, social media reviews and creator endorsements are the most influential factor.
Trust & Authenticity
Why Consumers Trust Creators
71%
Of consumers trust advertising, opinions, and product placements from influencers, according to Nielsen.
Source: Viral Nation — Influencer Marketing at Scale (citing Nielsen 2021)
85%
Of consumers are willing to pay more for brands they perceive as authentic.
91%
Of consumers expect brands to disclose when AI is used in their marketing — signaling that transparency is now a baseline expectation, not a differentiator.
62.4%
Of consumers say "similar lifestyle" is the top quality that makes them trust an influencer's recommendation. Follower count ranks last at 23.5%.
51.4%
Of Gen Z and Millennials trust influencer recommendations more than those from friends and family. Celebrity recommendations rank a distant third at 6.7%.
Source: GRIN — The Power of Influence
96%
Of creators report that common public perceptions of creators are not accurate — highlighting a significant gap between how brands and media view creators vs. how creators see themselves.
Creator vs. Brand Content
The Scale of Creator Impact
33x
More content was produced by creators than by Fortune 100 brands themselves across TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube (Jan–Aug 2025, U.S.).
11x
More impressions delivered by creators compared to Fortune 100 brand-owned content across the same platforms.
14x
More engagements generated by creator content compared to brand-owned content for the same Fortune 100 companies.
Platform Performance
YouTube & Emerging Platforms
70%
Of YouTube viewers say they bought from a brand as a result of seeing it on YouTube.
Source: Aspire — The Ultimate Guide to YouTube Influencer Marketing (citing Think with Google)
100%
Lift in top-of-mind awareness driven by organic branded content on YouTube, along with a 35% lift in purchase intent.
Source: Aspire — The Ultimate Guide to YouTube Influencer Marketing (citing Think with Google)
$2.35B
Projected U.S. influencer marketing spend on YouTube this year — the highest of any single platform.
70B
Average daily views on YouTube Shorts — up 200% since its launch in 2021. There are now over 175 million YouTube Shorts users in the U.S. alone.
10–20%
YouTube Partnership Ads running on a creator's own channel see 10% more clicks to advertiser websites and drive 20% higher conversions on Shorts vs. ads with advertiser branding alone.
Source: Aspire — The Ultimate Guide to YouTube Influencer Marketing (citing YouTube)
200M
Monthly active users on Discord — double its previous figure — with 74% aged 16–34. Substack has surpassed 50 million active users, signaling a major resurgence of long-form written content.
Industry Operations
How Brands Run Influencer Programs
37.6%
Of brands work with fewer than 10 influencers per year. Only 14.7% work with 1,000 or more — revealing a massive gap between potential and execution.
50%
Only half of marketers have run influencer campaigns at all — meaning the gap between potential and execution is where the biggest opportunity lives.
29.8%
Of marketers cite influencer discovery as their top operational challenge, followed by payment processing (17.1%) and contract management (13.9%).
Source: Viral Nation — Influencer Marketing at Scale (citing Influencer Marketing Hub 2025)
58%
Of marketers cite social media engagement data as the most important metric for securing stakeholder buy-in, followed by conversion rates at 48%.
Sources
CreatorIQ — The State of Creator Compensation
Survey of 300 creators + analysis of 14.4k creator payments. Sapio Research, July–Dec 2025.
Survey of 300 creators + analysis of 14.4k creator payments. Sapio Research, July–Dec 2025.
NeoReach — Creator Impact Report 2026
1,050-person U.S. consumer survey (Statista) + 539-creator survey. January–March 2026.
1,050-person U.S. consumer survey (Statista) + 539-creator survey. January–March 2026.
GRIN — The Power of Influence
Survey of 1,000+ U.S. consumers ages 18–65+. 2025.
Survey of 1,000+ U.S. consumers ages 18–65+. 2025.
GRIN — Influencer Marketer's Guide to the Modern Consumer
Survey of 1,000+ U.S. consumers ages 18–65+.
Survey of 1,000+ U.S. consumers ages 18–65+.
Viral Nation — Influencer Marketing at Scale
Industry analysis and research synthesis. 2025.
Industry analysis and research synthesis. 2025.
Emplifi — Digital Authenticity in the Age of AI
Survey of 1,650 U.S. and U.K. consumers. January 2026.
Survey of 1,650 U.S. and U.K. consumers. January 2026.
Aspire — The Ultimate Guide to YouTube Influencer Marketing
Platform analysis and YouTube advertising data. 2025–2026.
Platform analysis and YouTube advertising data. 2025–2026.
The Goat Agency — 2026 Unfiltered: Culture, Content and Creator Marketing Predictions
Industry analysis drawing on campaign data and market research. 2025–2026.
Industry analysis drawing on campaign data and market research. 2025–2026.