Brands are putting creator-led campaigns at the center of their marketing strategy, with increased budgets and partnerships.

Historically, marketers confined influencer marketing to a single corner of their overall marketing programs. Those days are now over.

Best-in-class organizations position creator-led marketing as a foundation upon which to build their broader programs. Because they leverage creators across various areas of the business, creator-led marketing is now the No. 1 differentiator of organizations with staying power. In other words, creator-led marketing is effective marketing.

According to CreatorIQ’s recently released Effective Marketing Report, brands are evolving their partnerships and budgets to increasingly put creator-led campaigns at the center of their marketing strategy.

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A few highlights from the report:

69% of Brands Increased Influencer Marketing Investment Over the Past Year

Budgets for both marketing overall and influencer marketing in particular have increased over the past year.

• 27% of brands and agencies reported a “significant” increase in marketing budgets
• 29% significantly expanded their financial investment in influencer marketing specifically.
• 6% of marketers experienced a slight or significant decrease in their overall marketing budgets. For more than half of those, a decrease in overall budget did not correspond with a decrease in influencer marketing budget. In other words, organizations making adjustments to their marketing budgets still invest in creator-led marketing—even when that requires pulling budget from other sources.

Brands Are Valuing Creator-Led Marketing More

When asked to rank their marketing program goals in order of importance, brands selected driving general awareness for their brand or clients as the most important goal. Driving awareness for specific products or initiatives was the No. 2 goal for marketers, closely followed by driving revenue.

• 86% suggested that creator marketing has been either somewhat or very effective at driving awareness for their brand or clients.
• 75% of marketers noted that creator-led marketing was somewhat effective or very effective at driving awareness for particular campaigns or initiatives.
• 73% say they can track the impact of creator-led marketing on sales and revenue.

Creator-Led Marketing Outpaces Digital Advertising

Marketers reported that owned social media marketing was their most frequent marketing engagement. This comes as no surprise, since many brands take advantage of their owned channels to help consumers keep up with the latest updates and offerings. Email marketing and creator-led marketing were tied behind owned social media marketing as the second-most common marketing activity.

• For both email and creator led-marketing, 58% reported engaging in these activities over the past year.
• When asked what changes are needed to boost the overall effectiveness of creator-led programs, an increased budget, more personnel, and better software solutions were listed as the top desires for yielding more effective creator-led marketing.

What was once a nice-to-have channel of marketing is now a necessity for organizations looking to up-level. The next wave of influencer marketing will require the integration of creator assets throughout all aspects of your brand’s marketing program.

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