The hunt for creators to collaborate with is now on that wish list of marketing aspirations for most companies.

This is what an ever-growing number of brands are doing, due to the battle for attention pushing more businesses to explore new means to expand their brand messaging beyond the usual push marketing approaches.

This is useful if you're looking at working with creators. CreatorIQ has compiled a new report detailing the state of creator marketing, and how brands are leveraging influencer marketing to amplify promotions.

Here's the full report. Some key notes about it are in this post:.

CreatorIQ's report is based upon answers received from 1,138 total respondents, but the actual split here is important. Of those 1,138 respondents, 457 are brand side, 445 are agency, and 231 replies come from creators. Thus, the results will be a more accurate indication from the marketer side, yet there are some valuable notes based on the data that provide more perspective on the modern digital landscape.

First off, the report indicates that investment in creators is on the rise, with 74% of organizations increasing the number of dollars spent on creator marketing this year.
which could have been as a result of the rising hype about AI and the possible reduction of actual humans' reliance. But it's increasing again in 2024, as more brands look to partner with the right creators for their promotions.

Which makes sense, the rise of short form video has required much more creative nous and expertise than brands have in-house. Using the right influencers will give you more creative, resonant content, and also enables you to tap into the established community of each creator for targeting.

And that investment is paying off. Per the report, "Industry Leaders," who spent $1M or more on creator marketing annually, saw their largest ROI through creator marketing.
That's likely at least somewhat comparable to the celebrities that industry leaders can deploy in partnerships, as the bigger the name, the bigger the results. But the data does suggest investing more into creator partnerships is paying off for many.

Measurement in this sector is also a big challenge. If you can't measure the outcome and the value of your investment, it's really difficult to defend your influencer marketing cost, and this remains a challenge, as does finding the right creators to work with.
This report also talks about the issues of collaboration among the creators, one of whom is the measurement for most.
Even with the challenges involved, the platforms themselves are working to make this easier, through creator marketplace-type tools that enable you to search for the right influencer based on a range of parameters, while many brands are uncovering new ways to quantify their creator investment. If you find these aspects challenging, you're not alone, with many businesses still establishing optimal workflow in this respect.

Sponsored content is still by far the most common influencer marketing tactic.
Interestingly, though, TikTok has now surpassed Instagram as the platform that creators use most frequently.
Which may suggest a change in the wind, but then again, TikTok still looks set to be banned in the U.S., which would, of course, have an impact on this.

The report also discusses the impact of generative AI and how marketers are adjusting to the newly established landscape by AI.
The blog further encompasses Average creator payments, Top content types, Expanded performance measurement, and much more.

Some good data points regarding the state of influencer marketing here regarding how brands adapt to the latest shifts to maximize ROI if you're looking to build out your creator marketing approach, this data point can help.