Dollars For Digital Advertising Shift to Social Media Influencers

Turns out those social media stars bouncing all over your TikTok feed aren’t just thirsty for likes and follows, but have actually helped influence (pun intended) an ongoing paradigm shift in advertising budgets.

According to a recent study by CreatorIQ, an end-to-end creator marketing platform powering efforts for over 1,000 brands and agencies, marketers are shifting ad dollars traditionally spent on digital advertising to creator-led marketing initiatives.

Spurred by advancements in measurement that now can attribute sales directly to creator content on social media, 67% of marketers surveyed by CreatorIQ report increasing their investment in influencer marketing from 2022 to 2023. But of those brands whose budgets increased, only 24% are working with a net-new budget and 76% said they were diverting funds from other marketing activities, including digital ads, to creator-led initiatives.

Another upside for brands and creators alike?

The survey found that 77% of respondents said they actively convert creators who share organically about their organization into brand partners, allowing them to tap into something once nearly impossible to find in pitch people – authenticity.

The full report is available for download here.