"Brands and the people selling creator partnerships treat them as ad hoc opportunities. They fund them from smaller, discretionary budgets rather than core media investment, negotiate deals one by one, and price them by follower count and cultural heat rather than by business outcomes."
"Media commands those budgets because it runs on standardized measurement and predictable outcomes. When brands buy media on YouTube, TikTok, and Meta, they know what they're getting and how those platforms measure and report results."
"Creator spend reached roughly $37 billion in 2025 and is growing four times faster than total media. Yet video and social ad spend on the same platforms is on track to reach hundreds of billions of dollars by 2030."
Creator marketing is often viewed as sponsorships, funded from smaller budgets and negotiated individually, unlike standardized media spending. Brands prefer predictable outcomes and consistent measurement in media, which commands larger budgets. Creator spend is growing rapidly, reaching $37 billion in 2025, but still lags behind traditional media investments. The disparity highlights a significant opportunity for brands to integrate creator marketing into their core media strategies, especially as online video advertising surges towards a $1 trillion market by 2030.
Read at Forbes
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]