The Creator Economy had another booming year in 2024, growing by leaps and bounds, and becoming a central component of PR and marketing strategy with its trademark authentic engagement.
What can the industry expect in 2025? The practitioners at global influencer agency Billion Dollar Boy compiled predictions on a comprehensive set of key themes that gives us a well-rounded forecast. Here are their insights, assembled by category:
Creator Entrepreneurs: The New Power Players of Commerce
Ed East, Group CEO and co-founder
- “The creator economy is entering a transformative phase. As creators grow more influential, the brands that truly support them beyond traditional paid partnerships will thrive in the long run. In 2025, we expect to see brands investing in creators’ education, well-being, and business development, recognizing that sustainable, long-term relationships go far beyond transactional campaigns. The shift towards a more holistic approach — one that nurtures creators’ personal and professional growth — will be pivotal. By fostering a supportive ecosystem, we can ensure that creators feel valued as entrepreneurs and artists, not just as media commodities.”
Becky Owen, Chief Marketing Officer
- “The rise of creator-founded businesses is a testament to the entrepreneurial spirit of the creator economy. As creators build their audiences and establish their brands, they are increasingly exploring opportunities to monetise their content through their own products and services. This trend is not only reshaping the SME market but also empowering creators to take control of their careers and financial futures.”
Data:
- Two-thirds of consumers have bought a creator-founded product/brand/service
- The vast majority (93%) of marketers are planning on launching a co-created product/service with a creator in the future
- 88% of creators have launched a product or serviceConsumers are more likely (27%) to buy creator-founded products and services than those of traditional brands (24%), distorting the market
Creators in Entertainment: Redefining Media Consumption
Alex Williamson, Global Creative Director
- “2025 will see more brands collaborate with creators to produce regular entertainment content formats, driving brand love, and ultimately brand preference. This will be complimented by performance marketing on social platforms, not replacing it. Those brave enough could even integrate products and e-commerce into their entertainment formats. If carefully managed, the product placement will feel organic and viewers will enjoy an intimate content series with their favorite creators while boosting brand love and contributing to brand sales.”
Becky Owen, Global Chief Marketing Officer
- “Social media platforms have become incubators for creators in entertainment, making their unique content formats dominant in modern culture. This shift signals a major milestone in the creator economy. What once began as niche content created for specific audiences is now breaking through into the mainstream, embraced by both traditional media and the broader public. This trend suggests that creators have the potential to launch and nurture new formats on social channels, reshaping the landscape of entertainment as we know it.”
The Rise of Long-Form Content: Creating In-Depth Audience Engagement
Sophie Crowther, Talent Partnerships Director
- “As creators and audiences seek more in-depth, engaging experiences, platforms like YouTube are experiencing a renaissance. Expect this shift to accelerate in 2025, amplified by the growing popularity of subscription-based platforms like Substack and podcast networks which offer creators the opportunity to curate exclusive or paywalled content for subscribers. These platforms and long-form formats mean creators can ‘own’ their audience which is becoming more and more important as uncertainties with platforms remain, while at the same time providing creators with alternative revenue streams.”
Emily Andras, Creative
- “Long-form content’s popularity is on the rise. In this environment, creators will feel emboldened to use multiple assets to tell a connected story over time. We’ve seen this in the willingness of younger demographics to watch movies in multiple TikToks, for example. For one campaign, a creator may craft an overarching narrative — with each piece of content functioning as a ‘chapter’ in the story, allowing them to showcase life and product evolution and efficacy.”
Data:
- 2 in 5 consumers have engaged with long-form content in the past 12 months.
- Two-thirds of marketers and creators have increased long-form creator content production in the past 12 months.
- One in three creators believe long-form content increases ROI.
Ambassador Programs: The New Era of Advocacy
Piet Southey, Head of Clients
- “As brands seek to stay relevant in a crowded and rapidly evolving cultural landscape, they’ll increasingly rely on strategic partnerships with creators. Brands will progressively cultivate long-term relationships with creators, ensuring they have access to those who can deliver both planned and reactive campaigns. This approach not only guarantees significant collaborations but also enables brands to capitalize on emerging cultural trends in real-time. By investing in systems that foster creator connections and facilitate swift responses, brands can position themselves at the forefront of culture and maintain a competitive edge.”
Irving Shark, Head of Companion
- “The number of one-off influencer collaborations will decline, giving way to long-term partnerships and ambassador programs, especially among younger audiences. Instead of simply briefing creators, brands will increasingly involve them in shaping strategies and telling authentic stories. As these partnerships evolve, matching based on shared values will be critical. Brands will need to focus on creators who align closely with their mission and ethos, and content that highlights the creator’s genuine loyalty to the brand. With longer commitments, however, will come heightened scrutiny. Brands will intensify their due diligence to ensure creators are true representatives of their values, carefully vetting them to avoid potential conflicts and maximize the impact of these extended collaborations. As social commerce evolves, brands are viewing creators not just as marketers but as active partners in product sales, shifting from one-off sponsorships to deeper, more collaborative relationships.”
Simon Harwood, Global Effectiveness Director
- “As transactional relationships between brands and creators are replaced with longer term brand ambassador programmes, expect to see creator activations with a more thoughtful, consistent approach to cement brand associations and drive future sales. This means deploying a range of creators capable of reaching different audience segments in meaningful ways that add up to more than the sum of their parts. Small stacking to produce big impacts.”
Emily Andras, Creative
- “Brand ambassador love is building — but in 2025, we’ll see brands using their ambassadors differently. It’s not just about one creator making multiple pieces of content or using mega creator partnerships for product development. Brands will deploy niche experts as ambassadors to build specialty messaging for targeted audiences. They’ll also tap into ambassadors for reactive content. Brand trust in ambassadors will allow for quicker reaction times and faster approvals, putting truly reactive content in reach.”
- 73% of marketers plan to increase investment in brand ambassador programs in the next 12 months
- This follows an increase in investment from 61% of marketers over the past 12 months, highlighting an accelerating trend towards ambassadorships
- A third of marketers are increasing investment because ambassadorships deliver strong ROI
Tech-Driven Influence: How AI and Wearables Are Shaping Tomorrow’s Creators
Thomas Walters, Europe CEO and co-founder
- “The initial excitement surrounding AI-generated art has tempered as the tools have become more accessible. As with all trends, the first movers benefitted from the early hype, but now that we are past the peak of adoption, creators will now need to explore more sophisticated ways to leverage AI to stand out. That means applying the technology innovatively, using it to support their creative processes rather than relying on it as a standalone solution.”
Helena French, Account Executive
- “2024 has seen TikTok increasing its use of AI across a range of in-app features from AI voiceover generation to AI ad and marketing tools for business. TikTok will continue to embrace AI across more of the platform’s functions, including content moderation and its algorithm which should help to further personalize the For You Page, providing a better user-experience and increasing user retention while also increasing the discoverability of a greater diversity of creators.”
Jake Guria-Garnett, Account Manager
- We’ve seen several false dawns on the wearable tech revolution. But 2024 does feel like a bit of a breakthrough year. Pricing remains a stumbling block to widespread adoption but some of the updates announced this year feel promising, with Apple, Snap and Meta all competing to accelerate technological advances. In 2025, expect to see more creators using wearable technology to shoot engaging and immersive POV content including live stories at events such as music festivals. Wearable technology could be a gateway to help consumers feel even closer to their favorite creators.
- Three in four marketers plan to increase investment in generative AI creator content, with two thirds re-allocating budget from other marketing channels
- Marketers (75%) and creators (69%) overwhelmingly believe generative AI will positively disrupt the creator economy
- Almost every marketer (92%) has commissioned generative AI creator content, while a similar proportion (91%) of creators have used generative AI to create content too.
The Rise of B2B Influencer Marketing: How LinkedIn Creators Are Redefining Influence in 2025
Christopher Douglas, Senior Strategy Manager
- “The creator economy has traditionally focused on B2C, often sidelining the unique opportunities it presents within the B2B space. Yet, as venture capital and start-up ecosystems continue to flourish, the potential for B2B influence has become a more appealing approach to business growth. Founders, with their expertise and vision, represent a largely untapped resource for driving growth and visibility in B2B sectors. Looking ahead to 2025, we anticipate a shift toward structured, founder-led influencer strategies, moving beyond casual branding to actively generating qualified business leads. This approach will allow companies to position founders not just as leaders but as influential advocates for their brands and industries. Through targeted content and authentic storytelling, founder personas can resonate deeply with potential partners, clients, and stakeholders.”
Ed East, Group CEO and co-founder
- “The rise in B2B creators is an inevitable result of the creator economy’s professionalization. As the natural home for professionals, LinkedIn has been a primary beneficiary of this shift. Marketers should be preparing to capitalize, using B2B creators to help humanize brands, and creator entrepreneurs can benefit too, using LinkedIn to build trust, engage investors, and grow their businesses.”
- Three in five creators committed to increasing their presence on the platform over the next year
- Creators are drawn to the platform for its high engagement rates, conversions and creator earnings compared to B2C influencing
- A majority of LinkedIn users are in favour of more creator content from brands
Emerging Influencer Strategies: Trend-Driven Partnerships and Bold Collaborations
Emily Andras, Creative
- “Some types of content are staples, but others are getting stale. The GRWM creator content is beginning to go from ubiquitous to overdone. Expect to see a shift in how people engage with and use these types of trending formats in 2025. We could be about to see a wave of more self-aware creators. For example, they might reference the tiredness of a format, or combine two tropes to make a unique outcome.”
Andrea Ahern, Senior Vice President, Head of Accounts
- “Brands are increasingly turning to “out-of-category” influencer partnerships to reach new audiences and generate buzz. These collaborations, where creators work outside their usual niche, not only broaden a brand’s reach but also bring fresh, authentic perspectives to content. With limited specialty influencers in niche sectors, competition among brands for the same creators can lead to conflicts and fewer opportunities. These market pressures will lead to ever more diverse and specialist influencers and, in 2025 we expect yet more cross-sector partnerships between brands and creators.”
Cait Marron, Senior Vice President of Creative Strategy
- “Lines will continue to blur between marketing channels as brands will shift their focus back to building community and away from categorizing social, influencer and consumer advocacy activations as separate to their marketing plans. Ultimately, it’s about reaching target audiences where they are, with content that’s most relevant to them, creating an opportunity to think more holistically and put their consumers first, breaking down silos and fragmenting planning lanes.”
- 77% of marketers plan to increase trend-based content over the next 12 months
- One in five brand social media posts are already dedicated to trend-based content
- Nine in ten creators report trend-based social media content outperforms non-trend-based content, including a third (36%) who say it drives more conversions
From Followers to Shoppers: How Creators Are Transforming Social Commerce
Irving Shark, Head of Companion
- “The success of social commerce on platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, and Pinterest, will encourage other platforms to introduce their own social commerce features while also incentivising early adopters to continue aggressively expanding in this space. A key growth area could be livestream shopping, which has seen massive success in China. With this evolution, platforms must tread carefully. Overloading users with shopping content and product recommendations risks content fatigue, which could push users away. Consumers are growing cautious of platforms that feel too transactional, where the balance between engaging content and commerce becomes overly focused on selling.”
Metrics that Matter: Measuring Success in the Creator Economy
Simon Harwood, Global Effectiveness Director
- “As influencer budgets continue to command an increasing share of marketing investment, expect a shift away from decades old vanity metrics such as EMV and towards holding influencer channels accountable with the same KPIs as the rest of the marketing mix – awareness, consideration, perception, sales – you name it. Measurement will need to keep pace with heightened expectations and evolve accordingly.”
