Influencer Marketing Resources: April 2025

Trends in social media: The Motherhood scours the headlines so you don’t have to. Check back throughout the month for more!

Influencer Marketing Industry Resources

Influencer Marketing Benchmark Report 2025 – April 25, 2025  

As we enter 2025, the question is no longer whether influencer marketing works but how to unlock its next evolution. In 2024, influencer marketing propelled social media to become the world’s largest advertising channel, surpassing paid search with a staggering $247.3B, reaching $266.92B by end of 2025 in global spend, cementing its role as the epicenter of consumer influence and engagement.

Top Influencer Marketing Strategies Every Insurance Brand Should Implement – April 25, 2025  

If you assume insurance is too regulated or “boring” for influencer marketing — the numbers and campaigns say otherwise. State Farm’s viral TikTok campaign with Khaby Lame is a standout example. Instead of promoting policies directly, the campaign leaned into humor and cultural moments, positioning State Farm as a recognizable, trusted name among Gen Z and millennial audiences. With tens of millions of views, it proved that even legacy insurance brands can resonate online — if they let creators lead with authenticity.

Top Influencer Marketing Campaigns Driving Success for Insurance Brands – April 25, 2025  

If you think influencer marketing can’t work for insurance, you’re underestimating just how much the landscape has shifted. Insurance brands are quietly cracking the code — not by mimicking viral lifestyle brands, but by meeting people at financial and emotional crossroads where trust matters most. In a category known for skepticism and complexity, influencers aren’t just driving reach — they’re reframing the conversation around life, health, auto, and renter’s insurance with relatable storytelling, financial literacy, and real-life context.

From Employees to Influencers – April 25, 2025  

If you’re not following influencers on Instagram, you are part of a rare minority. In case you’ve been living under a rock, you will know that the importance of influencer culture has grown to the extent that even employees are becoming influencers now. And yes, that could very well include you. You know those iPhone unboxing videos you love? Or the ASMR iced latte reels that you stop to watch mid-scroll? They are prime examples of user-generated content (UGC). UGC is very commonly used on social media these days. In fact, with the boom of influencer marketing and microinfluencers, you have probably been guilty of an irrational purchase because of them.

Top Influencer Marketing Strategies to Revolutionize Investment Platforms – April 24, 2025  

Influencer marketing is no longer just a buzzword—it’s a powerhouse that’s reshaping industries, including the investment platform sector. With the influencer marketing platform market expected to soar from $20.24 billion in 2024 to a staggering $71.04 billion by 2032, brands are hopping on the bandwagon faster than you can say “ROI.” And it’s not just about the big names; Asia-Pacific is seeing a surge with 27% annual growth driven by social media engagement and digital adoption. More and more brands are sinking serious cash into influencers—55% of them, in fact, are investing over $1 million a year.

How marketers, creators vet influencer agencies as the creator economy continues to expand – April 24, 2025  

When major marketers like Unilever are saying they’re dramatically increasing their ad spending on influencer marketing, the agencies who manage influencer marketing are, naturally, chomping at the bit to get those ad dollars.

What brands get wrong about influencer sourcing – April 24, 2025  

We’re back with the latest edition of our series, @Me Next Time, where we invite Team Sprout and some of our favorite social experts to share how they really feel about the latest trends. This time, we’re breaking down what brands get wrong about influencer sourcing. We’ve all seen those overly-scripted, cringe-worthy sponsored videos. The ones where the influencer completely changes their tone and content style to talk about a product they would never use. The influencer seems more like a paid actor than a content creator.

Influencer Marketing in 2025: Why Brands are Backing Micro and Nano-Influencers – April 24, 2025  

The age of mega-influencers isn’t over, but it’s definitely evolved. In 2025, more brands are shifting budget and attention towards smaller creators — specifically micro and nano-influencers — in search of stronger engagement, better ROI, and more authentic content.

Does size matter? The power of micro- and mid-tier creators in podcasting – April 23, 2025  

Gone are the days when major celebrity endorsements dominate every consumer decision. Today’s consumers are turning to creators they trust—and increasingly, it’s not the biggest names commanding the most influence. While blockbuster shows grab attention, smaller, niche podcasts are increasingly driving deeper trust, higher engagement and stronger conversions. Consumers are looking to niche podcasts where micro- and mid-tier creators’ authentic voices resonate on a deeper level. This connection affects not only listening engagement but positively impacts ad engagement and conversion. Savvy advertisers are getting wind of the high-conversion opportunities and are exploring these smaller but mightier markets.

Why the NFL hired a fashion editor—and other moves from its social media playbook – April 22, 2025  

The NFL is enhancing its social media and influencer marketing strategies as it looks to create more fans all over the globe. The work includes the appointment of stylist Kyle Smith as the league’s first-ever fashion editor, a move to create more content featuring players’ personal lives and families, and dispatching a small army of creators to Green Bay, Wisconsin, to cover this week’s NFL Draft.

Marketing Briefing: How the current chaos affects influencer marketing – April 22, 2025  

Marketers may be expecting, and prepared for, chaos but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to navigate yet another round of economic uncertainty — especially when the last one was just a few years ago. The replanning, re-forecasting and expected budget cuts has the marketing community on edge, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Why B2B influencers are an essential spend for marketers – April 22, 2025  

With B2B influencers on the rise, experts in the region advise marketers to prioritise trust and credibility over visibility and metrics. Meanwhile, an emerging business to human (B2H) trend is overtaking B2B storytelling. Anna Ong never set out to become a B2B influencer. After a 15-year career as a banker, she took a break and stumbled across a storytelling event while on a trip to New York. On stage for the first time, she realised the ability to tell a story is the ability to own the room. Today, with more than 20,000 followers on LinkedIn, Ong helps leaders craft stories that build influence.

YouTube influencer marketing guide to boosting brand awareness – April 21, 2025  

YouTube influencer marketing is a powerful but often underused tool in a marketer’s toolbox. According to data we collected using our Sprout Social Influencer Marketing platform, in 2024, YouTube influencers generated 28.4 billion engagements in the United States alone. That kind of attention is hard to ignore.

Why Micro-Influencers Are Winning the Trust Game in Marketing – April 18, 2025  

What people remember about Calvin Klein’s #MyCalvins campaign is the way it encouraged social interaction through micro-influencers and paved the way for users to share their own photos, creating a sense of community around the brand. The influencers that the company selected are also indicative of the brand’s presence, and by interacting with fan posts, it initiated a reciprocal relationship among the brand, the influencers and their followers.

New Survey Highlights Creators’ Demand for Clarity in Sponsorship Agreements – April 18, 2025  

In 2025, influencer marketing is more than just a buzzword—it’s the cornerstone of how brands are connecting with their audiences. But as the industry grows, there’s one glaring oversight: the voices of the creators themselves.

Why influencer performance, not just reach, mattered more at Coachella this year – April 18, 2025  

Thousands of influencers descended on the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival last week for the first weekend of the annual music festival—most with brand partners financing their trips or showering them in free products, as has become standard practice at the marquee influencer marketing event.

The Traditional Barrier Between PR And Marketing Has Fallen—How Brands Should Adapt – April 16, 2025  

Picture this: You’re a skilled writer living in the 1960s. You can write compelling newspaper articles, memorable radio scripts and snappy lines for TV news broadcasts. You dream of launching your own newspaper and have the talent, but you lack the finances needed to get distribution—running the presses and getting your newspaper to thousands of people. Unless you can find funding, you have to put your dream on hold.

YouTube’s cross-platform takeover is putting pressure on creators – April 15, 2025  

When the first YouTube video was uploaded in 2005, the only way to watch it was on a desktop computer. Now, 20 years later, YouTube has moved on to other screens. It’s the No. 1 streaming service on connected TVs (CTV), and in a recent blog post, CEO Neal Mohan called YouTube “the new television.” Even older folks are in on the trend, with the 65+ crowd doubling their YouTube consumption on TV sets in the last two years alone, according to Nielsen.

We hold influencers to an impossible standard. It is unsustainable – April 14, 2025  

Influencing is no walk in the park. Charlie Oscar’s Hannah Cooke thinks we’ve set the bar way too high for content creators, and that needs to change. It’s 2025, and if you’re an influencer or creator, it’s tough. You’re expected to be a marketer, a public figure, an activist, a role model, a content creator, a media personality, and a moral compass – all while keeping your engagement rates high and your personal life Instagrammable.

Five Things We Learned About… The Increasing Influence of Creators – April 14, 2025  

Experts debate the growing power of influencers, including Rahul Titus, Ogilvy’s global head of influence, and Suzy Barker, AMV BBDO’s strategy partner. Influencers are on the rise at an exponential rate. Whether it’s being sold mascara on TikTok, the promotion of a skin care product, or a 12-part storytime with an ‘#ad’ in the caption’, audiences are now used to a constant state of being influenced. 

6 Standout Influencer Marketing Campaigns Food & Beverage Brands Nailed – April 12, 2025  

If you haven’t noticed by now, influencer marketing isn’t just a trend—it’s a full-fledged movement, particularly in the food and beverage industry. With an estimated worth of $24 billion in 2024, this powerhouse strategy is expected to grow at a staggering pace, reaching $32.55 billion by 2025. And it’s no surprise, given how food content (hello, drool-worthy photos and viral recipe videos) dominates social media feeds worldwide.

Game-Changing Influencer Campaigns in the Tech Space – April 12, 2025  

Influencer marketing in tech is like that secret sauce everyone’s been searching for—it’s finally been discovered, and now it’s making everything better. With influencer marketing spending hitting a record-breaking $35 billion in the U.S. alone in 2024, the tech industry is riding this wave of growth. And it’s not slowing down anytime soon. In fact, the global influencer marketing platform market is expected to soar to a jaw-dropping $25.44 billion by the end of 2025, growing at a clip of 23.3% year-over-year. Talk about an industry boom.

Meghan Markle is on ShopMy. Is everyone next? – April 11, 2025  

Even the Duchess of Sussex isn’t above a link in bio. Earlier this month, Meghan Markle joined affiliate marketing platform ShopMy and shared commissionable links for everything ranging from a Reformation button-down to a Uniqlo trench coat. Meghan is certainly not the first public figure looking to make a buck off a product recommendation, and this isn’t her first rodeo, having used affiliate platform LTK prior to becoming a royal. But her decision to join ShopMy as one of the world’s most influential and recognizable people marked a high-profile moment for affiliate marketing and led some online to wonder whether everyone will soon have a monetizable lookbook as part of their online presence.

Why Liquid Death’s chief media officer pays special attention to the upper funnel – April 10, 2025  

Ad Age is interviewing in-house media execs for their thoughts on trends, best practices and gripes they have with the industry. Below, the first edition of this recurring series.

What Brands Should Look For In An Influencer Marketing Agency – April 9, 2025  

Nowadays, influencers play a large role in many brands’ marketing strategies. But finding the right influencers whose content aligns with your brand’s mission and values can be a challenge. Influencers also need to be reliable, professional and genuinely interested in collaboration.

TikTok Launches Expanded Creator Incentive Program To Fend Off Advances From Instagram – April 9, 2025  

As Meta gears up to target TikTok creators in a new push, TikTok’s looking to retain them via a new, invite-only “Specialized Rewards Program”, which will provide additional monetization opportunities for selected creators in the app.

Meta Looks to Scoop up TikTok Creators Amid Ongoing Uncertainty – April 8, 2025  

With TikTok creators facing another few months of uncertainty about the app’s future in the U.S., Instagram is preparing a new push to scoop up wavering TikTok influencers, as it seeks to capitalize on the TikTok sell-off saga, as well as the worsening U.S.-China trade war.

Liquid Death’s Latest Collab May Keep You Awake if You’re Scared of Clowns – April 8, 2025  

Liquid Death, expanding its ongoing collab streak into the health and wellness space, partners with organic supplement maker MaryRuth for a limited-edition product called Sleep Like the Dead. The video to announce the nighttime sleep aid, though, might have the opposite effect on anyone suffering from coulrophobia—that’s the fear of clowns. 

How Life is using influencers to market its new immunity cereals – April 7, 2025  

Life cereal is making a new appeal to parents with varieties meant to support kids’ immune systems and bones. The lineup, called Mighty Life, began hitting shelves in January. Immunity-focused Mighty Life Strawberry Blueberry Bliss contains vitamins C and D along with zinc. Very Vanilla, which contains vitamin D and calcium, is positioned for bone health.

B2B influencer marketing is now an essential marketing strategy – April 4, 2025  

B2B influencer marketing success requires careful influencer selection, data-driven measurement, and alignment with broader marketing goals. Marketers must balance AI-driven efficiencies with human creativity, ensuring that influencer partnerships remain trustworthy, measurable, and impactful. Influencer marketing budgets continue to gain traction. In a 2024 TopRank Marketing survey, 81% of B2B marketers cited dedicated influencer marketing budgets, including 53% who said their budgets were growing, while 9% will introduce such programs in 2025. However, more investment is needed for technology, research, and audience analysis to scale programs effectively.

Why Brand Partnerships Are More Meaningful Than Just Hiring An Influencer – April 3, 2025  

For years, brands have treated creators like billboards. They’ve hired them to hold up products, hit share buttons, and boost reach. But the game has changed. As the creator economy matures, the most forward-thinking brands are rethinking their approach—not as buyers of influence, but as partners in creativity.

WFA sees 54% of multinational brands boosting influencer spending — with more relying on agencies to find creators – April 2, 2025  

With influencer marketing budgets steadily rising, more multinational brands are partnering with influencer agencies as the industry becomes more complex. The World Federation of Advertisers released a report today showing that some 54% of multinational brand marketers plan to boost influencer marketing spend in 2025, with 61% agreeing that influencer marketing will become more important in the future. However, due to ongoing challenges navigating the space, like issues with disclosures and transparency on creator campaigns, more brands are employing the help of agencies that play a role in influencer marketing.

10 Essential Skills For Influencers In 2025 – April 2, 2025  

Ninety-three percent of brands plan to increase their influencer marketing budget this year, but there are also more influencers and creators vying for work than ever before. My agency’s platform matches companies with the right influencers to promote their brands, and over the years, we’ve noticed a set of skills that help influencers stand out, maintain a consistent stream of brand partnerships and generate strong, reliable results for the companies they work with.

Influencer trips are out. Customer trips are in – March 25, 2025  

While some gifts keep on giving, others, as certain brands have learned, can keep on taking. Extravagant influencer trips, like Tarte’s ventures to Bora Bora and Dubai, and large-scale influencer offerings, like Poppi’s decision to loan vending machines to creators ahead of the Super Bowl, have prompted consumer backlash, causing some brand marketers to reevaluate whether big-name creators are the best recipients for lavish gifts or trips.

Pharma

How Publicis Health Media is planning for pharma advertising disruptions – April 1, 2025  

If you’re sick of hearing that one jingle about lowering your A1C, you may soon be in luck. On the campaign trail last year, then-presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he’d ban pharmaceutical TV ads on his first day in office, claiming that the industry’s ad dollars had warped media coverage of the category. Today, he’s the secretary of Health and Human Services, which the Wall Street Journal recently described as something of a “worst-case scenario for drugmakers,” as he is now responsible for regulating the same industry he’s skeptical of. Other high-level Trump administration officials, including FCC chair Brendan Carr, have also voiced support for a drug advertisement ban.

Nonprofit

In An Era Of Eroding Trust, It’s Nonprofits’ Time To Lead – April 4, 2025  

We’re living in an unprecedented moment of institutional mistrust. As major social media platforms embrace “anything goes” speech policies and misinformation proliferates, Americans are increasingly uncertain about whom to believe. The statistics are sobering: According to Pew Research Center, only 22% of Americans “trust the federal government to do the right thing,” a record 28% have unfavorable views of both major political parties and even traditionally respected institutions such as higher education and scientific organizations are seeing sharp declines in public confidence.

Social News

TikTok Marketing Report – Key Trends, Statistics, and Insights – April 25, 2025  

Consider this striking statistic: 71% of TikTok users decide whether to continue watching a video within the first three seconds. This underscores the rapid pace and fiercely competitive nature of digital content consumption, where a fleeting moment can make or break a campaign. TikTok has emerged as a titan in the social media space, boasting over 1.6 billion active users and an unparalleled engagement rate. Every day, millions of videos are uploaded, creating a deluge of content that vies for users’ fleeting attention. Marketers face a tough digital landscape, fighting to be seen and resonate. According to our survey, 61.2% of marketers focus on brand awareness as their primary objective. Therefore, the challenge is to create content that captures attention instantly and resonates deeply to convert interest into meaningful engagement.

Facebook Announces New Measures to Combat Spam Posts and Comments – April 24, 2025  

Meta’s taking some new steps to crack down on spammy content on Facebook, in order to combat the rise of inauthentic profiles seeking to game its algorithms for engagement.

YouTube Launches New Features To Mark the App’s 20th Birthday – April 23, 2025  

YouTube is celebrating its 20th birthday, and to mark the occasion, it’s launching a range of functions and add-ons to help users engage with the broader celebration.

Instagram Launches Video Editing App – April 23, 2025  

After months of previews, Instagram has now launched its new video editing app, which it’s creatively titled “Edits.” Essentially, Edits is Instagram’s answer to CapCut, the video editing platform published by TikTok owner ByteDance, with Instagram helpfully offering a replacement for CapCut in case TikTok actually does end up getting banned in the U.S.

YouTube Publishes New Insights Into the Rise of Virtual Influencers – April 20, 2025  

YouTube has published a new report into the rising significance of virtual influencers and how AI-generated or digitally-enabled entities are gaining traction, both on YouTube and more broadly. Which may sound farfetched, it’s a little strange to consider that non-human characters are somehow building bigger followings than real people online.

Instagram Experiments With Collaborative Stories Feature – April 20, 2025  

After adding its engagement-focused Blend option for Reels sharing last week, Instagram is also working on another way to encourage more interaction, this time within Stories.

YouTube Continues To Dominate Streaming Market Share – April 20, 2025  

If you need a reminder that YouTube is the new TV, this latest data from Nielsen further solidifies the online video giant’s expanding TV presence. According to Nielsen’s “The Gauge” overview of the biggest streaming video services in the U.S., YouTube reached a new high of 12% of overall streaming watch time in March.

Zuckerberg Admits That Time Spent on Facebook and Instagram Has Declined – April 17, 2025  

As you’re no doubt aware, Meta is defending itself against an FTC antitrust case at the moment, which has seen Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg face several days of questioning in a federal court, in regards to the company’s acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp and is motivations in buying up potentially competing apps.

YouTube Shares Tips on How To Convert Long-Form Content Into Shorts – April 17, 2025  

Looking to get into YouTube Shorts, but only have long-form content? YouTube’s keen to help, because Shorts are now driving a lot more engagement in the app, and as such, feeding in more short-form content is likely to be a win, both for YouTube and for creators. Over on the YouTube blog, it’s shared a new overview of key tips on how to repurpose your long-form content into Shorts.

TikTok Adds Community Notes to Complement Fact-Checking – April 16, 2025  

TikTok is the latest social app to jump on the crowd-sourced fact-checking shift, with the platform launching a live test of what it’s calling “Footnotes”, which are user-submitted contextual notes appended to posts.

Meta Shares Tips on How To Maximize Click-To-Message Ads – April 16, 2025  

Meta’s click to messaging ads have seen significant growth of late, with the promotions helping brands tap into the familiarity and intimacy of DMs, and sparking immediate connection.

Instagram Tests New Sorting Filters for Reels Feed – April 16, 2025  

Instagram appears to be testing two new search filters for the Reels tab, which would enable you to sort your recommended Reels by “Latest” or “Most Viewed.”

Meta Shares Insight Into How Brands Can Connect With Gen Z Audiences – April 13, 2025  

Meta has published some new insights into the content consumption habits of Gen Z, and how marketers need to align with these shifts in order to maximize the impact of their promotional and branding efforts.

Snapchat Shares Research into Travel Purchase Influences – April 10, 2025  

Snapchat has shared a new report into the latest consumer travel trends, and how Snap ads can help you connect with travelers ahead of the Summer season. The report, conducted in partnership with Publicis Media and NRG, looks at how different ad approaches can help to engage travel shoppers, along with the specific elements that drive purchase decisions.

Reddit Adds Partner Collaboration Within Its Ads Manager Platform – April 10, 2025  

Reddit has added a new option to enable partner connection within Reddit Business Manager, so that advertisers can approve access to a third-party to either collaborate on, or help them manage their Reddit ads.

YouTube Shares Tips on How To Create Engaging Shorts – April 9, 2025  

As with all social platforms, YouTube is looking to capitalize on the popularity of short-form video clips, with YouTube Shorts now driving massive growth in views and engagement within the app. Indeed, Shorts are now YouTube’s fastest-growing content format, driving over 70 billion daily views. Which means that if you want to maximize your YouTube opportunities, you need to at least be considering short-form content, and this week, YouTube’s shared some pointers on how to get into Shorts for your channel.

Snapchat Shares Data on How Happiness Drives Snap Ads Response – April 9, 2025  

Snapchat has published a new study, in conjunction with IPG Mediahub and Amplified Intelligence, which looks at how happiness drives engagement in social apps, and what that means for brand promotions on Snap.

LinkedIn Tests Video Trends to Encourage Member Engagement – April 6, 2025  

LinkedIn’s taking another step into TikTok territory, with a new video trends feature that will encourage members to add their own video responses to trending topics in the app.

Trump Extends US TikTok Sell-off Deadline Once Again – April 4, 2025  

So it’s D-Day for TikTok, the final day of its 75-day extension to work out a deal in the U.S. to avoid being banned, the final chance for the Trump Administration to wrangle an arrangement that will appease all sides, and keep the app available for American users, and…President Trump has announced another 75-day extension of the deadline.

Amid ban uncertainty, TikTok’s role in brands’ social presences has decreased – April 4, 2025  

January’s TikTok outage has served as a wake-up call for brands, reinforcing the need to diversify their spending across multiple platforms to avoid over-reliance on a single channel. That’s meant marketers have spent more on other platforms like Instagram and YouTube, both of which outpaced TikTok’s spend in the month following the platform’s Jan. 18 outage, representatives of influencer marketing companies Later, Collabstr, BENlabs and BrandCycle told Digiday.

YouTube Adds New Editing and Creative Options for Shorts – April 3, 2025  

YouTube’s rolling out some new features for Shorts, including an updated video editing UI, automated beat-synching to music tracks, AI stickers, improved templates, and more. And with Shorts engagement continuing to rise in the app, these new options could be worth considering, as a means to maximize your video creation and channel boosting efforts.

The Best Time to Post in 2025, Based on 30K Brands and Creators – March 31, 2025  

Yes, I know that these guides can be overly specific, and that there are nuances for every brand and industry. But best times to post overviews can assist in your planning, by giving you some additional considerations for your own experiments which could help to improve response to your social media updates. On this, Sprout Social has published its latest “best times to post” guide, based on insights gleaned from its user base (30k business users), and when they’re posts see the most engagement in each app. And again, while there are variances by business, these notes could give you some more guidance for your own tests, in order to find the right time to post for your business.

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