Trends in social media: The Motherhood, one of the top influencer marketing agencies, scours the headlines so you don’t have to. Check back throughout the month for more!
Influencer Marketing Industry Resources
How To Build Trust At Scale Without Becoming An Influencer – May 26, 2026
Hear “personal brand” and the wrong picture appears. Dance videos. Morning routine reels. Selfies in front of a Lamborghini. You decide it is not for you. Then you wonder why your pipeline is unpredictable.
Micro-influencers vs. macro-influencers: which drive ROI for B2B brands? – May 25, 2026
Most B2B marketers enter this debate asking the wrong question. “Micro vs. macro” is typically framed as reach against engagement rate, a trade-off familiar from consumer marketing. But B2B buyers don’t behave like consumers, and the audiences behind follower counts rarely break the same way. A SaaS operator with 4,000 LinkedIn connections where 60% are fintech CTOs is worth more to your pipeline than a tech commentator with 400,000 followers where 0.5% fit your ICP. That arithmetic isn’t a neat trick. It’s the core reason B2B influencer programs keep producing results that don’t match what the consumer playbook predicts.
WTF is a B2B influencer? – May 22, 2026
Business-to-business has spent years flinching at a word it desperately needs. Here’s why ‘influencer’ is just bad branding for something that moves real money. Welcome to the first in a three-part series where we deconstruct the most misunderstood weapon in the B2B arsenal. For years, we’ve hidden behind soulless whitepapers and cold emails because we were too afraid to use a word that felt frivolous. Today, we’re performing surgery on the term ‘influencer’ and defining what it actually looks like when the stakes are six or seven figures.
What Most Brands Get Wrong Measuring Influencer Marketing ROI – May 22, 2026
Influencer marketing ROI is measured by combining engagement, content output, consumer intent signals, and retail impact, not just impressions or reach. Many brands make the same mistake when they launch an influencer marketing campaign. They treat influencer marketing like awareness media, when it’s a behavior-driven channel.
How DICK’S Turned Its Varsity Team Creator Program Into a Brand Marketing Channel – May 21, 2026
DICK’S Sporting Goods’ creator program began with a problem Nicole Marcus, the company’s Manager of Influencer Strategy, already understood from the other side of the brief. Before moving from the retailer’s social media team to its influencer operation in 2021, Nicole had run a TikTok account herself. She knew what happened when brands gave creators too much information, too little time, and too little room to make content in their own voice.
LinkedIn influencer marketing: a complete playbook for B2B brands – May 21, 2026
LinkedIn is no longer a passive job board or a place to share company news. It is the primary arena where B2B buying decisions get shaped, and creator content is increasingly at the center of that process. The numbers bear this out. According to the LinkedIn and Ipsos 2025 B2B Marketing Benchmark: The Influence Report, 55% of B2B marketers already use influencer or creator marketing on LinkedIn, with another 29% planning to adopt it within the next year. Brands running influencer programs on the platform outperform those that do not by up to 39% on customer engagement and brand awareness, and by 30% on revenue growth and lead generation.
Explained: Dove Scrub’s relentless year-long strategy to own Friday nights – May 21, 2026
’52 Friyays with Dove Scrub’ has won Silver in Influencer Marketing at The Drum Awards by consistently embedding a consumption occasion in Vietnam’s cluttered personal care market, transforming Dove Scrub into an emotional “reset button” and achieving significant sales and search volume growth. Here is the case study that impressed the judges as submitted.
Influencer Marketing’s Public Relations DNA: Authenticity Still Wins – May 21, 2026
Twenty years ago, influencer marketing was born from public relations. When global PR firms and their CPG clients, like Kimberly-Clark, Kellogg and Conagra Foods, discovered thriving mom blog communities, they found real stories unfolding in connected communities, organic conversations about products and life.
TikTok’s middle class is gaining power – May 20, 2026
The TikTok middle class is thriving. The average rates that TikTok “micro” creators — those with follower counts between 5,000 and 50,000 — charged brands for partnership deals rose dramatically in the first quarter compared with the year-ago period. That’s according to data compiled exclusively for CMO Insider by Upfluence, an influencer and affiliate marketing platform. Upfluence analyzed more than 5,000 TikTok deals across its network.
Influencer Marketing Isn’t Broken. Measurement Is – May 18, 2026
For more than a decade, marketers have debated the effectiveness of influencer marketing, often framing the conversation around a single question: “Does it drive ROI?” Yet this framing misses a more important reality. The challenge facing most brands today is not whether influencer marketing works, but whether brands are measuring it in a way that reflects its true impact.
Influencer boost budgets are throwing gas on social video spending fire – May 18, 2026
Brand spending on social video is accelerating rapidly. One contributing factor could be the practice of amplifying influencer video content on platforms like Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. Once an overlooked methodology that saw marketers use small budgets to top up reach on organic creator posts, amplification is now an essential element of influencer campaign planning.
How one professor’s influencer marketing course is shedding light on the realities of becoming an influencer – May 6, 2026
“Like and subscribe” may be the modern-day equivalent of a greeting across much of today’s content landscape. In a media environment where anyone with a smartphone can seemingly build an audience, one College of Business course is helping students understand what it truly takes to turn content creation into a career and the business behind it.
How to Measure Influencer Marketing Success: A Complete Guide for Brands – May 8, 2026
Influencer marketing has become a cornerstone of modern social media marketing, but proving its value remains one of the biggest challenges brands face. According to the recent State of Influencer Marketing report from leading independent influencer marketing agency Linqia, 71% of marketers cite determining ROI as their top challenge, ahead of even finding the right creators to work with.
Influencer marketing cost: 2026 rate card by tier and platform – May 8, 2026
How much does an influencer post actually cost?” It is the first question every marketer asks, and the answer never satisfies: it depends. On what, exactly? Follower tier, platform, niche, engagement quality, usage rights, whether the creator has a manager, and whether you want exclusivity. That answer is frustrating when you are trying to build a budget. This rate card draws on 2025 to 2026 benchmark data compiled from the Influencer Marketing Hub, Shopify, Collabstr, Click Analytic, and Favikon to give you workable numbers while accounting for the variables that move them.
The Creator Economy Keeps Adding Tools – The Influencer Marketing Factory Keeps Finding the Same Gap – May 7, 2026
Brands are consolidating their creator budgets under fewer agencies, demanding a single point of contact for organic campaigns, paid amplification, and TikTok Shop. Alessandro Bogliari, co-founder and CEO of The Influencer Marketing Factory (IMF), has spent the past year closing that consolidation. His warning to the agencies competing for the same mandates is pointed.
Who is really paying the influencers? – May 7, 2026
Who is paying for the influencer campaign making you fear Chinese AI? A new report alleges a coordinated influencer marketing campaign urging audiences to back “American AI” while quietly stoking fear about Chinese AI. Marketing agencies are reportedly offering creators thousands of dollars per post to weave in “Team USA” talking points as lifestyle content – with limited transparency about who is funding the message, and why. We dig into what this means for AI policy, public trust, and the information you absorb without realising it. Because the scariest part may not be China at all – it’s that political and corporate interests can buy the vibe of your feed while most of us never see the strings.
The balance of power in influencer marketing is shifting – May 6, 2026
- Platforms like TikTok and Instagram are taking a growing chunk of influencer marketing budgets.
- Ad spend to boost creator posts is expected to eventually surpass influencer content budgets, per EMARKETER.
- The shift comes as organic views on influencer posts become harder to come by.
Dear Lucy, how can I make influencers work in B2B? – May 6, 2026
Of course, reader, I jest. But like any good joke, it comes from a place of truth. On the surface, influencer marketing and B2B are an odd pairing. As consumers, we’re used to being flogged the latest serum, protein shake, or life planner by people who aren’t quite just like us. A day in the life? PR unboxing? One of those vids where the sound is sped up really, really fast? Take my money now, please. The trouble is a lip sync doesn’t quite cut the mustard in B2B. The buying decision-making committee isn’t as easily swayed as I am (sorry, Amex). You’re dealing with multiple buyers, with different opinions, who all want to build relationships with the people they’re buying from.
Why Micro-Influencers Are So Effective at Spreading the Word – May 5, 2026
If you have been a regular reader of the Influencer Marketing Hub, you will have noticed that we have regularly extolled the virtues of working with micro-influencers. Indeed, we have seen that the growth in interest in working with micro-influencers matches the increase in influencer marketing itself. According to our Monthly Influencer Marketing Report, 43% of marketers preferring micro and nano influencers, and 24.9% have shifted their budgets away from macro and mega influencers.
Some micro influencers find promising security in brand ownership over sponsorships – May 5, 2026
What happens when MrBeast isn’t MrBeast anymore, and the hype has died down? It’s the question Colin Rocker found himself asking before inking his first ever investor deal earlier this month with Favikon, a creator platform. Rocker is a full time content creator focused on career development and personal finance. He estimates that 85% to 90% of his income stems from brand partnerships (though he didn’t provide exact figures), including Microsoft, Adobe, Apple and Ally Bank. Lately, he’s been thinking more about career longevity and what happens when brand partnerships dry up.
The Rise Of The ‘Casting Era’ In The Creator Economy – May 5, 2026
For the last three years, the creator economy playbook has been getting pulled in one direction. Make talent a commodity. The amount of global platforms set up to seize the opportunity of overworked agencies, exhausted managers and clueless marketing managers is astounding. They follow a simple formula, nothing original. Creators are tracked on a platform, they’re then scored based on rudimentary metrics, easy to scrape data and no intrinsic value. Then they’re broadly ranked and sorted for the client who doesn’t know any better.
Is Influencer Campaign ROI Really That Hard to Measure? – May 5, 2026
Most brands don’t struggle with measuring influencer marketing ROI because the tools aren’t there. They struggle because the campaign was never designed to be measurable in the first place. Across the industry, we still see the same pattern. A brand briefs an agency with broad goals like “we want awareness” or “we want engagement.” Creators are selected, content goes live, reports are generated, and somewhere at the end, someone asks the question that should have been answered from day one.
For creator-led campaigns, authenticity starts before the shoot – May 2, 2026
Small business owners rarely get to do just one job. They handle marketing, finances, operations, customers, hiring, and whatever breaks before lunch. During an ADWEEK House Possible panel co-hosted by Collectively, Jenny Rooney, chief brand and community officer at ADWEEK, spoke with Jenni Buchbinder, director of performance communications at Intuit QuickBooks, and Natalie Silverstein, chief innovation officer at Collectively, about how Intuit QuickBooks is telling that story through its “Outdo It” campaign.
Nearly Half of Gen Alpha Trust Influencers as Much as Family on Purchases, Report Finds – May 1, 2026
New research from Influencer Marketing agency Digital Voices finds that 49% of Generation Alpha children trust influencer recommendations as much as those from family and friends, a figure that reflects how the youngest consumer cohort differs from prior generations in its relationship to advertising and brand discovery.
Creators aren’t influencers and marketers are still getting this wrong, says Spotter’s CRO – April 29, 2026
There’s a fundamental misunderstanding at the heart of the creator economy, and according to Jodie Kennedy, CRO at Spotter, it’s one that marketers are still failing to grasp. That confusion is perhaps understandable. Over the past five years, short-form video has become the dominant marketing format, driven by shrinking attention spans and mobile-first consumption habits. Today, the average attention window on social content sits at just a few seconds, while platforms such as TikTok and YouTube Shorts generate tens of billions of daily views.
Influencers Aren’t Optional Anymore – They Are Critical to Any Good Media Plan – April 28, 2026
Cossmedia’s Managing Director, Head of Social writes, “Creators are far more than a commerce or upper funnel-only tool. In many cases, they are the most effective way to reach, persuade, and convert audiences on social.” For years, influencer marketing has been treated as an add-on—a nice-to-have line item that paid and organic social teams see as a possible extension to brand assets. With 61% of consumers saying they trust creator recommendations over brands, that framing is officially outdated.TikTok Seeding
healthcare
The intelligence era won’t wait. Is your healthcare brand ready? – May 22, 2026
From telehealth to AI-driven care, healthcare branding is evolving fast. Avi Couillard at Instrument says the brands that prosper will be those that integrate the developments into ‘cohesive living systems.’ Telehealth company Hims & Hers’ partnership with Novo Nordisk to sell Wegovy and Ozempic directly through its platform made headlines in March, and it still matters. Not because it was a one-off market pop, but because it previewed the direction healthcare is moving: access, technology, treatment and brand collapsing into a single consumer-facing front door. That’s the deeper transition underway, from a system you have to seek out, decode and fight through in small windows to one designed to serve you continuously, earning trust by showing up whenever you need it and operating less like a purchase and more like a partnership.
Inside agency view: Ogilvy Health on AI’s ‘light speed,’ nano influencers and the rise of Ria – May 21, 2026
Healthcare agencies remain at the forefront of pharmaceutical marketing, but new technologies and shifting political dynamics are putting more pressure on the industry. In this new series, Fierce Pharma Marketing will drill down into the major issues affecting agencies and pharmaceutical marketing with leading executives from across the industry. For the first installment of the series, Fierce sat down with Shannon Walsh, chief operating officer and president of PR, social and influence at Ogilvy Health.
SOCIAL NEWS
LinkedIn wants to limit the reach of AI-generated content – May 21, 2026
In what may be one of the best examples of the conflicts artificial intelligence tools create for social media platforms, LinkedIn has shared an update on the new measures it’s implementing to combat AI overuse, and police misrepresentations in its feed.
Report looks at how LinkedIn is dominating B2B queries in AI chatbots – May 21, 2026
LinkedIn shared new insight into its rising performance in artificial intelligence-powered search presence on Thursday. The professional social network is now one of the most-cited sources for AI chatbot answers, especially for business-related queries.
TikTok highlights value of app for SMBs – May 20, 2026
TikTok shared new insights into the impact the app has had on U.S.-based SMBs, as part of a Small Business Month showcase event. TikTok met with a range of SMB owners in New York to present the expanding opportunities of the app and showcase how NY-based SMBs, in particular, have driven success in the app.
Creator content drives brand success on Snapchat – May 17, 2026
Snapchat published a new report on the rising power of creator marketing in the app. The study covered how incorporating creator content into promotions can help to improve favorability and consumer response.
Social media drives consumer discovery, per Meta – May 17, 2026
Meta published a three-part blog series that examines the evolution of online discovery, and the role that social platforms now play. In addition, the series looks at the increasing importance of artificial intelligence in terms of helping guide shoppers in their purchase processes.
Creator content drives brand success on Snapchat – May 17, 2026
Snapchat published a new report on the rising power of creator marketing in the app. The study covered how incorporating creator content into promotions can help to improve favorability and consumer response.
TikTok introduces 2026 FIFA World Cup creator correspondents – May 13, 2026
With the 2026 FIFA World Cup kicking off next month, TikTok unveiled its World Cup Creator Correspondents team, a group of 30 creators who have been chosen by the app to cover the World Cup for the TikTok audience.
Instagram tests captions on each post within carousels – May 11, 2026
Instagram is testing out a new update that would enable users to caption each unique image or video within a carousel, providing another way to maximize the value of its multi-image posts.
YouTube is testing clear screen viewing for Shorts – May 11, 2026
YouTube is working on an update that would enable users to hide the on-screen function buttons when viewing Shorts. As shared by app researcher Radu Oncescu, YouTube is developing a “Clear Screen” option within the Shorts viewer menu that would seemingly remove all of the on-screen icons and text, enabling viewers to get a full, unimpeded content experience.
Instagram eyes long-form content on CTV – May 10, 2026
Instagram is eyeing long-form creators once again. The company is looking at its content development priorities as it figures out how to best engage audiences and align with evolving trends. That’s according to Tessa Lyons, Instagram’s vice president of product, who told last week’s Scalable Summit that long-form content is a key element of the app’s planning.
Is Meta really dying? – May 10, 2026
Since this has been a key talking point in social media circles over the last week, it’s worth discussing the merits of the latest “Facebook is dead” proclamations. Last week, the New York Times published an opinion piece by Julia Angwin in which she argued that Meta’s recent decline in daily active users is the beginning of the end for Facebook, and for the company in general.
LinkedIn partners with Amazon Ads – May 7, 2026
LinkedIn announced a deal with Amazon that will enable connected TV advertisers to purchase LinkedIn ads via Amazon’s direct service marketplace, expanding the availability and accessibility of LinkedIn’s CTV offering.
TikTok users are motivated by affiliate links – May 7, 2026
TikTok shopping is on the rise, with more people discovering new products in the app. In addition, users are also hoping to validate their purchase decisions with TikTok insights
TikTok highlights emerging creators for Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month – May 3, 2026
TikTok announced its latest showcase of creators for Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Each of the selected creators will be featured in themed promotions in the app throughout the month, along with other activations.
Instagram tests option to swap out text in someone else’s Reels – May 3, 2026
Within Instagram’s Help Center listings, an article popped up over the weekend that explained a new feature called “Swap,” which enables users to “replace the text on someone else’s reel with your own text.” As per the article: “Swap, replace text, put my own text on a reel.” The article also included details on how creators can switch off Swap if they choose.
Instagram updates algorithm to benefit original creators – April 30, 2026
Instagram announced a major algorithm update today that could have a significant impact on content reach in the app. Starting this week, IG is implementing a new system that will no longer recommend photos and carousel posts from aggregator accounts within Explore and other surfaces.
Instagram improves Insights UI, adds new metrics – April 26, 2026
Instagram announced an update to its content metrics, with an improved Insights UI that makes it easier to access key performance elements from the home screen. The platform also expanded engagement data notes to help measure content performance.
TikTok lets users add relevant keywords to metadata – April 26, 2026
TikTok has added a new way to help creators manage how their videos are discovered in the app. The update enables creators to add and remove keywords assigned to their clips, which can help better align their content with user searches.
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