Advertising spend in the creator ecosystem is expected to hit $37 billion for 2025, according to a new report from the Interactive Advertising Bureau.
The 2025 Creator Economy Ad Spend and Strategy Report, which was released on Thursday, found that investment in the industry increased by 26% year-over-year, a surge that is four times greater than investment in the media industry overall. For comparison’s sake, advertising spending into total media is expected to increase 5.7% this year. Additionally, ad spend in the creator economy more than doubled from 2021 to 2024, jumping from $13.9 billion to $29.5 billion.
The report also found that nearly half (48%) of surveyed ad spenders now consider creators a “must buy,” only ranking them behind social media and paid search. Those surveyed also revealed their top goals when partnering with creators: Building brand awareness was the top campaign goal with 43% of surveyed companies listing it as a priority; that was followed by reaching new audiences (41%), enhancing a brand’s reputation or trust in the brand (35%) and driving online sales (32%). More than half of brands (58%) listed “creator reputation” as their top criteria when partnering with a creator, followed by “audience alignment” (56%).
“Leveraging the creator economy to connect with audiences is no longer experimental for marketers — it’s essential,” said David Cohen, CEO of IAB. “The significant growth we’re seeing reflects a deepening commitment from brands to invest in creator-driven strategies.”
The study also highlighted that brands are calling for more consistent and universal measurement when it comes to creators. Though subscriber and view counts are public knowledge, metrics like engagement rates — an increasingly more important gauge than follower and view totals — aren’t. Third party companies, like CreatorIQ, often track these stats for creators and channels, but measuring the performance of specific campaigns is far more difficult. Overall, IAB found that brands want better attribution, more consistent reporting and better operational tools to measure business outcomes tied to creator campaigns.
