[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":179},["ShallowReactive",2],{"page-influencer-marketing-trends":3},{"id":4,"published":5,"lastPublished":6,"slug":7,"title":8,"hero":9,"blocks":36,"banner":35,"schemaType":173,"schemaTypes":174,"schemaCustom":175,"faqs":35,"seo":176},"QiRae-kdQFSOXOnqYUU_GA","2026-05-12T20:38:45+01:00","2026-05-14T14:43:17+01:00","influencer-marketing-trends","Influencer Marketing Trends",{"hero":10},{"id":11,"type":12,"title":13,"subtitle":14,"desc":15,"media":16,"link":35},"RZbZ3CN5SGO5o0_O0ltkYA","hero_simple_block","Influencer Marketing Trends 2026","Monthly Updates, Insights & Brand Takeaways","Explore the influencer marketing trends shaping 2026, with monthly updates, platform insights, and practical takeaways for brands building creator strategies.",{"id":17,"alt":18,"title":19,"focalPoint":20,"width":22,"height":23,"thumbnail":24,"small":25,"medium":26,"responsiveImage":27,"video":35},"a8ftOFwJSMedHxCCjJGx6A","Illustrated monthly influencer marketing trends calendar with creator content, social engagement icons, and a rising growth arrow for 2026.","Influencer Marketing Trends 2026 Monthly Tracker",{"x":21,"y":21},0.5,1672,941,"https://www.datocms-assets.com/151374/1778614357-chatgpt-image-may-12-2026-02_32_30-pm.png?auto=format&fit=max&h=600&q=75&w=600","https://www.datocms-assets.com/151374/1778614357-chatgpt-image-may-12-2026-02_32_30-pm.png?auto=format&fit=max&h=900&q=75&w=900","https://www.datocms-assets.com/151374/1778614357-chatgpt-image-may-12-2026-02_32_30-pm.png?auto=format&fit=max&h=1500&lossless=false&q=75&w=1500",{"srcSet":28,"webpSrcSet":29,"sizes":30,"src":31,"width":22,"height":23,"aspectRatio":32,"alt":18,"title":19,"base64":33,"bgColor":34},"https://www.datocms-assets.com/151374/1778614357-chatgpt-image-may-12-2026-02_32_30-pm.png?auto=format&dpr=0.25&fit=max&h=2440&lossless=false&q=75&w=2440 418w,https://www.datocms-assets.com/151374/1778614357-chatgpt-image-may-12-2026-02_32_30-pm.png?auto=format&dpr=0.5&fit=max&h=2440&lossless=false&q=75&w=2440 836w,https://www.datocms-assets.com/151374/1778614357-chatgpt-image-may-12-2026-02_32_30-pm.png?auto=format&dpr=0.75&fit=max&h=2440&lossless=false&q=75&w=2440 1254w,https://www.datocms-assets.com/151374/1778614357-chatgpt-image-may-12-2026-02_32_30-pm.png?auto=format&fit=max&h=2440&lossless=false&q=75&w=2440 1672w","","(max-width: 1672px) 100vw, 1672px","https://www.datocms-assets.com/151374/1778614357-chatgpt-image-may-12-2026-02_32_30-pm.png?auto=format&fit=max&h=2440&lossless=false&q=75&w=2440",1.7768331562167907,"data:image/jpeg;base64,/9j/4AAQSkZJRgABAQAAAQABAAD/2wCEAAoHBwgRBgoKEwgKDQ0RDhgcDg0RDh0OEhEYFx8lGBYVIiEmKysjGikoHRUWJDUlKC0vMjIyGSI4PTcwPCsxMi8BCgsLDg0OHA0QHDscFhw7Oy8vLy87Oy8vLy8vOzsvLy8vLy8vLy8vLy8vLy8vLy8vLy8vLy8vLy8vLy8vLy8vL//AABEIAA4AGAMBIgACEQEDEQH/xAAYAAACAwAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABQMEBv/EABkQAAMBAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAEEgECFP/EABcBAAMBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIFBgD/xAAbEQABBQEBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABAAIEESETBf/aAAwDAQACEQMRAD8A2zLWyLta2xowvzIv8/Nkr5zovM4s0ilbXa2QJFl+ZAUyHxuhxAatf//Z","#ec6e13",null,{"id":37,"type":38,"blocks":39},"ACDNYk0wRs6fQmIoh8EJLQ","block_select",[40,72,81,118,126],{"id":41,"type":42,"eyebrow":29,"title":43,"text":44,"items":45,"numbered":70,"medium":71,"small":70},"c95rZllVTaaRPM8FwX7PaA","accordion_big_block","Top Influencer Marketing Trends for 2026","Influencer marketing is becoming more permanent, measurable, and connected to the rest of the media mix. Based on New Engen’s monthly analysis of culture, creators, commerce, and campaign performance across 7M+ creator profiles and 1.7K+ campaigns, these are the shifts shaping how brands should think about influencer marketing in 2026.",[46,50,54,58,62,66],{"id":47,"title":48,"text":49},"KlegLNanSXaMBYXk9o_KpQ","Influencer marketing is becoming a core media channel","\u003Cp data-start=\"862\" data-end=\"1327\">Influencer marketing is moving from a campaign add-on to a channel with clearer ownership, measurement, attribution, and accountability. New Engen’s May trend analysis notes that creator marketing is increasingly being treated with the same seriousness as paid social, programmatic, and CTV, especially as creator content supports discovery, commerce, affiliate revenue, paid media performance, and retail demand.\u003C/p>",{"id":51,"title":52,"text":53},"RD0J04EmQUamGC4DxQDYXQ","Always-on creator programs are replacing one-off influencer campaigns","\u003Cp>Brands are building creator systems, not just influencer campaigns. Retailers like Urban Outfitters, American Eagle, Sephora, Gap, and Target are investing in structured creator programs with recurring briefs, affiliate opportunities, commissions, perks, and early access. Urban Outfitters’ Me@UO program pulled nearly 4,000 applications in its first 24 days, while Target launched Club Target and Target Ambassadors as always-on creator programs.\u003C/p>",{"id":55,"title":56,"text":57},"XNzUzjYcSROnBzIOjz9Ejw","Influencer content is becoming platform-native commerce","\u003Cp>Influencer content is becoming more shoppable and measurable inside the platforms where audiences already engage. Instagram’s native affiliate update allows eligible creators to tag products directly in Reels, with brands and creators able to see which Reels drove clicks and purchases inside Meta. In May, New Engen also noted that eligible creators can tag up to 30 products per Reel from a verified Meta commerce catalog.\u003C/p>",{"id":59,"title":60,"text":61},"TnAeyAUDQnaazU18IsUE7Q","Creator-led content is gaining value as AI floods the feed","\u003Cp data-start=\"3381\" data-end=\"3810\">AI is making content production faster, but it is also increasing the value of real creator perspective. New Engen’s April trend report cites a 2026 study showing that 52% of consumers reduce engagement when they suspect content is AI-generated, while 77% of marketers believe AI can create emotionally resonant content but only 33% of consumers agree. As Alice Woo, VP of Influencer and Creator at New Engen, said, “What we’re seeing perform right now is content that feels real, tied to an actual person or perspective.”\u003C/p>",{"id":63,"title":64,"text":65},"T4IkLswNQ3OafKDTyAmLFg","Employee-generated content is entering the influencer marketing conversation","\u003Cp>Not every influential brand voice is a professional influencer. New Engen’s March analysis highlighted the “Staples Baddie,” a retail employee whose TikToks explaining Staples services built a large audience and outperformed the brand’s official TikTok account by a wide margin. Her pinned video had more than 5.4M views, and her account had roughly 491K followers and 11.5M likes, compared with the official Staples TikTok account’s 47K followers.\u003C/p>",{"id":67,"title":68,"text":69},"fhYAoqU7RH6c6409JnFRTQ","Influencer measurement is forcing the channel to mature","\u003Cp>As influencer marketing becomes a bigger part of the media mix, brands need better ways to evaluate what it drives. New Engen’s 2026 predictions call out creator measurement as a coming reckoning: affiliate can help tie creators closer to conversion, but impressions, awareness, and influence remain harder to measure cleanly. The next phase of influencer measurement will need to account for sales, affiliate performance, paid amplification efficiency, content reuse, incrementality, brand lift, and long-term demand.\u003C/p>",false,true,{"id":73,"type":74,"title":75,"subtitle":76,"rows":77,"locations":71,"categories":78},"Dr4rvEHsRcGe5x9E5xpZeQ","insights_cat_block","Monthly Trends","Stay current with monthly creator trends, platform shifts, and brand takeaways shaping influencer marketing in 2026.","1",[79],{"id":80,"slug":7},"EnfBBA40QlSAgNJtq952nQ",{"id":82,"type":42,"eyebrow":29,"title":83,"text":84,"items":85,"numbered":70,"medium":71,"small":70},"VaKxa3doSwuyx0QdvaIbtA","Platform-Specific Influencer Marketing Trends","Influencer marketing is becoming more platform-specific as TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and creator commerce platforms each evolve around different user behaviors. The brands that win in 2026 will not use the same creator brief everywhere. They will build influencer strategies around how each platform drives discovery, trust, content, commerce, and conversion.",[86,90,94,98,102,106,110,114],{"id":87,"title":88,"text":89},"OnoZU3_jThi9_WbxARjsDQ","TikTok: Creator commerce becomes a serious retail channel","\u003Cp>TikTok is no longer just a trend engine; it is becoming a measurable commerce channel. TikTok Shop sales from major brands generating $30M+ in annual revenue surged 97% year over year in 2025, total transaction volume climbed nearly 80%, and creator earnings commissions increased 146%, with more than 16,000 creators generating six-figure sales. For influencer marketing, that makes TikTok a platform where creator content, product discovery, affiliate incentives, and checkout behavior increasingly happen in the same place.\u003C/p>",{"id":91,"title":92,"text":93},"RoGSSd6iQWyNlb6EqHXaww","TikTok Search: Discovery is shifting, but trust still matters","\u003Cp>TikTok is also becoming a search behavior, especially for product discovery and how-to content. Nearly half of U.S. consumers now use TikTok as a search engine, and influencer usage for sales rose from 25% in 2024 to 38% in 2026. But Google still leads when consumers are asked which platforms are most helpful for search, with TikTok ranking much lower than Google, Reddit, ChatGPT, and YouTube. The takeaway is that TikTok can shape discovery, but brands still need creator content that is credible, useful, and connected to broader search and commerce behavior.\u003C/p>",{"id":95,"title":96,"text":97},"IE6TfNDATLiTb68cq7fRiQ","Instagram: Reels are becoming shoppable media assets","\u003Cp>Instagram is making influencer content more native to commerce and measurement. Meta is rolling out affiliate shopping links directly in Instagram and Facebook, allowing creators to tag products in Reels and photos through existing brand affiliate accounts instead of relying only on third-party platforms like ShopMy or LTK. New Engen’s May trend analysis also notes that eligible creators can tag up to 30 products per Reel from a verified Meta commerce catalog. This shifts Reels from “content in the feed” to shoppable, trackable assets that can support affiliate, paid amplification, and conversion measurement.\u003C/p>",{"id":99,"title":100,"text":101},"Xd78ffdlRPSZc9qh_r3rVQ","Instagram CTV: Creator content moves into the living room","\u003Cp>Instagram’s connected TV expansion changes the screen where creator content can show up. New Engen’s March trend analysis noted that Instagram expanded its CTV app to Google TV after launching on Amazon Fire TV, with Reels auto-playing in interest-based channels and sound on by default. That makes creator content less confined to the mobile feed and more relevant to lean-back viewing environments, where production quality, pacing, and watchability matter more than thumb-stopping hooks alone.\u003C/p>",{"id":103,"title":104,"text":105},"Zj2PJQOzRvaN-R24kfSp-w","YouTube: Repeated creator partnerships compound performance","\u003Cp>YouTube remains one of the clearest platforms for long-term influencer partnerships because repetition builds trust. According to the news update, CTRs for partnerships with creators across the U.S., U.K., Canada, and Australia increased about 10% for each additional integration with the same creator, and the sixth integration lifted conversion rates 1.9x higher than the first. New Engen’s February trend report also frames this as a key reason one-off sponsored posts underperform long-term creator relationships.\u003C/p>",{"id":107,"title":108,"text":109},"Yo7l1P-PTg-8myZbmbiIOA","Pinterest: Visual discovery creates an earlier influence window","\u003Cp>Pinterest is worth including because it gives brands a different kind of influence opportunity than TikTok or Instagram. The January news update identifies Pinterest as a primary discovery channel for younger consumers and notes that its value is strongest in early- and mid-funnel influence, especially before preferences have fully formed. For influencer marketing, Pinterest can help extend creator content into mood boards, shopping inspiration, seasonal planning, beauty, fashion, home, food, and lifestyle discovery moments.\u003C/p>",{"id":111,"title":112,"text":113},"TxlEtEOBQdCgtS00yioZQw","LinkedIn: B2B influencer marketing gets more video-led","\u003Cp>LinkedIn is becoming more relevant for B2B influencer marketing as professional content shifts toward short-form video. LinkedIn paid video ads grew 30% year over year, video views grew 36% year over year, and the platform introduced tools including a full-screen mobile experience, personalized video feed, and CapCut integration. For B2B brands, that points to a bigger role for executives, employees, subject matter experts, and industry creators who can translate expertise into video formats built for professional audiences.\u003C/p>",{"id":115,"title":116,"text":117},"Cfb-uK6AQxKM3B8Zxwgn7A","LTK and creator commerce platforms: Infrastructure is catching up to creator demand","\u003Cp>Creator commerce platforms are evolving as brands look for faster ways to manage creator discovery, campaign execution, affiliate, and performance tracking. LTK’s revamped brand platform includes creator discovery tools and performance tracking, while its creator-commerce model already drives over $5B in annual retail sales. LTK’s Quick Collabs also points to a more programmatic future for influencer marketing, with flat-fee campaigns designed to help brands move faster and scale partnerships to thousands of creators at once.\u003C/p>",{"id":119,"type":74,"title":120,"subtitle":121,"rows":77,"locations":71,"categories":122},"KSmOV_FqQtuGoUfAypFT8A","Leadership Insights","See where New Engen leaders are sharing expert perspectives on influencer marketing trends, creator strategy, platform shifts, and what brands should watch next.",[123],{"id":124,"slug":125},"Pp903R23RBa0m_FTD3Ciig","influencer",{"id":127,"type":128,"title":129,"content":130,"dark":70},"XO35ZYidRZu7d12bsGPmLA","long_form_block","Influencer Marketing Trends FAQ",{"value":131,"blocks":172},{"schema":132,"document":133},"dast",{"type":134,"children":135},"root",[136,143,148,152,156,160,164,168],{"type":137,"level":138,"children":139},"heading",3,[140],{"type":141,"value":142},"span","Q1: What are the biggest influencer marketing trends in 2026?",{"type":144,"children":145},"paragraph",[146],{"type":141,"value":147},"The biggest influencer marketing trends in 2026 include always-on creator programs, platform-native commerce, AI-supported content workflows, creator-led paid media, stronger influencer measurement, and the growth of social commerce through platforms like TikTok Shop, Instagram Reels, YouTube, and creator commerce networks.",{"type":137,"level":138,"children":149},[150],{"type":141,"value":151},"Q2: Why are brands moving from influencer campaigns to creator programs?",{"type":144,"children":153},[154],{"type":141,"value":155},"Brands are moving from one-off influencer campaigns to ongoing creator programs because repeated partnerships build more trust, stronger content consistency, and better performance over time. Always-on programs also make it easier to connect influencer content to paid media, affiliate, retail, social commerce, and performance measurement.",{"type":137,"level":138,"children":157},[158],{"type":141,"value":159},"Q3: How is AI changing influencer marketing?",{"type":144,"children":161},[162],{"type":141,"value":163},"AI is helping brands move faster across creator discovery, briefing, content analysis, reporting, and creative testing. But AI is also making authentic creator perspective more valuable. As feeds fill with AI-generated content, audiences are more likely to trust content that feels tied to a real person, lived experience, and community.",{"type":137,"level":138,"children":165},[166],{"type":141,"value":167},"Q4: How should brands measure influencer marketing performance?",{"type":144,"children":169},[170],{"type":141,"value":171},"Brands should measure influencer marketing through a mix of reach, engagement quality, click-through rate, conversions, affiliate revenue, paid amplification efficiency, content reuse value, brand lift, and incrementality where possible. The right measurement framework depends on whether the influencer program is designed for awareness, consideration, conversion, or full-funnel growth.",[],"webpage",[],"{\n  \"@context\": \"https://schema.org\",\n  \"@graph\": [\n    {\n      \"@type\": \"WebPage\",\n      \"@id\": \"https://newengen.com/influencer-marketing-trends#webpage\",\n      \"url\": \"https://newengen.com/influencer-marketing-trends\",\n      \"name\": \"Influencer Marketing Trends & Monthly Updates | New Engen\",\n      \"description\": \"Explore the latest influencer marketing trends, monthly updates, and brand takeaways shaping creator strategy in 2026.\",\n      \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n      \"isPartOf\": {\n        \"@id\": \"https://newengen.com/#website\"\n      },\n      \"about\": [\n        {\n          \"@type\": \"Thing\",\n          \"name\": \"Influencer Marketing\"\n        },\n        {\n          \"@type\": \"Thing\",\n          \"name\": \"Creator Economy\"\n        },\n        {\n          \"@type\": \"Thing\",\n          \"name\": \"Social Media Marketing\"\n        }\n      ],\n      \"mainEntity\": {\n        \"@id\": \"https://newengen.com/influencer-marketing-trends#series\"\n      },\n      \"publisher\": {\n        \"@id\": \"https://newengen.com/#organization\"\n      },\n      \"breadcrumb\": {\n        \"@id\": \"https://newengen.com/influencer-marketing-trends#breadcrumb\"\n      }\n    },\n    {\n      \"@type\": \"CreativeWorkSeries\",\n      \"@id\": \"https://newengen.com/influencer-marketing-trends#series\",\n      \"name\": \"Influencer Marketing Trends\",\n      \"alternateName\": \"New Engen Monthly Influencer Marketing Trends Series\",\n      \"description\": \"A monthly series from New Engen analyzing the cultural, platform, and performance shifts defining influencer marketing in 2026. Each post covers the signals defining the month, a rising creator spotlight, a brand collab worth studying, proprietary Lift platform data, and what brand marketers should watch next.\",\n      \"url\": \"https://newengen.com/influencer-marketing-trends\",\n      \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n      \"publisher\": {\n        \"@id\": \"https://newengen.com/#organization\"\n      },\n      \"author\": {\n        \"@type\": \"Person\",\n        \"name\": \"Shayla Crowder\",\n        \"worksFor\": {\n          \"@id\": \"https://newengen.com/#organization\"\n        }\n      },\n      \"hasPart\": [\n        {\n          \"@type\": \"BlogPosting\",\n          \"@id\": \"https://newengen.com/insights/influencer-marketing-trends-may-2026\",\n          \"headline\": \"Influencer Marketing Trends: May 2026\",\n          \"url\": \"https://newengen.com/insights/influencer-marketing-trends-may-2026\",\n          \"author\": {\n            \"@type\": \"Person\",\n            \"name\": \"Shayla Crowder\"\n          },\n          \"publisher\": {\n            \"@id\": \"https://newengen.com/#organization\"\n          },\n          \"isPartOf\": {\n            \"@id\": \"https://newengen.com/influencer-marketing-trends#series\"\n          }\n        },\n        {\n          \"@type\": \"BlogPosting\",\n          \"@id\": \"https://newengen.com/insights/influencer-marketing-trends-april-2026\",\n          \"headline\": \"Influencer Marketing Trends: April 2026\",\n          \"url\": \"https://newengen.com/insights/influencer-marketing-trends-april-2026\",\n          \"author\": {\n            \"@type\": \"Person\",\n            \"name\": \"Shayla Crowder\"\n          },\n          \"publisher\": {\n            \"@id\": \"https://newengen.com/#organization\"\n          },\n          \"isPartOf\": {\n            \"@id\": \"https://newengen.com/influencer-marketing-trends#series\"\n          }\n        },\n        {\n          \"@type\": \"BlogPosting\",\n          \"@id\": \"https://newengen.com/insights/influencer-marketing-trends-march-2026\",\n          \"headline\": \"Influencer Marketing Trends: March 2026\",\n          \"url\": \"https://newengen.com/insights/influencer-marketing-trends-march-2026\",\n          \"author\": {\n            \"@type\": \"Person\",\n            \"name\": \"Shayla Crowder\"\n          },\n          \"publisher\": {\n            \"@id\": \"https://newengen.com/#organization\"\n          },\n          \"isPartOf\": {\n            \"@id\": \"https://newengen.com/influencer-marketing-trends#series\"\n          }\n        },\n        {\n          \"@type\": \"BlogPosting\",\n          \"@id\": \"https://newengen.com/insights/influencer-marketing-trends-february-2026\",\n          \"headline\": \"Influencer Marketing Trends: February 2026\",\n          \"url\": \"https://newengen.com/insights/influencer-marketing-trends-february-2026\",\n          \"author\": {\n            \"@type\": \"Person\",\n            \"name\": \"Shayla Crowder\"\n          },\n          \"publisher\": {\n            \"@id\": \"https://newengen.com/#organization\"\n          },\n          \"isPartOf\": {\n            \"@id\": \"https://newengen.com/influencer-marketing-trends#series\"\n          }\n        }\n      ]\n    },\n    {\n      \"@type\": \"ItemList\",\n      \"@id\": \"https://newengen.com/influencer-marketing-trends#monthly-posts\",\n      \"name\": \"Monthly Influencer Marketing Trends Posts\",\n      \"description\": \"Chronological list of monthly influencer marketing trends posts from New Engen.\",\n      \"itemListOrder\": \"https://schema.org/ItemListOrderDescending\",\n      \"numberOfItems\": 4,\n      \"itemListElement\": [\n        {\n          \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n          \"position\": 1,\n          \"url\": \"https://newengen.com/insights/influencer-marketing-trends-may-2026\",\n          \"name\": \"Influencer Marketing Trends: May 2026\"\n        },\n        {\n          \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n          \"position\": 2,\n          \"url\": \"https://newengen.com/insights/influencer-marketing-trends-april-2026\",\n          \"name\": \"Influencer Marketing Trends: April 2026\"\n        },\n        {\n          \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n          \"position\": 3,\n          \"url\": \"https://newengen.com/insights/influencer-marketing-trends-march-2026\",\n          \"name\": \"Influencer Marketing Trends: March 2026\"\n        },\n        {\n          \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n          \"position\": 4,\n          \"url\": \"https://newengen.com/insights/influencer-marketing-trends-february-2026\",\n          \"name\": \"Influencer Marketing Trends: February 2026\"\n        }\n      ]\n    },\n    {\n      \"@type\": \"ItemList\",\n      \"@id\": \"https://newengen.com/influencer-marketing-trends#top-trends\",\n      \"name\": \"Top Influencer Marketing Trends for 2026\",\n      \"description\": \"Influencer marketing is becoming more permanent, measurable, and connected to the rest of the media mix. Based on New Engen's monthly analysis of culture, creators, commerce, and campaign performance across 7M+ creator profiles and 1.7K+ campaigns, these are the shifts shaping how brands should think about influencer marketing in 2026.\",\n      \"numberOfItems\": 6,\n      \"itemListElement\": [\n        {\n          \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n          \"position\": 1,\n          \"item\": {\n            \"@type\": \"Thing\",\n            \"name\": \"Influencer marketing is becoming a core media channel\",\n            \"description\": \"Influencer marketing is moving from a campaign add-on to a channel with clearer ownership, measurement, attribution, and accountability. New Engen's May trend analysis notes that creator marketing is increasingly being treated with the same seriousness as paid social, programmatic, and CTV, especially as creator content supports discovery, commerce, affiliate revenue, paid media performance, and retail demand.\"\n          }\n        },\n        {\n          \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n          \"position\": 2,\n          \"item\": {\n            \"@type\": \"Thing\",\n            \"name\": \"Always-on creator programs are replacing one-off influencer campaigns\",\n            \"description\": \"Brands are building creator systems, not just influencer campaigns. Retailers like Urban Outfitters, American Eagle, Sephora, Gap, and Target are investing in structured creator programs with recurring briefs, affiliate opportunities, commissions, perks, and early access. Urban Outfitters' Me@UO program pulled nearly 4,000 applications in its first 24 days, while Target launched Club Target and Target Ambassadors as always-on creator programs.\"\n          }\n        },\n        {\n          \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n          \"position\": 3,\n          \"item\": {\n            \"@type\": \"Thing\",\n            \"name\": \"Influencer content is becoming platform-native commerce\",\n            \"description\": \"Influencer content is becoming more shoppable and measurable inside the platforms where audiences already engage. Instagram's native affiliate update allows eligible creators to tag products directly in Reels, with brands and creators able to see which Reels drove clicks and purchases inside Meta. In May, New Engen also noted that eligible creators can tag up to 30 products per Reel from a verified Meta commerce catalog.\"\n          }\n        },\n        {\n          \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n          \"position\": 4,\n          \"item\": {\n            \"@type\": \"Thing\",\n            \"name\": \"Creator-led content is gaining value as AI floods the feed\",\n            \"description\": \"AI is making content production faster, but it is also increasing the value of real creator perspective. New Engen's April trend report cites a 2026 study showing that 52% of consumers reduce engagement when they suspect content is AI-generated, while 77% of marketers believe AI can create emotionally resonant content but only 33% of consumers agree.\"\n          }\n        },\n        {\n          \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n          \"position\": 5,\n          \"item\": {\n            \"@type\": \"Thing\",\n            \"name\": \"Employee-generated content is entering the influencer marketing conversation\",\n            \"description\": \"Not every influential brand voice is a professional influencer. New Engen's March analysis highlighted the 'Staples Baddie,' a retail employee whose TikToks explaining Staples services built a large audience and outperformed the brand's official TikTok account by a wide margin. Her pinned video had more than 5.4M views, and her account had roughly 491K followers and 11.5M likes, compared with the official Staples TikTok account's 47K followers.\"\n          }\n        },\n        {\n          \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n          \"position\": 6,\n          \"item\": {\n            \"@type\": \"Thing\",\n            \"name\": \"Influencer measurement is forcing the channel to mature\",\n            \"description\": \"As influencer marketing becomes a bigger part of the media mix, brands need better ways to evaluate what it drives. The next phase of influencer measurement will need to account for sales, affiliate performance, paid amplification efficiency, content reuse, incrementality, brand lift, and long-term demand.\"\n          }\n        }\n      ]\n    },\n    {\n      \"@type\": \"ItemList\",\n      \"@id\": \"https://newengen.com/influencer-marketing-trends#platform-trends\",\n      \"name\": \"Platform-Specific Influencer Marketing Trends\",\n      \"description\": \"Influencer marketing is becoming more platform-specific as TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and creator commerce platforms each evolve around different user behaviors.\",\n      \"numberOfItems\": 7,\n      \"itemListElement\": [\n        {\n          \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n          \"position\": 1,\n          \"item\": {\n            \"@type\": \"Thing\",\n            \"name\": \"TikTok: Creator commerce becomes a serious retail channel\",\n            \"description\": \"TikTok is no longer just a trend engine; it is becoming a measurable commerce channel. TikTok Shop sales from major brands generating $30M+ in annual revenue surged 97% year over year in 2025, total transaction volume climbed nearly 80%, and creator earnings commissions increased 146%, with more than 16,000 creators generating six-figure sales.\"\n          }\n        },\n        {\n          \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n          \"position\": 2,\n          \"item\": {\n            \"@type\": \"Thing\",\n            \"name\": \"TikTok Search: Discovery is shifting, but trust still matters\",\n            \"description\": \"TikTok is also becoming a search behavior, especially for product discovery and how-to content. Nearly half of U.S. consumers now use TikTok as a search engine, and influencer usage for sales rose from 25% in 2024 to 38% in 2026.\"\n          }\n        },\n        {\n          \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n          \"position\": 3,\n          \"item\": {\n            \"@type\": \"Thing\",\n            \"name\": \"Instagram: Reels are becoming shoppable media assets\",\n            \"description\": \"Instagram is making influencer content more native to commerce and measurement. Meta is rolling out affiliate shopping links directly in Instagram and Facebook, allowing creators to tag products in Reels and photos through existing brand affiliate accounts instead of relying only on third-party platforms like ShopMy or LTK.\"\n          }\n        },\n        {\n          \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n          \"position\": 4,\n          \"item\": {\n            \"@type\": \"Thing\",\n            \"name\": \"Instagram CTV: Creator content moves into the living room\",\n            \"description\": \"Instagram's connected TV expansion changes the screen where creator content can show up. Instagram expanded its CTV app to Google TV after launching on Amazon Fire TV, with Reels auto-playing in interest-based channels and sound on by default.\"\n          }\n        },\n        {\n          \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n          \"position\": 5,\n          \"item\": {\n            \"@type\": \"Thing\",\n            \"name\": \"YouTube: Repeated creator partnerships compound performance\",\n            \"description\": \"YouTube remains one of the clearest platforms for long-term influencer partnerships because repetition builds trust. CTRs for partnerships with creators across the U.S., U.K., Canada, and Australia increased about 10% for each additional integration with the same creator, and the sixth integration lifted conversion rates 1.9x higher than the first.\"\n          }\n        },\n        {\n          \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n          \"position\": 6,\n          \"item\": {\n            \"@type\": \"Thing\",\n            \"name\": \"Pinterest: Visual discovery creates an earlier influence window\",\n            \"description\": \"Pinterest is worth including because it gives brands a different kind of influence opportunity than TikTok or Instagram. Pinterest is a primary discovery channel for younger consumers and its value is strongest in early- and mid-funnel influence, especially before preferences have fully formed.\"\n          }\n        },\n        {\n          \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n          \"position\": 7,\n          \"item\": {\n            \"@type\": \"Thing\",\n            \"name\": \"LinkedIn: B2B influencer marketing gets more video-led\",\n            \"description\": \"LinkedIn is becoming more relevant for B2B influencer marketing as professional content shifts toward short-form video. LinkedIn paid video ads grew 30% year over year, video views grew 36% year over year, and the platform introduced tools including a full-screen mobile experience, personalized video feed, and CapCut integration.\"\n          }\n        }\n      ]\n    },\n    {\n      \"@type\": \"FAQPage\",\n      \"@id\": \"https://newengen.com/influencer-marketing-trends#faq\",\n      \"mainEntity\": [\n        {\n          \"@type\": \"Question\",\n          \"name\": \"What are the biggest influencer marketing trends in 2026?\",\n          \"acceptedAnswer\": {\n            \"@type\": \"Answer\",\n            \"text\": \"The biggest influencer marketing trends in 2026 include always-on creator programs, platform-native commerce, AI-supported content workflows, creator-led paid media, stronger influencer measurement, and the growth of social commerce through platforms like TikTok Shop, Instagram Reels, YouTube, and creator commerce networks.\"\n          }\n        },\n        {\n          \"@type\": \"Question\",\n          \"name\": \"Why are brands moving from influencer campaigns to creator programs?\",\n          \"acceptedAnswer\": {\n            \"@type\": \"Answer\",\n            \"text\": \"Brands are moving from one-off influencer campaigns to ongoing creator programs because repeated partnerships build more trust, stronger content consistency, and better performance over time. Always-on programs also make it easier to connect influencer content to paid media, affiliate, retail, social commerce, and performance measurement.\"\n          }\n        },\n        {\n          \"@type\": \"Question\",\n          \"name\": \"How is AI changing influencer marketing?\",\n          \"acceptedAnswer\": {\n            \"@type\": \"Answer\",\n            \"text\": \"AI is helping brands move faster across creator discovery, briefing, content analysis, reporting, and creative testing. But AI is also making authentic creator perspective more valuable. As feeds fill with AI-generated content, audiences are more likely to trust content that feels tied to a real person, lived experience, and community.\"\n          }\n        },\n        {\n          \"@type\": \"Question\",\n          \"name\": \"How should brands measure influencer marketing performance?\",\n          \"acceptedAnswer\": {\n            \"@type\": \"Answer\",\n            \"text\": \"Brands should measure influencer marketing through a mix of reach, engagement quality, click-through rate, conversions, affiliate revenue, paid amplification efficiency, content reuse value, brand lift, and incrementality where possible. The right measurement framework depends on whether the influencer program is designed for awareness, consideration, conversion, or full-funnel growth.\"\n          }\n        }\n      ]\n    },\n    {\n      \"@type\": \"BreadcrumbList\",\n      \"@id\": \"https://newengen.com/influencer-marketing-trends#breadcrumb\",\n      \"itemListElement\": [\n        {\n          \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n          \"position\": 1,\n          \"name\": \"Home\",\n          \"item\": \"https://newengen.com\"\n        },\n        {\n          \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n          \"position\": 2,\n          \"name\": \"Influencer Marketing Trends\",\n          \"item\": \"https://newengen.com/influencer-marketing-trends\"\n        }\n      ]\n    }\n  ]\n}",{"title":177,"description":178,"image":35},"Influencer Marketing Trends & Monthly Updates ","Explore the latest influencer marketing trends, monthly updates, and brand takeaways shaping creator strategy in 2026.",1778878809602]