5 Trends Shaping Influencer Marketing in 2026

It’s no secret that the creator economy is booming, with some of the world’s biggest brands investing heavily in influencer marketing to drive full-funnel results. But what are some of the biggest trends shaping how brands and creators are partnering with each other in 2026? 

Whether they’re managing influencers in-house or bringing in a specialist influencer marketing agency to strategize, manage, and optimize their creator marketing efforts, here are five trends shaping how major brands are engaging with the influencer marketing landscape. 

Episodic Creator Content

Rather than relying on one-off viral hits to maintain their popularity online, TikTok and Instagram creators, who need job security and stability, are investing time into creating repeatable formats that keep their audiences coming back for more. They’re releasing multi-part mini-dramas that build episode-over-episode as well as soothingly repetitive content, akin to the formulaic TV shows many of us grew up on.

Episodic content works as an algorithmic hack, serving users content that looks almost exactly like content they’ve watched and engaged with before. Since our TikTok, Reels, and Shorts feeds work on an interest-graph, rather than merely prioritizing content from those we follow, episodic content ensures we see content from the same creator more than once.

So, what does this mean for brands? We’re seeing some brands, like Bilt, release their own multi-episodic content series, mimicking creators’ content behaviors. And we’re also seeing brands pay for product placement in creators’ own episodic videos and launching multi-episodic campaigns in partnership with creators. For example, we worked with creator @officiallytonytoks to tell a comedic story for International Delight over multiple TikTok-first “episodes,” as part of our Shorty-Awards-nominated campaign. 

If brands want to connect with Gen Z audiences, entertaining them where they’re already being entertained (on TikTok) by partnering with the people already entertaining them (creators) can be a winning strategy.

Creator-Driven AEO

The second trend we’re watching is how brands are increasingly leveraging creators to positively impact their Answer Engine Optimization (AEO). Similar to SEO, AEO is the art and science of impacting how your brand is showing up in search results, but with an emphasis on how AI tools are answering consumer questions. Google is now surfacing AI summaries, powered by Gemini, above search results, and YouTube videos are being cited in ~30% of these summaries, demonstrating the power of video content to shape the answers we’re receiving when we’re searching.  

AI tools don’t truly watch videos, they “read” them, relying on titles, transcripts, captions, descriptions, and text overlays, so the smartest brands are considering all these YouTube platform features when partnering with creators on the platform. They’re also prioritizing creators’ "qualifications," i.e., what establishes them as an authority in a given topic area, over their follower counts, and instructing them to lead by stating these credentials in sponsored content that answers questions consumers are likely to have about a product or category.

Creators IRL

Third, while many TikTok influencers grew massive followings during the pandemic by filming content in their own bedrooms and bathrooms, today creators are going out into the world. 

On-the-street interview creator content is incredibly popular and brands such as MiraLAX are tapping into the format to connect with consumers over topics that were previously taboo. The smartest brands are also connecting creators “URL to IRL,” inviting creators to major events, such as Coachella (often dubbed the "influencer Olympics”), and creating experiences specifically for creators, bringing them together for the purpose of content capture. 

Reactive Content with Creators

Fourth, culture now moves at the speed of social media, with viral moments, recipes, and challenges taking over our feeds on a daily basis. Brands have historically struggled to keep up with the speed of the scroll, but having a preapproved list of trusted creators, vetted for being brand safe, available, and in-budget, can be a winning strategy for brands that want to increase their relevance by tapping into the cultural zeitgeist. 

Brands should invest in trendspotting—via tech solutions like social listening tools and by partnering with agencies that live and breathe social media—and then design processes that allow them to partner with creators within 24-48 hours. Reactive content creation requires advance planning, so brands can strike while the iron is hot. 

Creator Content Everywhere

Finally, the most sophisticated marketers know that influencer marketing isn’t just about social media. Great creator content can and should travel. We’re seeing creators on digital billboards, creator content appearing as part of retail media buys, and social-first talent appearing in TV commercials. 

Considering everywhere content will live ahead of partnering with influencers is a crucial step as it’s important to negotiate content usage rights upfront, giving brands the ability, for example, to repurpose creator-shot assets as part of CTV assets, on product detail pages on retailer websites, or in other digital environments. 

As these trends make clear, we’ve come a long way in the world of influencer marketing—from one-off posts and campaign moments to a sustained and ever-evolving strategy at the forefront of innovation in our industry. The savviest brands will lean into these trends in 2026 and beyond, and bring partners on board who can help them stay at the cutting edge of working with creators.

About the Author

Finola Austin

Writer