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- Influence Weekly #420 - What 77 Creator Economy Professionals Say Must Change In 2026
Influence Weekly #420 - What 77 Creator Economy Professionals Say Must Change In 2026
Meta Launches New AI Tools To Scale Creator-Brand Partnerships
Nii Ahene
December 19, 2025
Spotlight Stories
The Creator Economy In Review 2025: What 77 Professionals Say Must Change In 2026
Meta Launches New AI Tools To Scale Creator-Brand Partnerships
YouTube Launches Comments On Shorts Ads, Expands Mobile Web Availability To Boost Holiday Campaigns
Netflix Adds Podcasts In Deal With iHeartMedia
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Great Reads
Seventy-seven creator economy professionals identified operational friction points that need resolution as the industry moves beyond experimental spending into mainstream adoption. The feedback revealed three primary concerns: payment delays, measurement inconsistencies, and platform dependency risks.
Industry leaders from companies including Later, Linqia, and Metricool cited late payments as a persistent issue undermining creator partnerships. Multiple professionals noted brands routing payments through third-party agencies often extends payment timelines by months. The creator economy reached $37 billion in U.S. spending in 2025, with 70% of marketing leaders shifting to continuous creator partnerships.
Measurement challenges dominated responses, with executives calling for abandonment of vanity metrics like follower counts in favor of engagement quality and business outcomes. Professionals from agencies including Open Influence and Superfiliate emphasized moving beyond last-click attribution models that undervalue creator impact on broader marketing ecosystems.
Disney invested $1 billion in OpenAI and licensed hundreds of characters to Sora, OpenAI's video generation platform, marking a departure from traditional brand licensing approaches. The deal allows users to create content featuring Disney characters through AI prompts within Sora's closed ecosystem.
The partnership represents Disney's strategy to embed its intellectual property directly into AI creation tools rather than fighting for visibility through traditional marketing channels. Disney positioned its characters as functional capabilities within the platform, enabling users to generate Mickey Mouse and other Disney content through text prompts.
The licensing agreement includes built-in guardrails at the model level to prevent explicit content and protect brand integrity. Disney set usage parameters upfront rather than relying on post-creation content moderation. The company treats this licensing as a platform strategy rather than a legal protection mechanism.
TikTok Shop transformed from an influencer marketplace into a performance-driven distribution system prioritizing transactions over audiences, according to platform data and creator case studies. The platform reduced traditional follower requirements by allowing creators to bypass thresholds through TikTok Shop Seller Center registration, weakening audience-based monetization barriers.
The platform's algorithm now weighs commerce signals including product clicks, cart additions, and completed purchases alongside traditional engagement metrics. This shift redistributes reach toward content that converts sales rather than entertainment value. Product selection emerged as the strongest performance factor, with successful items typically showing 1,000 prior orders and $3-$5 commission rates.
Campaign Insights
Meta launched AI-powered tools to help businesses discover and convert organic creator content into paid advertisements on Facebook and Instagram. The updates center on the Partnership Ads Hub within Ads Manager, which now provides access to user-generated content, affiliate posts, and brand mentions alongside existing branded content options.
The platform added organic performance metrics including views, likes, comments, shares, and saves to help advertisers assess content effectiveness before converting posts into paid ads. Meta also launched a Facebook Partnership Ads API enabling programmatic content conversion at scale.
Partnership ads delivered 19% lower cost per acquisition and 13% higher click-through rates than standard campaigns, according to Meta's internal data. The company expanded creator eligibility to include professional mode profiles, and the program reached 100 million daily active users within 18 months of launch.
The Washington Post's YouTube views dropped after creator-journalist Dave Jorgenson left to launch LNI Media, illustrating how audiences follow individual journalists rather than news brands. Jorgenson had built the Post's TikTok presence through his personality-driven content approach.
The Reuters Institute's Digital News Report showed consumers increasingly turn to individual personalities over traditional news brands for news consumption. This trend forces legacy newsrooms to recognize that distinctive journalists represent their most valuable assets, who can leave and take audiences with them.
Industry observers predict successful newsrooms in 2026 will treat creator-journalists as partners rather than employees. New business models will emerge including revenue-sharing agreements and contracts addressing intellectual property and name, image, and likeness rights.
Oxford Road released December 2025 data showing podcasts launched before March 2020 delivered superior advertiser returns compared to newer shows. The analysis drew from campaign data representing over 500 advertisers and $1.6 billion in annual spending through Oxford Road's ORBIT benchmark tool.
75% of top-performing podcasts in current rankings launched before the pandemic. Critical Role, published by Pandora Media, ranked first, followed by Vox Media's Explain It to Me and Impressions.fm's The Monday Morning Podcast.
The top 15 shows spanned nine genres including comedy, education, business, and true crime. Pre-2020 podcasts carried a 12% efficiency premium over newer entrants. One unnamed high-profile show cost nearly 19 times more per placement than Critical Role yet delivered inferior conversion results.
Pocket.watch announced the complete cast for "Rabbit Hole," a 10-episode variety series premiering on Hulu in 2026. The streaming show features 18 creators with a combined reach of 600 million subscribers and followers across social platforms.
The cast includes Josh Peck (38 million followers), Collins Key (48.7 million), Sofie Dossi (28.6 million), ZHC (65 million), Zhong (90.8 million), and Topper Guild (118.8 million). Other participants include EvanTube, PrettyBored, Sydney Morgan, Matthew Beem, Dan Rhodes, ExtraEmily, Papa Jake, Mackenzie Turner, That's Amazing, Jesser, The Rizzler, and AJ & Big Justice.
Principal photography wrapped in Los Angeles, with additional creator segments filming globally in coming weeks. The series was co-created by Albie Hecht, pocket.watch's Chief Content Officer, and Carin Davis, Head of Development. Creators will participate in collaborations, challenges, games, and performances. The show extends pocket.watch's partnership with Hulu, which currently features 37 titles across more than 20 creator brands.
Ireland's government invested €375,000 in 2025 to partner with social media influencers for tourism marketing, according to Travel and Tour World. The campaign targeted international visitors through content distributed on Instagram and YouTube.
The government collaborated with influencers Roz Purcell and Eric Roberts. Purcell focused on promoting local cuisine from traditional Irish pubs to restaurants with locally sourced food, emphasizing sustainable practices and eco-friendly tourism. Roberts shared content exploring Ireland's natural scenery, including hiking in the Wicklow Mountains and kayaking along the Wild Atlantic Way.
The Association of Tennis Professionals brought 11 digital creators to the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin, Italy during November 9-16, 2025, for its "On Tour With" campaign. The creators produced 290 pieces of content over 12 days at the season finale event.
ATP selected creators from cities hosting ATP Masters 1000 tournaments, including Canadian creator Yuvi Randhawa with 1.1 million TikTok followers, Chinese creator Zhihao Zhang with 7 million Douyin followers, and actor Gabe Escobar with 3 million TikTok followers. The activation provided creators access to blue-carpet player interviews, an exclusive TikTok space, and meet-and-greets with competitors.
The campaign follows ATP's August 2025 global content partnership with TikTok, which included creation of a Tennis Creator Network providing creators exclusive access to ATP Tour events. The #tennis community on TikTok grew 30% in 2025, with more than 1.8 million posts. The U.S. Tennis Association implemented a similar program for approximately 50 creators at the 2025 U.S. Open.
Beats Electronics partnered with YouTube streamer IShowSpeed for a campaign promoting its Powerbeats Pro 2 earbuds. The collaboration featured a short film directed by Daniel Wolfe, known for his work on The Conjuring 2, that combined comedy and kung fu elements.
The campaign followed IShowSpeed on a journey to train under kung fu master Paco Yick, a former member of Jackie Chan's stunt team. The film showcased the streamer's humor and athletic abilities while demonstrating the earbuds' features during action sequences.
Beats launched the campaign with a live-streamed debut and offered giveaways of five "Master of Speed & Stability" bundles to viewers. The partnership represents Beats' entry into creator economy marketing, positioning YouTube content creators alongside traditional celebrity endorsers for product promotion.
House of Highlights' Creator League generated 606 million views in 2025, a 60 percent increase from the prior year, by building a sports league around social media personalities instead of professional athletes. Events averaged 123,000 concurrent viewers with 81 percent under age 34, outperforming college football and NHL content on their channel.
The league features creators like JasonTheWeen, RayAsianBoy, and YourRAGE competing in basketball, dodgeball, and flag football for a $500,000 prize pool. Real-time fan voting determines game advantages while creators co-stream events on their own channels, amplifying reach. Seven-figure brand partnerships include Pizza Hut, Nissan, Apple, and Netflix. The model capitalizes on Gen Z's preference for creator personalities over traditional sports, with median viewer ages for MLB, NHL, and NBA all exceeding 49 years old.
YouTube launched interactive comments on Shorts ads and expanded Shorts advertising to mobile web during December 2024's holiday shopping season. The comments feature allows brands to interact directly with audiences on Shorts ads, matching the organic Shorts experience. YouTube also enabled Shorts creators to link to brand websites within branded content.
The mobile web expansion extends Shorts ads beyond the YouTube app to reach consumers across TV, web, desktop, and mobile devices. A 2025 Kantar US Context Lab meta-analysis commissioned by Google found that YouTube Creator Ads on Shorts increase purchase intent by 8.8% on average and drive 2.9x more consumer intent to spend than competitors.
Interesting People
Jonathan Chanti, former president of Viral Nation Talent, launched Reign Maker Group in October 2025, a New York-based holding company targeting specialized creator economy services. The company operates four businesses: The Now Agency for influencer marketing, Regatta Brand Partners for talent partnerships, Reign Maker Talent for representation, and The Creator Rep Institute for education.
Reign Maker Group partnered with Paradigm Talent Agency through a joint venture to bridge traditional entertainment and digital influence. The company operates a private equity-meets-Y Combinator model for talent representation, taking equity stakes in manager-owned businesses rather than employing them under commission structures.
TikTok creator Manny Kelly doubled his following from 700,000 to 1.5 million users in two weeks through his "Disney Channel bully" comedy skits filmed on the UMass Lowell campus. The 19-year-old freshman creates satirical content based on Disney television archetypes, targeting college-aged audiences with impromptu pranks and scripted scenes.
Kelly revealed creator monetization challenges, stating TikTok makes income difficult unless videos exceed one minute, which reduces view counts. YouTube became his primary revenue stream after reaching 300,000 subscribers and receiving monetization status. He emphasized creator underpayment issues, noting creators with one million followers often earn only $500 per brand deal when they should command $6,000 to $10,000.
Canadian creator Leah White signed with talent agency Viral Nation after reaching 50,000 followers on TikTok, where she has built a following of 210,000 with over 50 million views. White transitioned from climate science to comedy content creation in 2021, developing viral "girlfriend who hates you" relationship sketches.
White reported Instagram delivers higher engagement than TikTok despite having nearly double the followers on TikTok. She utilizes Instagram's Trial feature to test content performance before official posting. The creator noted 80 percent of her audience consists of males aged 20-30, which influences her content strategy decisions.
iShowSpeed ranked as 2025's most-searched streamer according to X7 Updates, a creator-economy tracking account that analyzed Google Trends data throughout the year. The methodology measured global search frequency rather than traditional metrics like followers or watch time.
Kai Cenat placed second, followed by CaseOh, xQc, and Jynxzi in the top five. The ranking diverged from platform-specific performance, where Kai Cenat leads Twitch with 20.1 million followers compared to Ibai's 19.8 million and Ninja's 19.2 million.
iShowSpeed's search dominance aligned with industry recognition after winning "Streamer of the Year" at the 2025 Streamer Awards on December 6. The ceremony reached 965,746 peak viewers across platforms, making it the most-watched edition in five years. Rolling Stone also named him "Most Influential Creator of 2025." iShowSpeed maintains over 44 million YouTube subscribers and 41 million TikTok followers.
Smosh announced a 90-minute live improvised medical comedy event called "Smosh Hospital" scheduled for January 16, 2026. The digital comedy brand, founded in 2005 and known as the internet's longest-running digital sketch comedy company, will stream the show exclusively on its website at 7 p.m. PST.
The production employs a double-cast system where primary actors perform doctor and nurse roles until they break character, then replacement actors take over. Tommy Bowe and Arasha Lalani portray Doctor Boone, while Courtney Miller and Shayne Topp play Nurse O'Connell. Additional cast members include Ian Hecox, Angela Giarratana, Olivia Sui, and Trevor Evarts in various medical roles.
Smosh changed ownership multiple times, with founders Anthony Padilla and Ian Hecox separating in 2017, Mythical Entertainment acquiring the company in 2019, and the founders reacquiring control in 2023 with Mythical retaining a minority stake.
Industry News
TikTok launched its first U.S. awards ceremony on December 18 at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles, featuring Grammy-winning artist Ciara as the musical headliner. The event streamed live on TikTok and Tubi, which served as the official streaming partner and made the show available on-demand the following day.
e.l.f. Cosmetics sponsored the ceremony and presented the Rising Star of the Year Award. Eight presenters participated in the event, including REI AMI, Tan France, and Patrick Starrr, who presented various category awards spanning beauty, education, and TikTok Shop commerce. Red carpet coverage began at 5 p.m. PT with the main ceremony starting at 6 p.m. PT.
Snapchat released its 2025 Recap feature on December 17, offering users personalized video summaries of their platform activity through the app's Memories section. The feature joins similar year-end offerings from Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and Duolingo.
Voice-based communication drove platform growth in 2025. Users averaged 1.7 billion daily minutes across voice notes, voice calls, and video chats, representing 30% year-over-year growth. U.S. users sent more than 5 billion voice notes in 2025, marking 10% growth from 2024.
Group chat usage increased by 5% in 2025, with active users sending over 8,880 messages to their top group chat. Chat Reactions grew 44%, with the heart emoji becoming the most popular reaction. Three million additional users adopted stickers for communication.
AND Media launched as a venture studio focused on supporting progressive digital creators, founded by Christian Tom, Aisha Shah, and Landon Morgado who previously worked at Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, GoFundMe, Twitter, NowThis, and the White House. The company provides production support, monetization assistance, editorial strategy, brand partnerships, legal services, and accounting to creators operating as production companies.
AND Media's initial slate includes Kareem Rahma's "Keep the Meter Running" series, Hunter Prosper's YouTube expansion of "Stories From a Stranger," a video podcast adaptation of newsletter "THAT SOUNDS LIKE A LOT" called "The Small Bow," and a current events podcast from comedian Matt Buechele. The founders spent six months consulting with creators to identify necessary support systems.
The venture studio operates similarly to a venture capital operating partner, engaging with creators during idea development and providing tailored support. The founders cited a gap in financial stability and infrastructure for left-leaning creators compared to right-leaning counterparts as their market opportunity.
HypeAuditor launched HypeAgent, a standalone AI product that functions as a conversational co-worker for influencer marketing teams. The platform allows users to ask natural language questions and receive data-backed responses about creator discovery, fraud detection, audience analysis, and campaign insights.
Founded in 2017, HypeAuditor operates a full-stack influencer marketing platform used by brands and agencies. CEO Alexander Frolov said the company identified a gap between tools and user knowledge, with even advanced platforms failing when users cannot ask the right questions.
TikTok faced another missed deadline for its required divestiture from Chinese parent company ByteDance, with uncertainty surrounding which executive order governs the timeline. President Trump issued two conflicting executive orders in September 2025 regarding the TikTok sell-off mandated by Senate-approved legislation.
The first order, signed September 16th, set a December 16th deadline for TikTok to arrange partnership with an American company to separate from Chinese control. The second order, issued September 25th, extended enforcement delays until January 23rd, 2026, based on a proposed framework agreement.
Under the proposed deal, TikTok's US operations would be run by a new joint venture majority-owned by US entities, with ByteDance holding less than 20 percent ownership. However, Chinese officials have not agreed to or discussed the framework details, despite the Trump administration announcing the deal was "imminent" in September.
TikTok hosted its first Creator Day event in Pakistan in December 2025, targeting content creators in entertainment, sports, food, and learning categories. The platform organized workshops, panel discussions, and one-on-one meetings with staff to cover content quality, audience engagement strategies, and platform features.
The event emphasized responsible content creation practices, TikTok's safety features, and methods for building sustainable creator careers. Sessions included training on TikTok's creative tools and approaches for aligning content with audience preferences and platform trends.
Umais Naveed, Content Operations Lead for South Asia at TikTok, said the event reflected the company's commitment to investing in Pakistan's creator community. The program provided direct access to platform staff and gathered community feedback to inform future platform development.
Creative Artists Agency pursued expansion of its content creator business in the UK through potential agent hires or acquisition of a British agency, according to Deadline. Brent Weinstein, who joined CAA's senior leadership team six months ago and oversees digital media, met with agents representing digital talent in London in late November. The agency is considering hiring additional UK agents or acquiring a boutique British agency.
CAA currently represents British creators including Amelia Dimoldenberg and KSI from its U.S. operations. London-based Glenn Miller leads the agency's UK work. The roster also includes the "Fin vs History" podcast, Adam Rowe, and Jordan North.
CAA appointed digital media veteran Greg Goodfried as an agent in its Creators division in early December. Goodfried co-created early internet series "LonelyGirl15" and joined from DamGood Management, which he launched in 2023. Jamie Guggenheim also joined CAA's Creators division from DamGood Management. CAA plans to relocate its approximately 500 London staff to an eight-story building on Bloomsbury Street in early 2027.
YouTube launched a feature allowing U.S.-based creators to receive earnings in PayPal's PYUSD stablecoin, according to May Zabaneh, Head of Crypto at PayPal. The feature operates through YouTube's existing AdSense-PayPal payment system, with creators able to opt for stablecoin payouts instead of traditional bank transfers.
Eligible creators must meet YouTube Partner Program requirements including 1,000 subscribers, 4,000 watch hours, and a verified PayPal account to access PYUSD payments. PayPal added the capability for payment recipients to receive funds in PYUSD during the third quarter of 2024, which YouTube then offered to creators.
PYUSD, PayPal's dollar-pegged stablecoin launched in 2023, reached nearly $4 billion in market capitalization according to CoinGecko. The development follows broader tech industry adoption of cryptocurrency payments, with Google Cloud previously accepting PYUSD payments from customers and Stripe acquiring stablecoin startup Bridge for $1.1 billion in February.
Netflix is adding more than 30 video podcasts for 2026 through deals with iHeartMedia and Barstool Sports, expanding its move into podcasting. The lineup includes "The Breakfast Club" with Charlamagne Tha God, which has six million YouTube subscribers, plus "My Favorite Murder," "Pardon My Take," and shows from Chelsea Handler and Bobby Bones. Audio versions remain available on other platforms.
Netflix views podcasts as a strategy to boost daytime viewership as traditional morning television declines. However, some top podcasts have declined Netflix offers, citing strong YouTube advertising revenue. The deals exclude major hits like "On Purpose with Jay Shetty" and focus on entertainment and sports content rather than political opinion shows. Episodes will feature host-read ads but no pre-roll or mid-roll interruptions like YouTube.
WPP Media announced an expanded partnership with Google in December 2025 that integrated YouTube creator and content insights across its technology platforms. The integration targets WPP Open, the company's media planning system, and tools owned by The Goat Agency, WPP's creator marketing subsidiary.
The partnership granted WPP access to YouTube Creator and Content Insights, including non-public data about creator performance and audience metrics. The Goat Agency completed integration of YouTube's new API designed to facilitate brand deals, providing separation between paid and organic metrics for creator assessment.
WPP Open now incorporates YouTube creator insights directly into media planning workflows. The system allows planners to identify content trends and emerging creators based on audience data before campaign launch. The Goat Agency's AI tools gained access to creator and video insights through the API integration, including metrics that distinguish between paid and organic performance data for campaign measurement.
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Host-read podcast ads on YouTube are up to 25 percent less effective at driving purchases than audio-only formats, according to research from Oxford Road and Podscribe analyzing over 1,000 campaigns. The performance gap reflects different consumption patterns: audio listeners deliberately select shows on platforms like Apple Podcasts and Spotify, while YouTube audiences often arrive through algorithms.
Video and audio podcast ads typically sell through the same channels at identical prices, despite the performance difference. YouTube surpassed Spotify as the top U.S. podcast platform in 2024, with over one billion monthly viewers of podcast content. Seventy-one percent of U.S. podcast creators now produce video versions alongside audio. Brands like 1Password and BetterHelp report strong results when hosts create authentic, visually compelling spots that work for both watching and listening audiences.
TikTok live shopping is gaining traction in the US after years of failed attempts by Amazon, YouTube, and Meta to replicate China's success with the format. Kim Kardashian's recent livestream for Skims drew 30,000 peak viewers, while small businesses report the feature now drives 80 percent of their TikTok revenue. Pennsylvania-based Taylor Chip Cookie generates $200 to $2,000 per hour from streams averaging just 200 viewers.
TikTok expects $77 billion globally from TikTok Live by 2027, with Black Friday sales jumping 84 percent year-over-year. Companies are hiring full-time hosts with acting backgrounds and consulting Chinese agencies that mastered the format overseas. Texas fragrance company Mavwicks scaled from $400,000 to $32 million in annual sales within one year on TikTok. The platform now competes with Amazon, eBay, and startup Whatnot in the livestream commerce space.
The NBA hosted the second PlayStation NBA Creator Cup on Friday in Las Vegas, serving as a precursor to Saturday's NBA Cup semifinals. The event featured creators competing against each other in basketball, with Agent00 serving as coach and live-streaming from NBA Cup media day for the third time.
The NBA established its creator program in 2016 and worked with over 150 creators last season. The league plans to collaborate with over 200 creators this year through its NBA Creator Network, which provides access to over 26,000 hours of game footage and editing tools.
Tubular Labs data revealed that 77.9% of U.S. YouTube views in 2025 came from videos 60 seconds or less, with sports content reaching 78.1%. For basketball-specific content, 58% of global YouTube uploads were 60 seconds or shorter, while TikTok basketball content reached 62% in the same category.
The event included Joe Doerrer from Strictly Bball calling the action and over 10 creators participating in various capacities during the Creator Cup broadcast.