Thursday, January 8th

📊 Did you know?

LinkedIn just crossed 100M verified profiles worldwide.

(Linkedin News, 2025)

🔮 9 Biggest Creator Trends for 2026

Brands spent $30B+ on creators in 2025.
But what’s really changing isn’t the budget — it’s how that money gets deployed.

I’ve been posting daily about creator news, launches, platform changes, and brand campaigns for the last 2 years.

Based on what I’m seeing right now, here’s my honest take 👇

1️⃣ Creators become the storefront

I don’t think “influencers send traffic” anymore ❌ 
Instead, they’re becoming the place where buying actually happens.

💡 Sephora already has 1,000+ creator storefronts.
💡 ShopMy just raised $70M at a $1.5B valuation to power creator-curated commerce.

Why it matters:
Storefronts turn creators from a top-of-funnel channel into a full-funnel sales surface. Brands get better attribution, longer conversion windows, and creators behave more like retailers than promoters.

2️⃣ Affiliate > flat fees

This is one of the biggest shifts I’m seeing right now…

Brands aren’t just choosing between pay-per-post or brand ambassador deals anymore.
They’re redesigning deals around performance.

What I see more and more:

• Lower flat fees to secure the content

• Affiliate commission on every sale

• Performance bonuses if creators hit revenue, view, or conversion targets

TikTok Shop accelerated this shift fast.

The top 10 TikTok Shop creators made $20M in November alone,
and one creator reportedly did ~$5M in a single month 👇️ 

@dealswithty

The extra $170 off makes this self emptying cordless vacuum so affordable.. the extra coupons on this Shark Clean and Empty ends soon #sha... See more

Why this matters:

• Creators stop optimizing for views and start optimizing for conversion

• Brands de-risk spend while keeping upside

• Both sides are finally aligned on the same metric: revenue

This feels less like “influencer marketing”
and much more like creator-led sales partnerships.

3️⃣ Live shopping is finally working

Live shopping isn’t a niche experiment anymore, it’s becoming a real sales channel, when done the right way.

Brands are leaning in 👇️ 

💡 SKIMS ran “Kimsmas Live” on TikTok, blending entertainment, limited drops, and real-time shopping into a livestream format that felt closer to a show than an ad.

@kimkardashian

Kimsmas Live! Tune-in to @KimKardashian on TikTok, Wednesday, December 3rd at 6:30pm PT

On the creator side, the proof is even clearer 👇️ 
💡 Creators like Gabriella Gomez built six-figure incomes purely from TikTok Live, without relying on traditional sponsorship deals. Live became her business model, not a side feature.

And… platforms back it up:

• Whatnot hit $3B in livestream sales

• TikTok Live continues to push affiliate-driven live formats

The lesson for brands:
Live works when it’s creator-native, interactive, and commerce-first.
It fails when it looks like overproduced brand TV.

4️⃣ Format > ideas (Format IP wins)

In 2024, value won.
In 2025, storytelling won.
In 2026, format wins.

“The Group Chat” pulled 160M+ views because it’s a series, not a viral one-off.

@thatgirlsydjo

@hilton taking the trip out the chat #HiltonPartner #waldorfastoriacostarica #thegroupchat #groupchat

Audiences don’t subscribe to ideas anymore.

They subscribe to predictable formats they recognize instantly.

For brands, sponsoring a format is far more powerful than sponsoring a post.

5️⃣ One brand story, multiple speeds

There is no “one social strategy” anymore; that era is over ❌ 

I see 👇️ 
→ Millennials & Zillennials gravitating toward long-form, podcasts, newsletters
→ Gen Z & Gen Alpha preferring fast, visual, entertainment-first content

YouTube says 20+ minute videos drive 50%+ of watch time.

The winning brands don’t change their message.
They change the tempo and format depending on who they’re talking to.

6️⃣ Creator programs go 360

Creator marketing is no longer a campaign line item.

Look at Rhode 👇️ 
→ Always-on gifting
→ Micro-creator events
→ Repeat ambassadors
→ Creators everywhere: ads, site, socials

This is no accident.
Studies show ~70% of creators prefer long-term partnerships, and brands benefit from consistency, learning effects, and creative compounding.

7️⃣ Creators become the discovery layer (even on Google)

This one is massively underestimated.

Instagram posts are now indexed on Google.
Creators show up when people search with intent.

Creators are becoming 👇️ 

• Discovery engines

• Recommendation layers

• Buying guides

If you’re not present in creator content, you’re invisible at the moment people decide.

8️⃣ Creators replace ads for product education

People don’t trust ads to explain products anymore.

They trust creators to say:
“Who this is for”
“How it actually works”
“What I’d buy / avoid”

💡 Studies show 60%+ trust creators more than traditional ads.

Creators don’t just create awareness; they remove friction.
And friction removal is what converts.

9️⃣ Creators become founders, owners, investors

This is the biggest mindset shift of all.

Creators don’t want CPMs forever.
They want equity, ownership, and upside.

💡 Rhode sold for $1B after only 3 years, driven by Hailey Bieber
💡 Alix Earle reportedly made $20M+ from her Poppi stake.

@alixearle

Coachearla got me hooked on @Poppi 🍋🍋‍🟩 #proudinvestor #poppipartner

When creators have skin in the game, the content stops feeling like marketing — because it isn’t.

🔟 BONUS: B2B creator marketing explodes

B2B is finally catching up.

Founders, operators, CMOs, and VCs are becoming distribution channels on LinkedIn.

Thought leadership now outperforms cold ads for trust-driven buying cycles.

We’re seeing:

• Creator-led webinars

• Founder partnerships

• Product storytelling from real operators

LinkedIn creators are becoming B2B demand engines, not just personal brands.

My takeaway 👇

In 2026, creators don’t sit inside the funnel.

They are the funnel:
Discovery → Education → Trust → Conversion → Retention.