As global creator ad spend nears $44B, brands must treat content as core media infrastructure — or risk losing their competitive edge to rivals.
by Tim Sovay, CreatorIQ July 24 2026
Over the past two years, creator content has moved from a fixture in the brand marketer’s playbook to a core part of global paid media plans. Just look at Unilever’s bold ambitions for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, tapping more than 50,000 global content creators across 35 brands such as Dove and Axe.
Earned influencer marketing, built on organic reach and long-term brand affinity, isn’t going anywhere and shouldn’t. But for mature marketers, that’s no longer where the story ends. Creator content has become critical infrastructure for how paid advertising gets planned, bought and measured.
Global spend on creator advertising is on pace to hit nearly $44 billion this year, up from $37 billion in 2025. Meta alone says its partnership ads business — the tool that lets brands boost creator content as paid media — has doubled to a $10 billion annual run rate. TikTok’s partnership advertising business is even larger. That influence is clear: Creator content now accounts for close to half of all paid media creative brands run today.
