Vendor reportCreatorIQ, 2025

Agencies were most likely to try more TikTok and Instagram in new campaigns

Shortlisting creators

Agencies: platforms expected to experiment with or expand on next year

Agencies: platforms expected to experiment with or expand on next year
Platform	Share of agencies (%)
YouTube	18%
TikTok	20%
Instagram	20%
Facebook	16%
X	6%
Twitch	5%
Snapchat	3%
LinkedIn	3%
Pinterest	3%
Reddit	3%
Threads	1%
Substack	1%

Reader Note:: This figure asks agencies, “Which social media platform do you expect to experiment with or expand on over the next year?” TikTok and Instagram tied for first at 20% each, followed by YouTube at 18% and Facebook at 16%. These are planned actions reported by agencies, not observed future behavior. The exact agency base for this chart is not given.
Evidence:: Self-reported behaviour
Vendor interest:: High — This comes from a company with a commercial interest in this market, so it is not a neutral source.
Sample:: Survey of 1,723 respondents: 747 brands, 676 agencies, and 300 creators across 17+ industries and 9+ regions, conducted by Sapio Research in July 2025, with additional CreatorIQ research in August 2025.

Good for

A rough sense of size and direction, and deciding what to look at first.

Not for

Exact numbers, or saying that one thing caused another.
This comes from a company with a commercial interest in this market, so it is not a neutral source.
The source says how much it looked at, but not how any of it was chosen.

Influencer selection is mainly based on engagement rate and audience demographics (94% and 88%), with only 25% using social listening on what consumers discuss

Share of marketers using each data input to select influencers, and what it measures
Data input	Usage (%)
Engagement rate (Influencer output)	94%
Audience demographics (age, gender, location) — Influencer audience	88%
Past campaign performance data (Influencer track record)	81%
Audience interest / affinity data (Influencer audience)	78%
Follower count and reach metrics (Influencer scale)	72%

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Sponsored posts got more engagement when influencers had either very low or very high ad loads, and did worst in the middle

In creator selection, brand fit mattered most and follower count mattered least

Most Important Factor Brands Use When Selecting New Creators to Work With
Selection factor	Brands (%)
Creator suitability or fit for brand	22%
Content performance	17%
Working with a diverse group of creators	14%
Brand affinity, or a history of posting about your client	12%
Follower audience demographics	10%

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People were about twice as likely to share the sponsored Instagram post when the influencer had low or high ad load instead of a middle one

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of marketers do not plan to work with virtual influencers AI avatars or digital clones of creators in 2026

Agencies were most likely to try more TikTok and Instagram in new campaigns

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