Vendor reportCreatorIQ, 2025

AI and content automation topped marketers’ list of what will shape marketing next

Strategy review & optimization

Factors marketers expect to have the biggest impact on marketing in coming years

Factors marketers expect to have the biggest impact on marketing in coming years
Factor	Share of marketers (%)
AI and content automation	40%
Rise of affiliate/influencer commerce	34%
Brand safety and vetting sophistication	28%
Political or regulatory shifts	27%
Economic pressure and ROI focus	27%
Increased sophistication of creator economy	25%
More in-person events	21%
Improved measurement solutions	21%
Decline of traditional digital ads	14%
Decline of a major social platform	14%
Decline of social media users	13%

Reader Note:: This chart reports which factor marketers said will have the biggest impact on marketing in coming years. AI and content automation was selected by 40%, ahead of the rise of affiliate or influencer commerce at 34% and brand safety and vetting sophistication at 28%. The figure reflects respondents’ expectations, not measured market outcomes, and the exact base for this chart is not stated.
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.

More than half of brands said economic volatility pushed them to focus harder on ROI

How Economic Volatility Has Affected Marketing Strategy, Overall vs Enterprise Brands
Response	Brands overall (%)	Enterprise brands (%)
Increased focus on ROI	51%	56%
Seeking cost saving measures	46%	49%
Budget restrictions	44%	43%
Reallocation of resources to proven channels	38%	43%
Job or role uncertainty	29%	39%

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Planning questions suggested by Gartner: objectives and goals, primary strategies and execution, direction of product lines or services, success measures, long-term success factors, and major obstacles

Template: Strategic Alignment Discussion Guide for Business Partner Conversations
Questions about that business partner's domain	Notes of your business partner's answer
What are your key business objectives and resultant goals for the next two to five years?	—
What are your primary strategies? How do you plan to execute on these strategies?	—
What is the direction of the key product line, supply chain, service offerings, etc.?	—
How will you know if your unit is successful? What will you measure?	—
What are the key success factors that will make or break your unit's success in the long term?	—

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48% of B2B SaaS leaders say aligning affiliate partnerships with sales and marketing shortens sales cycles

Revenue impacts reported from strong alignment between partnerships and other go-to-market teams
Revenue impact	Share of respondents (%)
Shortens sales cycles	48%
Partnerships open doors to customers	31%
Land bigger deals	23%
Drive pipeline growth	12%
Help lower churn	10%

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Fixing your influencer marketing campaign: How to get into the top 10% of advertisers

Lead quality and MQLs are the top KPI marketers track overall

Top KPIs marketers prioritize overall (2026)
KPI	Share of marketers prioritizing it (%)
Lead quality and MQLs	39%
Lead-to-customer conversion rates	34%
Return on marketing investment	31%
Customer acquisition cost	30%
Lead generation volume	29%

34%

of CEOs and CFOs are aligned with their CMOs about how marketing supports growth

1.5x

more likely CMOs who plan 18 months or more ahead are to report high marketing and business performance than those who do not

AI and content automation topped marketers’ list of what will shape marketing next

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