56% of marketers already plan to increase their investment in YouTube in 2026

Budget allocation

56%

of marketers plan to increase their investment in YouTube in 2026

Reader Note:: Based on Sprout's survey of 1,200 marketing leaders in the US, UK and Australia whose responsibilities include social media, fielded May 30 to June 20, 2025. The figure is the share planning to increase their investment in YouTube in 2026.
Evidence:: Self-reported behaviour
Vendor interest:: Moderate — This comes from a company with a commercial interest in this market, so it is not a neutral source.
Sample:: Online surveys of 2,305 consumers in the US, UK and Australia with at least one social media account and following at least five brands, plus 1,200 marketing leaders in the US, UK and Australia responsible for social media.

Good for

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

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.

Nearly half of all marketers allocate nothing to consumer research in influencer marketing, and no one allocates more than 10%

Share of respondents by % of influencer budget allocated to consumer research and analytics before campaign execution
Budget allocation range	Share of respondents (%)
0% (no dedicated research budget)	48%
1-5%	35%
5-10%	19%
10-15%	0%
More than 15%	0%

TikTok and Instagram creator video pricing varies significantly, with Instagram typically being the pricier channel by follower tier

Sponsored video price range by influencer follower count, TikTok vs Instagram Reels
Influencer follower count	TikTok video pricing low (USD)	TikTok video pricing high (USD)
1K - 10K	$50	$200
10K - 100K	$200	$1,000
100K - 500K	$1,000	$5,000
500K - 1M	$5,000	$10,000
> 1 Million	$10,000	—

61%

of marketers plan to increase their investment in creator content in 2026

Our Substack turns the data behind these cards into full breakdowns: what changed, why, and what to do about it.

Typical macro influencer campaigns cost $8,000 to $25,000, while nano campaigns cost $400 to $1,200

Enterprise advertisers put 63.7% of their monthly Meta spend behind winning ads, against 23.0% at micro advertisers

Meta ads: share of monthly spend going to winners, mid-range and losers, by advertiser size (%)
Advertiser size	Losers (%)	Mid-range (%)	Winners (%)
Micro (<$10K)	31.5%	45.6%	23%
Small ($10K-$50K)	25.7%	39.7%	34.6%
Medium ($50K-200K)	18.6%	28.1%	53.3%
Large ($200K-1M)	17.1%	26.4%	56.5%
Enterprise ($1M+)	13.8%	22.4%	63.7%

71%

of organizations said their influencer marketing investment increased year over year