It was abundantly clear at last month’s Cannes Lions festival that content creators are expanding beyond social media.
They’re becoming a major part of the entire digital media industry.
As creators diversify their revenue streams, brand deals are becoming less dominant. A recent report from influencer marketing platform Later projects that creator participation in brand deals will drop from 94% to 78% this year — not because creators are souring on the strategy, but because they’re putting much of their efforts elsewhere.
That shift could have implications for ad channels like connected TV (CTV), retail media and audio — and the larger programmatic ecosystem. As creators expand into these spaces, they bring built-in audiences, adaptable content and rich engagement signals — opening the door to more personalized, performance-driven campaigns across every channel.
“There’s obviously a clear evolution in how creators and influencers are showing up,” says Cristina Lawrence, EVP of consumer and content experience at Razorfish. “If you thought social was bad, now compound it with new platforms to feed the hungry beast, the content machine. That’s just reality; it’s about attention and eyeballs.”
