Gen Z is more online than any generation before it, and its purchasing behavior is guided by a desire for personalization and a commitment to sustainability. Generation Z is a tech-savvy, ethically minded generation with incredible spending power. Amazon was founded before any Gen Zers were born, and the iPhone debuted when the eldest of the generation was only 11 years old. Capturing market share from this smartphone and online shopping-native generation—now sitting on billions of dollars in disposable income—is a significant opportunity for ecommerce businesses.

With over 86% of US marketers planning to partner with content creators in 2025, influencer marketing has become a mainstay in modern brand strategy. So the question isn’t really should you partner with influencers, but rather, should you go big, or stay small? In 2025, this answer is increasingly nuanced. With everything from evolving platform algorithms to changing consumer behavior, brands are rethinking how they invest in creator partnerships.

Paid media advertising is a cornerstone of digital marketing, allowing businesses to reach targeted audiences and maximize their visibility online. According to an Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers study, the digital marketing industry generated $225 billion in ad revenue in 2023. That number should continue growing in the years to come.

As we approach 2025, paid media is evolving because of technological advancements and shifting consumer behaviors. Staying ahead is important for brands that want to remain competitive and make the most of their advertising budgets.

In the fast-paced world of digital marketing, staying ahead of the competition requires more than just creativity. For social media influencers and content creators, mastering search engine optimization (SEO) is essential to drive traffic, grow audiences, and secure brand partnerships. In 2025, artificial intelligence (AI) has become a game-changer in the SEO landscape, offering powerful tools that automate tasks, provide data-driven insights, and optimize content for better rankings.

The influencer marketing ecosystem stands at an inflection point, reshaped by unprecedented technological advancements, shifting consumer behaviors, and increasing demands for accountability. As we enter 2025, the question is no longer whether influencer marketing works but how to unlock its next evolution. In 2024, influencer marketing propelled social media to become the world’s largest advertising channel, surpassing paid search with a staggering $247.3B, reaching $266.92B by end of 2025 in global spend, cementing its role as the epicenter of consumer influence and engagement.

The influencer marketing industry is beginning to mature – slowly, but it is happening. And with that slow maturity, we start finding some level of standardization, best practices, and everyone involved starts to get a little more savvy. We’ve still got a way to go, and as the industry grows and changes, so should we along with it.

I wanted to know how the industry changed in 2024, and where marketers thought influencer marketing would go in 2025.

It isn’t uncommon for companies to receive hundreds of brand pitches in their social inbox from influencers and creators. Sprout’s Influencer Marketing Report found that 93% of influencers say the quality of a brand’s existing content impacts whether they agree to collaborate.

But what separates a perfect brand pitch from a bad one? How can you identify which influencers to partner with based on their outreach?

We are pleased to announce our new State of Influence: Fashion, which covers the first eight months of 2024! In this State of Influence report, you’ll get top fashion brand strategies, creator insights, and rising trends from an analysis of data covering 2024 so far. 

A few highlights include:

• Fashion creators are posting less content in the US, UK, and FR, but video views for their content continues to climb (hint: Instagram has a big part in that)