Nearly 70% of Gen Z say finfluencers shape their money decisions, and brands are taking note. Claire's is riding a viral squishy hunting trend by enlisting creators and building social-first content for Gen Alpha. AMC is testing TikTok as a premiere window, dropping a full comedy episode in 21 short-form clips. And YouTube's latest Culture & Trends report shows independent animators are now outpacing studios with younger viewers, opening new sponsorship lanes for advertisers.

TikTok star Khaby Lame named ambassador the 2026 Youth Olympic Games, Griffin Johnson, a 26-year-old, transformed from a nursing student to a venture capitalist by leveraging his massive TikTok following and co-founding the Sway House content collective, and Creator Alix Earle launched her Reale Actives skincare brand with a sophisticated, multi-faceted strategy that moved beyond simple virality. Meanwhile, YouTube introduced a new feature allowing creators to like video comments in bulk, enhancing efficiency for high-volume channels.

Aerie extended its "100% Aerie Real" campaign and will creators to amplify the message starting in April. Jeopardy is debuting a YouTube-exclusive edition with creators like Rebecca Black and Monét X Change competing for charity. And a TikTok creator went viral after spontaneously riding his horse through a Chick-fil-A drive-thru in Florida.

Facebook's Creator Fast Track offers guaranteed pay to pull top talent from TikTok and YouTube. The Creatorverse Incubator gives TikTok creators a path to long-form streaming on Tubi. And Staples signed viral employee Kaeden Rowland after her organic TikToks drove measurable store traffic.

Instagram is testing a new feature that allows Meta Verified subscribers to include direct clickable links in post captions, a significant shift for creator monetization. TikTok is launching TikTok Radio and has integrated full-song Apple Music streaming and a 'Listening Party' feature, deepening its role in music discovery. Meanwhile, brands like Poppi are refining their creator strategies, emphasizing 'vibe-based' approaches and micro-creators for authentic engagement. New data reveals YouTube's ad revenue now surpasses four legacy media companies, highlighting the ongoing shift of ad spend to digital platforms.

A breakdown of how creator-brand matching works, how to position yourself to get found, and what it takes to get selected once you are.

Dominos launched a social-first campaign featuring personalized pizza customizations from content creators and athletes. In a new model, a Gen Alpha skin-care brand is offering equity to teen creators, signaling deeper brand-creator relationships. Meanwhile, the IAB reports that 50% of U.S. ad buyers now consider creator-led social campaigns a "must buy," solidifying creators' central role in marketing.

TikTok’s new Local Feed opens a discovery surface for brick-and-mortar brands and local creators. Two major retailers, American Eagle and Urban Outfitters, launched gamified micro-creator programs in the same week, signaling a shift from big-name placements to always-on peer content. Meanwhile, the IAB reports U.S. creator ad spend hit $37 billion in 2025, growing 4× faster than total media, and the “2026 is the new 2016” nostalgia trend is giving pre-2020 brands a second act.

The most common influencer marketing question

I recently sat down with Vikki Ross—an experienced copywriter and branding consultant who worked with Prince Harry and Megan Markle.

In this episode, we talk to Marc Lafleur, CEO and Founder at truLOCAL, a consumer platform that helps people access locally-sourced meat products—100 percent grass fed and pasture raised.

In this episode, we talk with Bryan Lewis, CEO and Founder of The Sweat Club, a subscription fitness brand focused on women’s activewear.

Jeff Isy was born and raised on the little African island, Mauritius, before moving to Canada in 2009. He speaks three languages, French…

In this episode, we talk to Dave Gerhardt, the CMO of Privy, and the host of the “Ecommerce Marketing Show” podcast. Dave, who was previously VP of Marketing at Drift, is setting out to help e-commerce entrepreneurs build their business.

In this episode, we talk to Katy Marshall, the General Manager of Pattern Brands. We talk to Katy about the importance of impact versus complexity, so that she can not just execute something for one brand, but execute across the family of Pattern Brands.

In this episode, we talk with David Wolfe, CEO and Founder of Olivers, a men’s activewear brand inspired by the farm-to-table movement.

Marketing with creators or influencers is a relatively new phenomenon. When we sit down with brands and agencies, the first question we…

In this episode, we talk with Vino Jeyapalan, CEO and Founder of Kabo, a company that brings human-grade dog food to dog owners.

In this episode we talk to Andy Bilinsky, Founder and CEO at Lensabl. They make it really easy for you to update prescription lenses for your existing frames.

Nik Sharma! He handled social strategy for major celebrities like, Priyanka Chopra and Pitbull—at 15. He's one of AdWeek’s Young and Influential, and helped build the Cha Cha Matcha and Hint brands. This episode is especially exciting because we're catching him on the heels of the Judy launch.

Last week, Instagram announced that it won’t be displaying likes on posts. It’s testing this change in Canada for now, but if it works…

I've literally heard some marketers swear that they'd never EVER pay influencers to talk about their product. This is a real issue, and something we should talk about.

When you pay creators, what are you actually getting in return? We cover that here.

Follower counts are deceiving, but so much of influencer marketing conversation revolves around this easy-to-hack number.

What's the right way to do execute influencer marketing? There are three big options marketers choose from, and we dive in to each one.

There are still lots of unknowns with influencer marketing Still a lot of questions. I’ve compiled the top concerns I’ve heard from marketing folks into this series.

We sit down with MarketerHire’s Tracey Wallace to discuss what it takes to build a team from scratch.

Howdy friends! My name is Jessica and I am a #paid Editorial Team Member and the blogger behind Diary of a Toronto Girl, a Toronto-based…

This Week’s Featured Creator is Nicholas Pakradooni, @cholpak.

Taylor Holiday has generously shared a document they use for hiring media buyers at Common Thread Collective. Have a look.

In this episode, we talk with Erin Frey, Co-CEO and Co-Founder of Frey, a sustainable clothing care company turning the detergent category on its head.

Four key principles for entrepreneurs looking to build a great direct-to-consumer brand

In this episode, we talk to Val Geisler, the CEO of Fix My Churn. She's on a mission to increase conversions, and decrease churn. She drops a bunch of email and marketing knowledge that will help you now.

Two female founder are changing the world, one sleep at a time.

In this episode we talk with Taylor Holiday, CEO at Common Thread Collective. They're a growth agency that helps brands make a profit from their digital spend.

In this episode, we talk to Nick Greenfield, the Founder & CEO of Candid. He's on a mission to make orthodontics and teeth aligners more affordable and accessible to all. He talks about how he disrupted an industry built on in-person, expensive services and brought it into the e-commerce space.

Once upon a time, if your brand was big enough, your company had a department dedicated to one thing — reading newspapers.

In this episode, we talk to Steadman Dinning, CEO and Co-Founder at Bruvy. They're bringing skincare to men with thoughtful products and GUYDANCE.

Her company is reinventing toothpaste—fully sustainable dry tablets (instead of the paste most of us are used to).

Kristen LaFrance discusses why she considers it so important and how to achieve it through community-building, thinking locally, and putting people first.

In this episode, we talk to Alex Ikonn, Co-Founder at Intelligent Change, where he's building products like the five-minute journal to boost happiness and increase productivity.

In this episode, we talk to Web Smith, Founder at 2PM, a bootstrapped media and publishing company that puts out two long form essays and three letters every week, hosts 12 databases, and they host the 2PM polymathic community.