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It’s just about that time to plan your marketing initiatives for the next calendar year – where do you stand? Our strategists shared their observations during “The CMO’s Creator Guide 2026” webinar, exploring insights from the LTK & Northwestern 2025 CMO Study of top-level marketing professionals and decision makers who used Creator Marketing in the last year. See why you need to put Creators at the top of your list.
Use this as your go-to CMO Creator guide for the year ahead.
The Creator Marketing Takeover
Marketing has transformed, making Creators a central component of nearly every brand's strategy. Executive decision makers and marketers are turning to Creators to drive business results across the entire funnel.
Creators consume budget and attention
CMOs are increasing Creator Marketing spend more than any other channel as brands strive to connect with consumers. In fact, while 90 percent of brands already leverage Creator Marketing, a substantial 97 percent expect it to play a larger role in future marketing efforts.
Audiences look at advertising differently than in the past, seeking the authenticity that “real people” provide. Creator content now outperforms branded social media advertisements and celebrity endorsements, consistently ranking as the most trusted source for product recommendations, especially in top industries, such as:
- Fashion
- Consumer packaged goods
- Beauty and personal care
Building Creator Armies
To meet increasing consumer demand, brands are embracing an "always-on" approach to Creator Marketing that spans the customer journey. The majority of CMOs (65 percent) work with 50+ Creators to distribute content across multiple channels in their marketing ecosystem.
LTK partner brands build Creator “armies” by incorporating Creator content across an average of four channels:
- Content marketing: Brands use LTK Creator content for owned and operated channels, such as email and websites, which can be both efficient and cost-effective.
- Sponsorships: LTK's Brand ambassador programs allow Creators to act as an extension of a brand.
- CTV: Consumers want to see Creator content on TV, and LTK Connected TV opens opportunities to reach targeted audiences on the big screen.
- Partnership marketing: Authentic Creator content naturally motivates action, which can help inform full-funnel decisions across an organization.
Scale faster with LTK Boost
Did you know that an average of 20 percent of brands’ Creator budgets are dedicated to boosting content? Brands using LTK Boost can experience significant growth in clicks and sales.
But you can also access a variety of other advanced tools to amplify Creator content, drive growth, and track performance. Fine-tune Creator Marketing performance with such features as:
- LTK 360 for full-funnel visibility
- LTK Leaderboard to compare Creator performance
Using Creators Across Marketing
Creator content is more versatile than you may think. Put it to work across departments, both on social media and off-platform.
Platforms to express their voice
Creator content is being used by multiple teams across brands, expanding its impact across several key departments, including:
- Marketing services (77 percent)
- Social media (58 percent)
- Media (56 percent)
Much of this is still social media-focused; Creator content on Instagram (69 percent), Facebook (66 percent), TikTok (60 percent), and YouTube (51 percent) is boosted most to reach consumers. But Creator content across media is growing, with display advertising, content marketing, and user-generated content all on the rise.
How Brands Use LTK
LTK brings brands and Creators together to combine their expertise for brand growth. Support upper-funnel and lower-funnel goals in equal measure.
Creators propel the marketing funnel
Brands launch Creator campaigns to support goals ranging from generating sales (53 percent) to building loyalty and retention (49 percent) to generating content (47 percent). Both CMOs and Creators measure success in remarkably similar ways too:
Creators
- Awareness: 51 percent
- Brand sentiment: 42 percent
- Campaign sales: 42 percent
- Engagement rate: 41 percent
- Audience growth: 40 percent
CMOs
- Awareness: 57 percent
- Brand sentiment: 48 percent
- Campaign sales: 46 percent
- New audiences: 45 percent
- Lead generation: 40 percent
Creators by vertical
The most sought-after partners for brands? CMOs rank lifestyle Creators as No. 1 overall (59 percent), in addition to being tops across verticals such as health, wellness, and fitness (75 percent) and fashion (63 percent). But you may also seek out a few other types of Creators to authentically connect with consumers:
- Category niche (44 percent)
- Ambassadors (41 percent)
Setting the Stage for Creator Success
Brands know they don’t need to be overly prescriptive in their guidance to Creators. The best way to collaborate with Creators is to trust them.
How to guide your Creators
Very few brands provide prescriptive guidance. Give Creators the autonomy to interpret projects and develop authentic content that drives results. Some food for thought:
- Nearly two-thirds (62 percent) of brands offer general brand guidelines.
- Only 30 percent of brands provide channel-specific guidelines.
Nervous about handing over the keys? Compromise and collaborate for the best results. More than 45 percent of brands co-create content ideas with Creators.
Give Your 2026 Creator Marketing Strategy a Makeover
Are you making room in your 2026 budget for Creator Marketing? Start forming partnerships now to stand out in a sea of branded social media, CTV, and web content. LTK gives you everything you need to succeed, from AI-powered casting to campaign creation and measurement. Turn the page on your old approach and get started today.
