Marketing research firm Kantar reports that a net 61% of marketers plan to increase investment in creator content in 2026, even as the industry continues to rely on limited and inconsistent frameworks for measuring effectiveness.
The findings, published in Kantar’s “2026 Marketing Trends” report, point to what the firm characterizes as a growing disconnect between rising creator marketing budgets and the metrics used to justify those expenditures.
According to the research, creator content is increasingly viewed as a core part of the marketing mix, despite ongoing uncertainty around how its impact should be evaluated.
Engagement Metrics Questioned as Proof of Business Value
Kantar’s analysis highlights what it describes as a foundational measurement challenge in creator marketing. Engagement indicators remain widely used, but the firm argues they offer limited insight into business outcomes.
“Engagement, likes, and views aren’t meaningful outcomes,” the report states, suggesting these metrics fall short of demonstrating return on investment or long-term brand impact. Kantar’s findings indicate that marketers are being pushed to place greater emphasis on ROI and brand-building indicators when assessing creator-led campaigns in 2026.
Brand Integration Remains Inconsistent
Using data from its LIFT+ database, Kantar reports that only 27% of analyzed creator content shows strong ties to the sponsoring brand. This comes as the firm’s research suggests that coherent, cross-channel creative ideas have become 2.5 times more important to campaign success than they were a decade ago.
Kantar characterizes this gap as a structural issue rather than an executional one. The report suggests that many creator partnerships continue to operate as isolated activations, rather than as part of longer-term creative platforms or clustered themes designed to connect brand and creator-led storytelling.
Balancing Control and Creative Autonomy
The report also addresses what Kantar describes as a recurring tension in creator partnerships: the balance between brand control and creative freedom. “Creators are not actors – they do their own thing,” the research notes, arguing that effective partnerships often require brands to cede a degree of control and engage in co-creation.
According to Kantar, brands face competing risks. Over-directing creator content can diminish authenticity, while under-briefing can result in weak or unclear brand presence. The firm frames this balance as a capability that brands must continue to develop as creator marketing matures.
Measurement Frameworks and Guardrails Emphasized
To address these challenges, the report recommends that brands establish clearer guardrails for creator collaborations, including shared definitions of success and upfront agreement on measurement criteria. Kantar suggests that defining objectives early, while allowing creators flexibility within those boundaries, may help preserve authenticity while supporting brand-building goals.
The research positions this approach as a way to align creator output more closely with broader campaign objectives, rather than treating influencer activity as a separate discipline.
Tools Emerge to Address Measurement Challenges
Kantar also points to the emergence of AI-powered creative testing tools as one response to the measurement gap. The firm highlights its LINK+ solution as an example, stating that such tools are designed to evaluate creator assets against brand objectives and ROI indicators, in some cases within minutes.
While the report positions these tools as a way to accelerate optimization and improve decision-making, it notes that broader adoption of consistent measurement practices remains an industry-wide challenge.
Investment Momentum Continues Despite Uncertainty
The net 61% increase cited in the report reflects marketers planning to raise creator marketing spend minus those planning to reduce it, based on Kantar’s Media Reactions research. According to the firm, this trend suggests sustained confidence in creator-led strategies, even as questions around effectiveness persist.
Kantar links this momentum to broader shifts in consumer behavior, including changes in how people discover and evaluate products, and the growing role of digital intermediaries in purchase decisions.
Cross-Channel Integration Gains Importance
The report also emphasizes that creator content is increasingly expected to operate within integrated campaign frameworks. The 2.5-fold rise in the importance of cross-channel coherence, according to Kantar’s data, suggests that standalone creator activations may be less effective than those embedded within broader brand platforms.
This shift has implications for how brands structure creator partnerships, allocate budgets across channels, and develop creative briefs.
Pressure to Professionalize Practices
Taken together, the findings suggest that rising investment and unresolved measurement challenges are increasing pressure on the creator marketing industry to formalize its practices. Kantar’s research frames 2026 as a period in which creator content is expected to demonstrate clearer links to business outcomes in order to sustain long-term budget growth.
The analysis draws on data from Kantar’s Media Reactions study and LIFT+ database, which track campaign effectiveness across markets and channels. Kantar describes itself as the world’s largest marketing data and analytics business, working with major global brands.
Nii A. Ahene is the founder and managing director of Net Influencer, a website dedicated to offering insights into the influencer marketing industry. Together with its newsletter, Influencer Weekly, Net Influencer provides news, commentary, and analysis of the events shaping the creator and influencer marketing space. Through interviews with startups, influencers, brands, and platforms, Nii and his team explore how influencer marketing is being effectively used to benefit businesses and personal brands alike.
Marketing research firm Kantar reports that a net 61% of marketers plan to increase investment in creator content in 2026, even as the industry continues to rely on limited and inconsistent frameworks for measuring effectiveness.
The findings, published in Kantar’s “2026 Marketing Trends” report, point to what the firm characterizes as a growing disconnect between rising creator marketing budgets and the metrics used to justify those expenditures.
According to the research, creator content is increasingly viewed as a core part of the marketing mix, despite ongoing uncertainty around how its impact should be evaluated.
Engagement Metrics Questioned as Proof of Business Value
Kantar’s analysis highlights what it describes as a foundational measurement challenge in creator marketing. Engagement indicators remain widely used, but the firm argues they offer limited insight into business outcomes.
“Engagement, likes, and views aren’t meaningful outcomes,” the report states, suggesting these metrics fall short of demonstrating return on investment or long-term brand impact. Kantar’s findings indicate that marketers are being pushed to place greater emphasis on ROI and brand-building indicators when assessing creator-led campaigns in 2026.
Brand Integration Remains Inconsistent
Using data from its LIFT+ database, Kantar reports that only 27% of analyzed creator content shows strong ties to the sponsoring brand. This comes as the firm’s research suggests that coherent, cross-channel creative ideas have become 2.5 times more important to campaign success than they were a decade ago.
Kantar characterizes this gap as a structural issue rather than an executional one. The report suggests that many creator partnerships continue to operate as isolated activations, rather than as part of longer-term creative platforms or clustered themes designed to connect brand and creator-led storytelling.
Balancing Control and Creative Autonomy
The report also addresses what Kantar describes as a recurring tension in creator partnerships: the balance between brand control and creative freedom. “Creators are not actors – they do their own thing,” the research notes, arguing that effective partnerships often require brands to cede a degree of control and engage in co-creation.
According to Kantar, brands face competing risks. Over-directing creator content can diminish authenticity, while under-briefing can result in weak or unclear brand presence. The firm frames this balance as a capability that brands must continue to develop as creator marketing matures.
Measurement Frameworks and Guardrails Emphasized
To address these challenges, the report recommends that brands establish clearer guardrails for creator collaborations, including shared definitions of success and upfront agreement on measurement criteria. Kantar suggests that defining objectives early, while allowing creators flexibility within those boundaries, may help preserve authenticity while supporting brand-building goals.
The research positions this approach as a way to align creator output more closely with broader campaign objectives, rather than treating influencer activity as a separate discipline.
Tools Emerge to Address Measurement Challenges
Kantar also points to the emergence of AI-powered creative testing tools as one response to the measurement gap. The firm highlights its LINK+ solution as an example, stating that such tools are designed to evaluate creator assets against brand objectives and ROI indicators, in some cases within minutes.
While the report positions these tools as a way to accelerate optimization and improve decision-making, it notes that broader adoption of consistent measurement practices remains an industry-wide challenge.
Investment Momentum Continues Despite Uncertainty
The net 61% increase cited in the report reflects marketers planning to raise creator marketing spend minus those planning to reduce it, based on Kantar’s Media Reactions research. According to the firm, this trend suggests sustained confidence in creator-led strategies, even as questions around effectiveness persist.
Kantar links this momentum to broader shifts in consumer behavior, including changes in how people discover and evaluate products, and the growing role of digital intermediaries in purchase decisions.
Cross-Channel Integration Gains Importance
The report also emphasizes that creator content is increasingly expected to operate within integrated campaign frameworks. The 2.5-fold rise in the importance of cross-channel coherence, according to Kantar’s data, suggests that standalone creator activations may be less effective than those embedded within broader brand platforms.
This shift has implications for how brands structure creator partnerships, allocate budgets across channels, and develop creative briefs.
Pressure to Professionalize Practices
Taken together, the findings suggest that rising investment and unresolved measurement challenges are increasing pressure on the creator marketing industry to formalize its practices. Kantar’s research frames 2026 as a period in which creator content is expected to demonstrate clearer links to business outcomes in order to sustain long-term budget growth.
The analysis draws on data from Kantar’s Media Reactions study and LIFT+ database, which track campaign effectiveness across markets and channels. Kantar describes itself as the world’s largest marketing data and analytics business, working with major global brands.
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