Brands expanded their creator marketing programs in 2025, but increased participation failed to translate into stronger performance across most consumer categories, according to new research from influencer marketing platform Traackr.
The analysis examined over 10 million pieces of branded content from more than 760,000 creators between January and October 2025, spanning beauty, fashion, personal care, food and beverage, and spirits. Across categories, brands increased the number of active creators they worked with by between 22% and 66% year over year. Despite that growth, most sectors experienced declines in average audience size, content performance, and overall attention.
Fashion brands expanded creator participation by 37%, yet posting frequency declined 5%. Average audience size fell 14%, content performance dropped 15%, and total attention decreased 5%. Personal care brands increased creator volume by 53% and posting frequency by 10%, but saw average audience size decline by 53% and total attention fall by 15%, even as content performance improved by 7%.
Spirits brands recorded a 57% increase in creator volume, alongside declines of 39% in average audience size, 7% in content performance, and 10% in overall attention. Food and beverage brands increased creator volume by 22% and posting frequency by 7%, while average audience size rose 17%. However, content performance declined 39%, and total attention fell 7%.
Beauty was the sole category to post year-over-year growth in total attention. Brands increased creator volume by 66% and posting frequency by 6%, resulting in a 22% increase in overall attention, despite a 30% decline in average audience size and a 1% dip in content performance.
“Across industries, brands are activating more creators and increasing posting volume – but scale alone isn’t translating into stronger results,” the report stated. “It’s no longer about just having more creators. It’s about building smarter programs – ones that retain high-performing creators, reward consistency, and make space for authentic, differentiated content instead of cookie-cutter posts.”
Retention Emerges as a Differentiator
Traackr identified creator retention as a key factor separating categories that maintained or grew attention from those that did not. Brands with higher year-over-year retention among creators tended to exhibit more stable performance despite audience fragmentation and rising content volume.
Established beauty brands, including L’Oréal Paris, Maybelline, Neutrogena, and Dior, sustained creator retention rates above 50% by shifting away from short-term campaigns toward creator-native formats designed for repeat participation.
“Legacy brands regained momentum by shifting from hero campaigns to creator-native, demo-led content designed for repeat participation,” the report stated. “Top-performing posts increasingly mirror organic routines – GRWMs, single-product demos, and lo-fi tutorials – driving stronger creator retention and ongoing participation.”
The report also highlighted Medicube as an example of this approach at scale. The brand tripled its active creator base and increased paid-creator frequency from 2.2 to 4.81 mentions per creator. Rather than relying on one-off activations, Medicube paired high-profile celebrity partnerships with sustained investment in long-term relationships with creators.
“While moments with creators like Kylie Jenner and Alix Earle helped establish cultural relevance and mass awareness, the brand’s real growth came from what followed: a deliberate push toward sustained, repeat participation across a broader base of paid creators,” the report stated.
Boosting Rises as Organic Attention Softens
As organic performance weakened across most categories, brands increasingly relied on paid amplification to extend reach. The number of boosted video posts rose 166% overall, with increases ranging from 124% in spirits to 188% in beauty.
Boosting intensity also increased, with brands pushing content further beyond creators’ native audiences than in previous periods. However, heavier amplification did not consistently translate into stronger engagement outcomes.
Across all categories, engagement per view on boosted content declined 7%, suggesting that expanded reach often came at the expense of relevance. While beauty and fashion saw gains in saves and shares per view, food and beverage and spirits experienced declines across both engagement and high-intent actions.
“The takeaway isn’t ‘don’t boost’ – it’s to treat boosting as a signal,” the report stated. “Dig into what content actually performs, who it resonates with, and why, before scaling it further.”
Implications for Brands
The findings indicate structural limitations in creator marketing strategies that prioritize scale over sustained relationships. Expanding creator rosters without addressing retention, creative differentiation, and platform-specific performance drivers may yield diminishing returns as audiences fragment and content supply increases.
Nikky Martinez, Influencer Marketing Manager at Neutrogena, stated that the brand begins by aligning creator selection with campaign objectives rather than focusing solely on reach.
“We always start with the goal of the campaign first,” Martinez said. “Is it reach, sales, or consideration? Then we choose creators based on what they are best at, not just their size. Different creator tiers play different roles.”
The report analyzed 4,171 brands across five categories using Traackr’s Brand Vitality Score framework, which measures the impact of creator marketing through creator volume, posting frequency, average audience size, and content performance.
Dragomir is a Serbian freelance blog writer and translator. He is passionate about covering insightful stories and exploring topics such as influencer marketing, the creator economy, technology, business, and cyber fraud.
Brands expanded their creator marketing programs in 2025, but increased participation failed to translate into stronger performance across most consumer categories, according to new research from influencer marketing platform Traackr.
The analysis examined over 10 million pieces of branded content from more than 760,000 creators between January and October 2025, spanning beauty, fashion, personal care, food and beverage, and spirits. Across categories, brands increased the number of active creators they worked with by between 22% and 66% year over year. Despite that growth, most sectors experienced declines in average audience size, content performance, and overall attention.
Fashion brands expanded creator participation by 37%, yet posting frequency declined 5%. Average audience size fell 14%, content performance dropped 15%, and total attention decreased 5%. Personal care brands increased creator volume by 53% and posting frequency by 10%, but saw average audience size decline by 53% and total attention fall by 15%, even as content performance improved by 7%.
Spirits brands recorded a 57% increase in creator volume, alongside declines of 39% in average audience size, 7% in content performance, and 10% in overall attention. Food and beverage brands increased creator volume by 22% and posting frequency by 7%, while average audience size rose 17%. However, content performance declined 39%, and total attention fell 7%.
Beauty was the sole category to post year-over-year growth in total attention. Brands increased creator volume by 66% and posting frequency by 6%, resulting in a 22% increase in overall attention, despite a 30% decline in average audience size and a 1% dip in content performance.
“Across industries, brands are activating more creators and increasing posting volume – but scale alone isn’t translating into stronger results,” the report stated. “It’s no longer about just having more creators. It’s about building smarter programs – ones that retain high-performing creators, reward consistency, and make space for authentic, differentiated content instead of cookie-cutter posts.”
Retention Emerges as a Differentiator
Traackr identified creator retention as a key factor separating categories that maintained or grew attention from those that did not. Brands with higher year-over-year retention among creators tended to exhibit more stable performance despite audience fragmentation and rising content volume.
Established beauty brands, including L’Oréal Paris, Maybelline, Neutrogena, and Dior, sustained creator retention rates above 50% by shifting away from short-term campaigns toward creator-native formats designed for repeat participation.
“Legacy brands regained momentum by shifting from hero campaigns to creator-native, demo-led content designed for repeat participation,” the report stated. “Top-performing posts increasingly mirror organic routines – GRWMs, single-product demos, and lo-fi tutorials – driving stronger creator retention and ongoing participation.”
The report also highlighted Medicube as an example of this approach at scale. The brand tripled its active creator base and increased paid-creator frequency from 2.2 to 4.81 mentions per creator. Rather than relying on one-off activations, Medicube paired high-profile celebrity partnerships with sustained investment in long-term relationships with creators.
“While moments with creators like Kylie Jenner and Alix Earle helped establish cultural relevance and mass awareness, the brand’s real growth came from what followed: a deliberate push toward sustained, repeat participation across a broader base of paid creators,” the report stated.
Boosting Rises as Organic Attention Softens
As organic performance weakened across most categories, brands increasingly relied on paid amplification to extend reach. The number of boosted video posts rose 166% overall, with increases ranging from 124% in spirits to 188% in beauty.
Boosting intensity also increased, with brands pushing content further beyond creators’ native audiences than in previous periods. However, heavier amplification did not consistently translate into stronger engagement outcomes.
Across all categories, engagement per view on boosted content declined 7%, suggesting that expanded reach often came at the expense of relevance. While beauty and fashion saw gains in saves and shares per view, food and beverage and spirits experienced declines across both engagement and high-intent actions.
“The takeaway isn’t ‘don’t boost’ – it’s to treat boosting as a signal,” the report stated. “Dig into what content actually performs, who it resonates with, and why, before scaling it further.”
Implications for Brands
The findings indicate structural limitations in creator marketing strategies that prioritize scale over sustained relationships. Expanding creator rosters without addressing retention, creative differentiation, and platform-specific performance drivers may yield diminishing returns as audiences fragment and content supply increases.
Nikky Martinez, Influencer Marketing Manager at Neutrogena, stated that the brand begins by aligning creator selection with campaign objectives rather than focusing solely on reach.
“We always start with the goal of the campaign first,” Martinez said. “Is it reach, sales, or consideration? Then we choose creators based on what they are best at, not just their size. Different creator tiers play different roles.”
The report analyzed 4,171 brands across five categories using Traackr’s Brand Vitality Score framework, which measures the impact of creator marketing through creator volume, posting frequency, average audience size, and content performance.
Image source: Traackr
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