TikTok released research showing creator-led advertising content generates a 70% higher click-through rate and 159% higher engagement rate than non-creator ads at the same cost per thousand impressions.
Examining campaign data from February 2024 through January 2025, the company found that creator content consistently outperforms non-creator advertising across multiple metrics. The findings add to growing evidence that creator partnerships deliver measurable performance advantages for advertisers.
TikTok attributed the performance gap to three factors: creators’ understanding of platform culture, their ability to produce high-volume content quickly, and audience trust in creator accounts. A separate Creator Experts Center analysis cited by TikTok found ads posted to creator accounts achieve a 59% higher engagement rate and 16% higher six-second view-through rate than ads posted to advertiser accounts.
External Research Supports TikTok Findings
Multiple third-party studies align with TikTok’s conclusions, according to EMARKETER. The market research company cited the National Advertising Division of BBB National Programs, which found that 58% of consumers aged 18 or older made purchases because of influencer endorsements.
Kantar research shows viewers watch influencer ads for an average of 17.8 seconds before skipping, compared to 7.9 seconds for traditional branded content. Influencer ads also provide 1.4 times higher visibility duration, according to the study.
Sprout Social data indicates 66% of marketers use influencer marketing to drive brand awareness, 59% to generate audience engagement, 55% to build credibility and trust, and 55% to drive revenue growth.
TikTok Promotes Creator Marketplace Tools
TikTok’s report detailed the platform’s One Creator Marketplace, which connects marketers, creators, and agencies. The platform provides audience matching, performance tracking, and unified reporting for organic and paid content.
Felix Pago, an international payment app, partnered with creators via the Creator Marketplace to produce more than 35 Spanish-language ads, resulting in a 2.7x increase in daily creative output. The campaign delivered 38% higher conversions, a 26% higher click-through rate, and a 23% more efficient cost per acquisition than the company’s typical creatives, according to TikTok.
TikTok One’s Partner Exchange connects marketers with creative agencies specializing in platform content. Hyundai used Partner Exchange to work with creator marketplace #paid on its #ItsYourJourney campaign. The effort generated 53.5 million impressions, 2.8 million engagements, and an 80% higher click-through rate compared to industry benchmarks.
Critical Factors
EMARKETER noted that consumers are becoming more inundated with influencer advertising as the market becomes saturated. The National Advertising Division found 64% of consumers distrust influencers who don’t disclose brand relationships, and 70% feel negatively toward influencers after discovering undisclosed paid partnerships or free products.
Eighty percent of consumers don’t trust influencers perceived as dishonest or disingenuous, according to NAD (National Advertising Division) research cited by EMARKETER. The research identifies “authenticity” as one of the top factors consumers evaluate when assessing influencer content.
EMARKETER noted nano, micro, and mid-tier influencers maintain the best engagement-to-cost ratio, and influencer marketing generally proves more cost-effective than strategies such as connected TV advertising.
Cecilia Carloni, Interview Manager at Influence Weekly and writer for NetInfluencer. Coming from beautiful Argentina, Ceci has spent years chatting with big names in the influencer world, making friends and learning insider info along the way. When she’s not deep in interviews or writing, she's enjoying life with her two daughters. Ceci’s stories give a peek behind the curtain of influencer life, sharing the real and interesting tales from her many conversations with movers and shakers in the space.
TikTok released research showing creator-led advertising content generates a 70% higher click-through rate and 159% higher engagement rate than non-creator ads at the same cost per thousand impressions.
Examining campaign data from February 2024 through January 2025, the company found that creator content consistently outperforms non-creator advertising across multiple metrics. The findings add to growing evidence that creator partnerships deliver measurable performance advantages for advertisers.
TikTok attributed the performance gap to three factors: creators’ understanding of platform culture, their ability to produce high-volume content quickly, and audience trust in creator accounts. A separate Creator Experts Center analysis cited by TikTok found ads posted to creator accounts achieve a 59% higher engagement rate and 16% higher six-second view-through rate than ads posted to advertiser accounts.
External Research Supports TikTok Findings
Multiple third-party studies align with TikTok’s conclusions, according to EMARKETER. The market research company cited the National Advertising Division of BBB National Programs, which found that 58% of consumers aged 18 or older made purchases because of influencer endorsements.
Kantar research shows viewers watch influencer ads for an average of 17.8 seconds before skipping, compared to 7.9 seconds for traditional branded content. Influencer ads also provide 1.4 times higher visibility duration, according to the study.
Sprout Social data indicates 66% of marketers use influencer marketing to drive brand awareness, 59% to generate audience engagement, 55% to build credibility and trust, and 55% to drive revenue growth.
TikTok Promotes Creator Marketplace Tools
TikTok’s report detailed the platform’s One Creator Marketplace, which connects marketers, creators, and agencies. The platform provides audience matching, performance tracking, and unified reporting for organic and paid content.
Felix Pago, an international payment app, partnered with creators via the Creator Marketplace to produce more than 35 Spanish-language ads, resulting in a 2.7x increase in daily creative output. The campaign delivered 38% higher conversions, a 26% higher click-through rate, and a 23% more efficient cost per acquisition than the company’s typical creatives, according to TikTok.
TikTok One’s Partner Exchange connects marketers with creative agencies specializing in platform content. Hyundai used Partner Exchange to work with creator marketplace #paid on its #ItsYourJourney campaign. The effort generated 53.5 million impressions, 2.8 million engagements, and an 80% higher click-through rate compared to industry benchmarks.
Critical Factors
EMARKETER noted that consumers are becoming more inundated with influencer advertising as the market becomes saturated. The National Advertising Division found 64% of consumers distrust influencers who don’t disclose brand relationships, and 70% feel negatively toward influencers after discovering undisclosed paid partnerships or free products.
Eighty percent of consumers don’t trust influencers perceived as dishonest or disingenuous, according to NAD (National Advertising Division) research cited by EMARKETER. The research identifies “authenticity” as one of the top factors consumers evaluate when assessing influencer content.
EMARKETER noted nano, micro, and mid-tier influencers maintain the best engagement-to-cost ratio, and influencer marketing generally proves more cost-effective than strategies such as connected TV advertising.
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