• by Colin Kirkland , March 13, 2025

Influencer marketing spend in the U.S. is growing faster than expected. A new report by Emarketer shows U.S. influencer marketing spending surpassing $10 billion in 2025 – an amount the market research company did not originally forecast would be reached until 2026. 

In its evaluation, Emarketer describes influencer marketing spend as “revenues generated by U.S.-based creators from payments made by brands to promote products on social media and video platforms that primarily host user-generated content.”

This excludes paid media and non-social channels.

In previous reports, Emarketer expected spending to reach $10 billion in 2026, but brands have committed to influencer marketing at a higher rate than predicted -- rising by an estimated 23.7% this year, up from 16%.

In 2025, another $1.37 billion will be added to the market, the report suggests -- pushing spending up to around $10.52 billion.

“Influencer marketing is maturing and diversifying,” says Jasmine Enberg, vice president and principal analyst at Emarketer. “The boom days of spending growth on social media sponsored content are largely over, but brands are directing more of their influencer budgets to paid social ads and non-social channels, from TV to digital out-of-home to podcasts, which is funneling more money into the tactic.”

It is worth noting that Emarketer’s spending estimates rely on TikTok remaining active in the U.S. throughout the year, despite the real possibility that the platform could vanish or change due to the enforcement of a sell-off bill passed by the Biden administration, then delayed until April 5 by the Trump administration.

While President Donald Trump claims that the White House is close to making a deal with one of four prospective U.S.-based buyers, a stateside sell-off could disrupt the platform's natural function, capability and in general, its reputation for users, creators and advertisers.

Uncertainty surrounding the ByteDance-owned app's lifespan in the U.S. is already pushing brands to reallocate ad spend to other social platforms. A recent report by AdRoll shows TikTok's CPMs tanking 80% year-over-year, while those on Pinterest are surging 120%.

Still, Emarketer’s analysis of influencer spending does take into account this trend in spending growth slowing on TikTok, predicting that it will decrease by 17% in 2025.

“Fewer marketers are thinking TikTok-first,” Enberg says. “They are hesitant to sign on TikTok-only creators in case the platform goes dark again. Creators are actively building their communities on other platforms, including those where they feel they have more control over their audiences, content and monetization opportunities.”

In addition to Pinterest's current CPM boost, Emarketer expects over half of U.S. marketers to use influencer marketing on YouTube.

“Influencer marketing is bigger than TikTok,” Enberg adds. “Even prior to TikTok's troubles, the conversation was growing around YouTube. As brands and creators prioritize more predictable content, longer-term relationships, and storytelling over trends and ad-hoc sponsorships, YouTube is quickly becoming the place to be for brands and creators.”