What influencer marketing budgets should look like in 2025

“While ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) from Meta and Google paid advertising has declined, performance metrics for influencer marketing have shown a significant upward trend,” says founder Tahlia Maguire of Hope and May’s 2024 results and learnings.

Budgets aren’t just getting bigger — they’re shuffling as brands hone their influencer marketing strategies. In 2025, refillable bodycare brand Wild is shifting more budget toward newer channels like YouTube Shorts and TikTok Shop. “They offer strong engagement and direct conversion opportunities,” says Lauren O’Reilly, Wild’s US influencer marketing lead.

With bigger investment in influencer spend comes risks. The future of TikTok in the US is up in the air, as a potential ban of the app is slated for 19 January, meaning brands are figuring out plan B if the app were to go away. Influencers themselves can also be risky investments, prone to backlash or cancellations. But their gravitational pull counterbalances these potential challenges, especially as marketers say Gen Z and millennial consumers increasingly identify with authentic marketing campaigns.

As we enter 2025, here’s what’s changing about best-in-practice influencer marketing.

Storytelling: Upping the ante

In 2024, video took centre stage. In 2025, brands are doubling down, prioritising storytelling-focused content.

Brands are increasing their investment in long-term paid influencer campaigns, says Julianne Fraser, founder and CEO of influencer marketing agency Dialogue. These engage creators for up to six months and span various platforms and narratives. It’s a means for breaking through an increasingly competitive and saturated influencer marketing landscape, she says. “Brands are finding it increasingly more important to establish genuine and authentic creator relationships, achieved by long-term campaigns.”

Cou Cou plans to invest more budget into content collaborations including creator travel features and the brand’s Cou Cou Talks series. For Australian ready-to-wear brand Asta Resort, activities that go beyond a tag in a single grid post is a priority, including brand trips and events. Brands across the board are also prioritising investment in long-term partnerships with influencers, ditching one-off spon-con posts. Pdpaola wants to use video content to bring consumers into its newly opened Manhattan flagship, so it is bringing creators in to make content in the space.

Brands need to be wary of leaning too far into longer-form content, cautions Xavier de Baillenx, CEO at creator ads platform Ramdam. He flags that short-form videos are 2.5 times more engaging than long-form.