LTK and Northwestern University Release Fourth Annual Creator Marketing Study: Creator Marketing Enters Its Infrastructure Era
91% of brands now operate creator programs with an always-on component as the average number of creators brands work with rises 275% year over year
DALLAS, October 21, 2026--LTK, the pioneer of Creator Commerce™, today released findings from the fourth annual Creator Marketing Study in partnership with Northwestern University. The study reveals creator marketing has moved beyond one-off campaigns to become always-on marketing infrastructure, reshaping how brands organize, measure and scale creator programs. As creator marketing expands across the customer journey and the organization, the challenge now is operating it more intelligently at scale.
Always-On Creator Marketing Is the New Baseline
Creator marketing has outgrown the one-off campaign model. Today, 91% of brands operate programs with an always-on component, while the average number of creators brands work with has increased 275% year over year.
Creator programs are also reaching more teams across the organization, spanning marketing (74%), social (65%), media (61%) and brand (60%). Affiliate and PR are also increasing their involvement - PR increased 15 points to 30% while affiliate rose to 36%, up 7 points year over year. As programs grow larger and more cross-functional, brands are rethinking the organizational structures, budgets and measurement models originally built for one-off campaigns.
The types of creators that brands value are also broadening. Lifestyle creators still lead in importance at 55%, but category-niche specialists (50%) and certified experts such as chefs, dietitians and trainers (49%), are close behind. Certified experts posted the largest gain in the study, up 18 percentage points from last year and category-niche specialists rose 6 points.
"Brands have stopped asking whether creator marketing works and started asking how to run it well," said Frank Dudley, a Professor at Northwestern University and Associate Director of its Retail Analytics Council. "Creators build the confidence that moves people to buy, and commerce media puts that trust where the purchase happens. Seven in ten brands now use or plan to use creator content on marketplaces, and two-thirds on retail media networks."
Creators are the Commerce Engine
Creator influence now extends beyond awareness, spanning the entire customer journey. Marketers report creators' strongest influence at conversion and loyalty, with 55% rating their impact as high at each stage, followed by consideration (52%), discovery (50%) and repeat purchase (48%). Trusted creator recommendations are helping consumers decide what to buy while also strengthening relationships with brands after the sale.