蘑菇AV

Horizon Media is hunting for acquisitions: The US agency is targeting companies in the influencer marketing and retail media sectors.

We expect US marketers to spend $8.14 billion on influencer marketing on social media alone this year. Creators are still in very different stages of development and maturity. The discrepancies between big-name and up-and-coming creators were readily apparent.

It has partnered with mainstream celebrities and influencers like Ariana Grande, Venus Williams and Tom Brady in the past, and recently began women's college and professional athletes鈥� mental health promotions. In March, BetterHelp launched a 鈥淪top the Madness鈥� campaign with free online therapy for student athletes with women college basketball stars Kiki Rice, Zoe Brooks and Chance Gray.

Emerging formats, such as influencers and connected TV, are steadily carving out their niches as well, each with just under 2% of total spend. Spain's global digital footprint is growing. On the global stage, Spain's digital ad spending growth is noteworthy.

The old form of social networking may be dying. But our forecast shows people spend more time on social platforms, so marketers need to be aware of what the new era of social media looks like. Gen Z and TikTok certainly dominate social media headlines, but Meta maintains a stronghold, even as it struggles to make new endeavors like Threads take off.

The news: Faceless creators and VTubers are gaining momentum as brands look for cost-effective, scalable influencer marketing options. Networks like AffiliateNetwork are growing rapidly, with top earners bringing in $30K鈥�$40K monthly using AI-powered tactics. Creators run multiple accounts, post hundreds of videos, and rely on formats like AI-generated texting stories to deliver results. Our take: This shift marks a new phase in creator marketing鈥攐ne defined less by personality and more by production speed and performance. As AI tools improve and creator skepticism fades, brands will increasingly work with digital personas that deliver value at scale鈥攔egardless of whether there鈥檚 a human on camera.

Social media creator revenues will increase by 15.8% in 2025 to $17.76 billion, per our forecast. Subscriptions will lead the social revenue streams in terms of growth (23.9%), while podcast (nonsocial) creator revenues will accelerate to 27.3% growth. Creators should take their content across platforms and establish more permanent sources of revenues.

B2B social media has evolved from an awareness tool into a central part of how brands build trust, influence buying decisions, and drive business growth. AI, video, and influencer marketing are reshaping strategies and raising expectations for measurable impact.

This emphasis on measurement in advertising is clear in the creator space, where 鈥渢he days of unchecked spending are over,鈥� said Enberg. 鈥淏igger budgets mean greater demands for accountability, and marketers are under increasing pressure to show measurable business outcomes from their partnerships,鈥� she said.

Advertisers are eagerly spending in retail media鈥檚 off-site channels, including connected TV (CTV). Advertisers will spend $6.55 billion on off-site retail media ads in 2023, more than they鈥檒l spend on influencer marketing ($6.16 billion) and within shouting distance of their digital audio services ad spending ($7.08).

Influencers are shining a spotlight on parental celebratory practices. Baby sprinkles, babymoons, and push presents are gaining traction on social media. They offer marketers an opportunity to capitalize on these trends. Mothers are still the primary parent. Mothers spend more time with their kids than dads do on average.

Dane Kragness, director of paid media at Taktical Digital, said that while some advertisers increased their Q4 budgets on TikTok to six figures, most鈥攊f not all鈥攚on鈥檛 spend more than $30,000 per month on second-tier platforms. 鈥淭hose same advertisers are spending hundreds of thousands a month on Meta,鈥� he said. LinkedIn looks to build its own influencer ecosystem.

Offering influencers unique discount codes, early access to new products, or commission-based incentives encourages them to promote the brand consistently. Brands should leverage influencer content across blogs, newsletters, and review websites for long-term visibility and credibility, instead of limiting influencers to TikTok or Instagram.

Although Gen Zers spend more time on TikTok, there are more of them on Instagram. In addition to Reels, this could include interactive polls on Stories, influencer takeovers, and carousel posts with short, easily digestible information about the product or brand. Snapchat is still a direct path to younger Gen Zers.

Livestream commerce is a massive business in TikTok parent ByteDance鈥檚 home country of China, where consumers spend hours watching shoppable live videos hosted by celebrities and influencers. We expect shoppers in China to spend $234.75 billion on livestreaming social commerce in 2023, accounting for 45.4% of the country鈥檚 social commerce sales. TikTok Shop may have already hit a roadblock in the US.

Even X, which experienced a steep drop in global ad revenues in the aftermath of Musk鈥檚 2022 acquisition, is expected to return to revenue growth this year through 2027鈥攅ven as it continues to lose users. The ascendant political right in the US has long held that brand safety was a screen for censorship.

鈥淚t is very important for a brand, but it鈥檚 hard to put an ROI metric on it in traditional revenue terms.鈥�. Some 64% of US ad buyers expect to focus somewhat or significantly more on cross-platform measurement in 2025, according to a December 2024 Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) survey.

US digital audio subscription revenues will reach $14.42 billion in 2025, nearly two-thirds (65.6%) of total digital audio revenues, according to a September 2024 蘑菇AV forecast. Spotify is the top platform for digital audio in the US, with 105.8 million listeners this year, followed by Amazon Music (54.2 million) and iHeartRadio (51.5 million).

Reddit鈥檚 user base and ad revenues are growing rapidly, as is its prominence in search engines like Google. Here鈥檚 how marketers are showing up on the platform in ways that resonate with users.

A DIY-focused campaign is already a perfect match for social and influencer marketing. 31% of US consumers say they take DIY and home hack suggestions from influencers on TikTok Shop, per a February 2024 PartnerCentric study. 18% of US and UK consumers say DIY is their favorite influencer marketing topic, per a February 2024 SproutSocial study.

Advertisers must invest in podcast influencers who are genuine brand advocates and product users rather than those that aren鈥檛 familiar with brand offerings.

The trend: Healthcare and pharma marketers plan to increase or maintain spending on every digital media channel, according to a May 2025 survey from Mediaocean. The big takeaway: Healthcare and pharma marketers have established their presence and corresponding strategies on still-important media channels such as CTV and search. Digital video and social media are underexplored advertising opportunities for this space.

At the same time, influencer marketing is no longer confined to top-tier social channels鈥攊t鈥檚 moving into commerce, search, and even off-site placements. Mergers among ad tech and media firms are accelerating this shift. As noted in 蘑菇AV鈥檚 presentation at Possible, acquisition activity has clustered in the martech, content, and commerce spaces.

The trend: Women see and hear more health-related information than men, especially when it comes to weight loss drugs and anti-aging treatments. Our take: Pharma and healthcare marketers need to more effectively reach women. Instead of marketing to all women, market to mindsets like self-care via social media 颈苍蹿濒耻别苍肠别谤蝉鈥� tips and advice, or motivations like caregiving and prevention by tapping into mammogram screening advocacy and resources that support overburdened women who care for loved ones.

Google recently uncovered a large-scale ad fraud scheme that generated millions in ad revenues, validating mitigating ad fraud as one of the top concerns for media investments. Our take: Given the shortcomings of media platforms in effectively combating ad fraud, advertisers must take proactive, independent measures to protect their investments and ensure campaign integrity.