Authenticity and Consistent Brand Messaging Identified as Top Concern For US Marketers When Scaling Creator Campaigns

With the global creator marketing industry projected to grow in value by 36% this year, new independent research by global, creator-first social agency, Billion Dollar Boy, reveals that three quarters (71%) of US marketers are now investing in excess of $1M annually in creator marketing. 

As investment scales up, the research reveals marketers’ preferred agency partners to navigate a more complex and competitive creator economy, while also revealing the most common challenges they face, which threaten to limit the channel’s full creative and commercial potential.

Marketers Invest in Creator Marketing at Scale 

The research, which surveyed 2,000 senior marketing professionals across the US and UK, found that brands have moved beyond experimenting with creator marketing, and are now investing extensively. 

US marketers (34%) typically spend between $1M – $3M on creator marketing annually, with UK marketers matching their investment locally with a similar proportion (33%) investing between £764K – £2.3M annually. However, US marketers are more likely to make bolder financial commitments, with 37% investing over $3M (£2.3M) annually, compared to just 19% of UK respondents.

Top Challenges Marketers Face When Growing Investment 

With increased investment comes operational complexity. One in three marketers cite ‘maintaining authentic, high quality content and consistent brand messaging’ (33.88%) and ‘managing relationships at scale and ensuring creator preference for the brand’s partnerships’ (33.58%) as their top concerns. This reveals a tension at the heart of modern creator marketing: how to preserve authenticity and intimacy while scaling operations. Other common concerns include: 

• Finding the right insight, strategy and creative expertise: 31%
• Identifying and vetting the right influencers at scale: 29%
• Proving effectiveness against business objectives: 28%
• Navigating platform changes and new social media trends: 26%
• Budget management and supplier negotiations: 24%
• Handling due diligence, compliance and legal requirements: 23%

US marketers are particularly concerned about ‘navigating platform changes and new social media trends’, possibly reflecting TikTok’s uncertain future in the United States, with 27% citing it as a top concern compared to 24% in the UK. 

Meanwhile, UK marketers are more concerned about ‘managing relationships at scale and ensuring creator preference for the brand’s partnerships’, with 36% of UK respondents agreeing it’s a top concern compared to 31% in the US. 

In both markets, operational challenges including ‘handling creator payments’ (14%) and ‘scaling globally or across regions’ (19%), ranked among the least of their concerns, indicating that while strategic alignment remains a barrier for many, the infrastructure around creator marketing is improving.

Marketers Rely on Agency Support

Contrary to a rising narrative suggesting that brands are increasingly managing creator marketing in-house, the research shows that fewer than 1% of marketers manage creator activity without agency support. 

Instead, brands are leaning into specialist agency partnerships to scale with intention. The most commonly used agency partners include: 

• Creator Marketing Agency: 29%
• Social Media Agency: 26%
• Creative Agency: 15%

Regional preferences are clear, with US marketers more likely to rely on creator marketing agencies (38% compared to just 19% in the UK), while UK marketers are much more likely to rely on creative agencies (21% compared to 12% in the US). 

As brands scale their creator marketing investment, they’re increasingly seeking agencies that offer more than logistical support, they want strategic partners that provide creative leadership aligned with brand values, robust creator networks, rigorous vetting processes and expert teams to effectively manage and measure campaigns.

Discussing the research, Ed East, CEO of Billion Dollar Boy, comments: “Our research shows a sustained and growing confidence in creator marketing, with most US marketers spending over $1 million annually. Marketers realize that creator marketing is no longer an emerging channel but the frontline of brand-building, where narratives are shaped, trust is earned, and culture is created. But as investment scales, so do the challenges – particularly around maintaining authenticity and consistent brand messaging, as well as managing creator relationships at scale.

“This study reveals a clear operational gap and it’s holding some brands back from experiencing the full creative and commercial potential of this channel. The solution isn’t choosing between scale and authenticity – it’s building the infrastructure to deliver both.

“Creators can provide emotional connection and commercial results – but only if the strategy, systems, and teams are aligned. To succeed in a growing and increasingly competitive creator economy, marketers need to identify a framework that supports fast, confident execution for their brand and partner with specialists who can deliver performance, trust, and cultural relevance at scale. That’s the business of influence.”