2025 is just round the corner, and as brands, agencies and creators are planning their strategies for the year ahead, CORQ spoke to industry experts from We Are Social, Gospooky, VCCP and JOAN to get their insights on what comes next. The agencies forecast further professionalisation of the creator industry, the rise of LinkedIn influencers, integration of AI tools and a growing demand for social commerce.
AI growth will lead to gatekeeping and financial disparity
We’ll start seeing creator guidelines alongside traditional guidelines in brand books and more early definition of what a brand’s “creator play” is at the start of every brief – if your brand’s big idea doesn’t authentically work for creators, is it even relevant in 2025?
The shift to more formal recognition of creators as professionals within ad agencies and other sectors will speed up. We’ll see a new wave of creators becoming LinkedIn influencers, bringing their huge social audiences into the corporate world, supercharging their progression and potentially breaking down walls inside more traditional organisations.
You may also like
AI will continue to intersect with the creator economy, with creators being the most nimble to embrace and creatively push the potential of new tech. But gatekeeping will become a thing. We’ll start to see big players slowly getting people hooked then eventually introducing huge cost disparity to access the latest models. This will potentially triggering an unchartered financially segregated society, based on who can afford to access the most powerful AI models to come, and who can’t.
Kenneth Moore, creative director at social agency We Are Social
Trump era misinformation will inspire a new creator approach
We should expect a rise in misinformation, with high-profile figures – like president-elect Donald Trump – leveraging platforms like X and Meta to shape their narratives, now with minimal fact-checking. The spread of “fake news” will be more complicated as Generative AI gains more traction. This trend is likely to prompt brands to prioritise authenticity, seeking influencers who deliver honest, relatable content.
Channels like TikTok, known for its experimental and genuine vibe, will likely become key for brands looking to foster trust and create deeper connections with their audiences amid an evolving digital landscape shaped by initiatives like the UK’s Child Safety Act.
Tom Ghiden, managing director at creative agency JOAN
Brands will be willing to invest more in high-quality activations
2025 will mark a significant shift as more brands prioritise quality over quantity in their content strategies. Rather than producing social content that merely meets expectations, brands will aim to surpass – and even subvert – expectations by carefully considering how, where, and when they show up. While platforms once prioritised high-frequency posting to “stay fresh” and visible, the focus is shifting toward fewer, high-impact social activations: earned-first content that sparks chatter and drives engagement. This approach includes social-first brand collaborations, celebrity talent, content designed around in-person experiences, and more.
Although these initiatives require more investment than lo-fi, meme-style content, brands are increasingly willing to allocate resources toward higher-quality activations. The payoff? An outsized impact on cultural relevance and longer-term salience.
Leading the way in high-impact, quality content is work from brands like Ritz Carlton’s Late Checkout, featuring internet darling Josh Hutcherson. O2’s original series Peek-a-box with Joe Baggs. The unexpected Corpse Paint collab from e.l.f. x Liquid Death; and brands such as Jacquemus and Oatly, which are standing out in feeds with curated visual styles supported by creators such as Ian Padgham and MA MIKE.
@joebxggs TFW you touch something kinda ooooh 🐀 Join me at O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire as I get people to guess what’s inside my Peek-a-box… Only O2 gives you access to exclusive gigs and 48-hour ticket presales to thousands of events. Download the Priority app #O2Priority AD
The key to really nailing this elevated content will be in truly understanding audiences and adopting a thoughtful approach to connecting with them. Brands must take the time to explore their audiences’ needs, interests, and values—what else are they watching? Which other brands do they love? How are they connecting with each other? And importantly, how can we actually add value to their lives?
Tiffany Mondesir, planning director at communications agency VCCP
Social commerce will turn entertainment into sales
The rise of Always Relevant Content will be pivotal. Consumers demand content that feels timely, authentic, and personalised, and brands will need to adopt a model that is agile and data-driven. The integration of Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) and Key Opinion Consumers (KOCs) into everyday brand strategies – not just campaigns – will become a standard, offering deeper, more authentic audience connections. Additionally, social commerce will dominate, with TikTok Shop and similar platforms setting the tone for how brands can turn entertainment into sales, effectively bridging content and commerce.
The creator space will see a shift toward scalability and results-driven partnerships. Creators will move beyond influencer roles to become co-creators of brand strategies, embedding their voice and communities into everything from product development to storytelling. Shoppable video, live streaming and affiliate management will become the cornerstones of creator monetisation, especially on platforms such as TikTok. As social platforms invest more in commerce tools, creators will build micro-economies, driving revenue both for themselves and the brands they align with.
Traditional influencer campaigns focused on vanity metrics like followers and reach will fade into irrelevance. Brands are moving away from superficial collaborations and toward authentic, always-on creator relationships that drive measurable outcomes such as engagement, conversions, and loyalty. Similarly, platforms or approaches that don’t adapt to the data-first, commerce-driven landscape will struggle to stay relevant in this evolving ecosystem.
Liam Tjoa, CEO of social agency Gospooky
Brands must shift from advertising on influencer channels to commissioning creator content in 2025