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The so-called TikTok-ification of social media, in which short, viral and algorithm-driven content on the platform, has fueled the exponential growth of the influencer market and creator economy. As it swells, marketers are tasked with allocating advertising dollars to maximize ROI. According to five influencer marketing executives Digiday spoke to for this story, smaller, more niche creators are getting the best bang for the buck.
This means that people influencing the general lifestyle have to adapt and find a place, or they risk falling out.
“It’s attention, really,” said Sophie Crowther, director of global talent partnerships at Billion Dollar Boy and head of creators at FiveTwoNine, a creator community membership program in the influencer business. “The focus is on new formats, new creators who are essentially using something completely new.”
The TikTok algorithm is arguably the catalyst for this democratization in the influencer ecosystem, transforming a new breed of content creator: news sources, cultural critics, fashion designers and home cooks. Increasingly, these more niche creators are what advertisers are targeting, as opposed to general influencers with broad appeal, according to influencer experts.
To put this into perspective, in 2023, an estimated 60% of Sway Group influencer marketing vendor client proposals required niche influencers. By 2024, that number will climb to 75%, according to Danielle Wiley, founder of Sway Group.
“Obviously, the interest in really niche areas is growing tremendously, and most of the brands we work with really want to find people who fit into a certain category,” Wiley said. For example, she added, a children’s snack brand might choose to work specifically with a content creator whose content is specifically about packed lunches, rather than a general lifestyle creator that includes everything from food to fashion.
And unless clients want smaller, more specialized creators, agencies advise clients to go with them. Crowther said that Billion Dollar Boy is “more and more hyper-specific [creators] where we can only because there may be white spaces.’
That said, the influencer marketplace and creator economy is probably saturated at this point. It’s not something the industry can quantify given that there is no universally accepted definition of what constitutes an influencer or content creator. Still, brands are more often looking to partner with an influencer who stands out, has expertise and a loyal following. This is so-called thumb-stopping content, where a niche audience is likely to invest more in hyper-specific, niche content than generalized lifestyle posts.
And where the eyes are, the advertisers follow. That’s what the numbers say. Data from HypeAuditor reported that nano-influencers have the highest engagement rate (2.53%) compared to mega-influencers (0.92%) with more than a million followers.
“Spending is absolutely skewed so much more toward nano and micro influencers versus followers just because of the real connection they have with their audience,” said Gregory Curtis Jr., director of influencer strategy at Empower Media.
For example, Curtis Jr. added that a recent activation of a clothing brand client spent $100,000 across six mid-level influencers (between 100,000 and 500,000 followers). Another $150,000 was awarded to 30 nano and micro influencers.
“Their CMO had an epiphany,” Curtis Jr. said. and added that early results look promising in terms of engagement and click-through rates. (He didn’t provide specific metrics.) The brand’s Q1 budget is “much more conservative” to spend less among smaller, more niche influencers who can provide targeted engagement metrics, he said.
This trend has been building since at least this time last year Digiday reported that TikTok creators are increasingly creating food-focused content diversify, open up more opportunities for the brand.
Through 2025, agency leaders expect this trend to continue due to several factors: Marketers are increasingly under scrutiny to connect marketing to business goals, with CMOs responsible for operating media dollars. If more niche creators get eyeballs and engagement, they also get ad money. In a saturated but fast-changing digital market, influencers and creators may find themselves relying on niche content to stay relevant, executives say.
This does not mean that the lifestyle influencer will cease to exist. A more general influencer appeals to brands with broad appeal, such as consumer packaged goods, according to execs. However, this means that it is more important to listen and follow the audience.
“Whether you’re a lifestyle creator, a fitness creator or a fashion creator, if you do the same thing, it’s going to be difficult to maintain an audience, maintain brand business and maintain engagement,” Crowther said.
