According to the new 2025 Kolsquare Budget Report, brands across various sectors are reallocating funds from traditional advertising channels to influencer marketing, which is no longer a nice-to-have but an integral part of their marketing strategy.
Despite overall marketing budgets stalling at just 8% of company revenue (Gartner, 2025), Kolsquare data shows that influencer marketing continues to grow as a proportion of marketing spend – up to 50% in some cases. For many CMOs, influencer marketing is the only thing they’re spending more on in 2025.
With top-tier creators demanding high rates, brands are focusing on micro-creators through long-term partnerships.
Key findings from the report:
- Creators over clicks – social and influencer-led campaigns are attracting significantly higher investment. Unilever, for example, is now putting 50% of its global ad spend into creator partnerships – a sign that traditional ad spend models are losing ground.
- Influencer fees are increasing – with demand outstripping supply, creators are doubling their rates, according to industry benchmarks. Brands are competing fiercely to secure authentic voices that can deliver reach and credibility.
- Influencers outperforming ads – marketers report a higher ROI from influencer marketing than from traditional ads, reporting stronger engagement rates, deeper brand affinity, and measurable impact on Gen Z and Gen Alpha buyers.
- Tech & data are key – AI-integrated platforms like Kolsquare that offer performance dashboards and CRM tools are a must for marketing managers, helping them justify ROI, manage and integrate influencers across their entire marketing strategies. Influencer marketing success requires that campaigns are run with precision, ensuring that every £ spent delivers impact.
The brands that embody the shift
- Berocca, the global vitamin brand, revitalised its image by working with influencers to connect with a younger audience. Their Keep The Rhythm campaign tapped into authentic storytelling that embodied energy and resistance. They invested £116k and generated an EMV (Earned Media Value) of £1.4m.
- Filorga, the prestige skincare brand, boosted its expert positioning by partnering with credible influencers and skincare experts. You can read the full case study here.
- Paulmann Lighting, the German lighting brand, used Kolsquare’s influencer-led campaigns to successfully expand into new markets by working with lifestyle and interior design creators, who sparked conversations about lighting in everyday life. They earned 81k engagements with 27 posts and reached 1.13m unique accounts.
A cultural tipping point
“Influencer marketing has become a vital part of marketing strategy across the board,” said Kolsquare’s CEO Quentin Bordage. “2025 is the year when CMOs stop buying impressions and start building relationships. The brands winning right now are those who see creators as cultural partners who drive relevance and growth.”
This shift reflects a broader development – that the old ad-buying strategy is struggling to deliver impact in a world where consumers are increasingly ad-blind, while creators are tapping into the communities and conversations that brands want to reach. Rather than chasing diminishing returns from media spend, forward-thinking marketers are moving budgets into the influencer economy.
Why it matters for marketers
For marketers under pressure to deliver efficiency and effectiveness with tight budgets, influencer marketing offers a powerful solution – it’s a growth engine at the intersection of culture, commerce, and credibility. Kolsquare’s report positions 2025 as the year when influencer marketing moves from a tactical add-on to a strategic core of brand building.
