There was a time, not so long ago, when the phrase "influencer marketing" prompted eye-rolls in the boardrooms of proper advertising agencies — the sort of places where media plans were still printed on paper and lunches lasted until three. That time, it appears, has definitively passed.

New research from IAB UK and the Institute for Advertising and Media Statistics finds that creator partnership revenues in Britain are poised to exceed £1 billion for the first time, reaching an estimated £1.217 billion in 2026. The figure represents a 26 percent increase over 2025, which itself grew 20 percent from the year before. For those keeping score at home, this means the sector is expanding at more than twice the rate of the broader digital advertising market.

(The research does not include paid amplification of creator campaigns, which respondents suggested could amount to two or three times the partnership revenues themselves. One hesitates to do the arithmetic.)

The findings arrive alongside a separate study from Kolsquare, which reports that 93 percent of British brands and agencies expect to increase their influencer spending over the next twelve months — up from 81 percent last year and a mere 50 percent in 2024. The trajectory suggests less a trend than a full-scale reorientation of marketing priorities.

"For brands, working with creators is increasingly moving from an experimental or tactical part of the media plan to a core part of how they reach and engage audiences," said Paul Greenwood, head of cultural strategy and insight for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at We Are Social.

The professionalization of the sector continues apace. In July, ISBA and the Influencer Marketing Trade Body announced a formal partnership. In May, IAB UK introduced the country's first industry-backed creator qualification, designed to help content creators navigate advertising regulations — a development that suggests the medium has grown up enough to require paperwork.

One in five British marketers now works with between 250 and 999 influencers annually. The filing cabinets, one suspects, are getting rather full.

Original story published in Marketing Week: "UK creator revenue to surpass £1bn for the first time, data shows"