Not All Creators Convert. Brands Are Finally Catching Up.
Social Commerce just crossed $100B
Hi friends!
This week’s issue is about one shift: creator commerce is getting measured like media. Not vibes, not reach, not “brand love.” Actual performance. The clearest signal came from the IAB data showing creators are now a core media channel, not a nice-to-have experiment which is changing how brands spend, how platforms pitch themselves, and how creators position their value.
BeReal is now chasing brands after building its identity against them. BoF is making the case that conversion, not clout, is the real filter. And Gigi Robinson’s latest test is a good reminder that sometimes the best creator strategy is not scaling louder, but scaling narrower.
Let’s dive in!
(April 28th)
📈 Creators are now a core media channel
The strongest story this week is not about a single platform. It is about budget logic. The IAB says creator marketing has moved from add-on to core media channel, with creator spend reaching $37 billion in 2025 and projected to hit $44 billion in 2026. Brands are shifting from one-off partnerships to always-on systems that mix micro creators, affiliate mechanics, and performance goals.
That matters because creators are now being judged against the same standard as paid media: can they drive measurable outcomes, not just attention. The implication is simple. If creator budgets keep moving into the main media mix, creators stop being treated like a side bet and start being managed like a channel.
🧾 Commerce is beating clout
Business of Fashion landed the sharper version of the same argument: not all creators convert, and brands are getting better at spotting the difference. New tools are making sales impact easier to measure, which means follower count is losing value as a shortcut metric.
The useful distinction here is between creators who make content people watch and creators who make audiences act. Those are not the same thing. For brands, that means creator selection is becoming more KPI-specific. Some creators are for awareness. Some are for conversion. Some are just content supply. The lazy era of assuming big audience equals business value is ending.
📸 BeReal starts recruiting creators and brands
BeReal is actively pitching U.S. creators to post more, get verified, and connect with advertisers as it tries to restart growth. The company told Business Insider it has worked with more than 500 advertisers including Amazon, Apple, and L’Oréal, and that 60% of its U.S. clients are repeat advertisers. It still does not offer ad rev share or a creator fund, which makes the pitch more about access than economics. That is the tension.
BeReal built its identity by rejecting the polished, monetized logic of mainstream social platforms. Now it has to prove it can bring money into the system without flattening the thing that made it interesting in the first place.
🎤 Seller Spotlight
Gigi Robinson is using dog accounts to test creator strategy
Gigi Robinson
The most interesting seller story this week is small on purpose. Gigi Robinson is using pet accounts as a live experiment to test a broader idea about creator commerce: niche trust often beats broad attention.
According to Net Influencer, the test currently includes a dog Instagram account with around 11,000 followers and a TikTok account with about 7,400. The point is not novelty. It is signal quality. Smaller, more specific accounts can reveal whether a creator actually drives action when the audience relationship is tighter and the commercial context is clearer.
That matters because too much creator strategy is still built backward. Brands start with scale, then hope intent follows. Robinson is testing the opposite. Start with affinity, relevance, and audience behavior, then see what commercial value shows up. It is a cleaner way to think about conversion. Not every creator needs to be a celebrity. Some just need an audience that listens and buys.
If you are testing creator partnerships, do not just ask who has the most reach. Ask where the trust is concentrated, where the category fit is obvious, and where the audience behavior is easiest to observe. That is where the real signal lives.
Another story about size not being the most important thing…
Ok, see you next week. In the meantime, Sell! Sell! Sell! 🫡