CreatorIQ, the leading enterprise creator marketing platform, has officially released its first-ever CreatorIQ Top 100: Brands of the Year 2024 report. This groundbreaking study provides a comprehensive ranking of the most influential brands in the creator marketing space. By leveraging proprietary global data from major social platforms, the report analyzes the critical factors that determine success in creator marketing. The findings reveal that brands that prioritize long-term creator relationships and cultivate authentic, community-driven marketing strategies outperform those that rely on one-off collaborations or viral moments. This marks a fundamental shift in how brands generate influence in the digital era.
The CreatorIQ Top 100 represents a first-of-its-kind global ranking of brands across various industries, utilizing key metrics that define success in creator marketing. Drawing from exclusive first-party data and proprietary analytics, the study examines crucial performance indicators, including Earned Media Value (EMV), engagement growth, and creator retention across 16 global markets such as the United States, United Kingdom, France, Korea, Germany, and the Middle East & North Africa (MENA). The ranking underscores a major evolution in marketing strategy: brands that prioritize long-term creator collaborations and platform-specific approaches are seeing exceptional returns. Meanwhile, market disruptors are scaling rapidly by tapping into highly engaged communities.
The report, backed by the industry’s most extensive dataset, provides brands with critical benchmarks for evaluating and refining their creator marketing strategies.
The Shift Toward Creator-Led Marketing
“Marketing is experiencing a transformative shift, with creator partnerships becoming a central element of impactful strategies—often delivering greater results than traditional advertising,” said Brit Starr, Chief Marketing Officer of CreatorIQ. “The data demonstrates that regardless of size, industry, or market maturity, brands that build long-term relationships with creators foster deeper engagement, cultural relevance, and tangible business impact. The brands that integrate creators into their overall business strategy will define the next era of influence.”
Key Takeaways from the CreatorIQ Top 100 Report
Creator Retention Fuels Long-Term Brand Success
One of the report’s major insights is that creator retention—the percentage of creators who consistently post about a brand over multiple time periods—is a crucial driver of sustained brand impact. Brands that cultivate dedicated creator communities achieve stronger engagement and greater EMV compared to those with low retention rates. The findings underscore that creator retention, rather than mere reach, is shaping the future of brand influence.
Sports organizations dominated the rankings for creator retention, with seven of the top ten brands in this category coming from the NBA, NFL, MLB, and NHL. Leading the way were:
- Los Angeles Lakers: Achieved an astounding 115% year-over-year (YoY) creator retention rate, demonstrating the power of sustained fan engagement.
- New York Yankees: Secured second place with a 114.4% YoY retention rate.
- Minnesota Timberwolves: Ranked eighth with a 108.3% retention rate.
Outside of sports, Spotify claimed the top spot with an 83% creator retention rate and an impressive $6.2 billion in EMV, reinforcing the importance of long-term creator engagement in enhancing brand visibility and loyalty.
In the fashion sector, Fashion Nova showcased the power of creator loyalty. Despite having a smaller creator community on Instagram compared to competitors like Zara, its creators generated an average of $107,000 in EMV each—four times the leaderboard average of $27,000 per creator.
Emerging and Niche Brands Disrupting the Market
The report also highlights how emerging and niche brands are making significant inroads in the creator economy. Beauty brands, in particular, saw tremendous growth in EMV, with the category experiencing a 4,700% YoY increase. This surge was driven by a 7,300% rise in impressions and a 6,700% jump in engagements.
Notable disruptors in the beauty industry include:
- TIRTIR: Leveraged the rising popularity of K-beauty, achieving a 2,059% YoY increase in impressions, surpassing major brands like Dove and Fenty Skin.
- Polite Society Beauty: Saw the fastest-growing creator community, increasing its creator count by 501% YoY through a strategic mix of micro and macro influencers.
- Fenty Hair: Outperformed Beyoncé’s Cécred in EMV ($73.2 million vs. $50 million) within just seven months of launch, demonstrating the power of hype-driven creator collaborations.
Platform-Specific Strategies Are Key to Success
Different social media platforms play distinct roles in brand success. TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube emerged as the primary drivers of brand engagement and EMV, with unique platform-specific strategies fueling brand growth.
- TikTok: The top 100 brands by EMV on TikTok saw a staggering 90% YoY engagement growth, far exceeding Instagram (14%) and YouTube (37%). Netflix led the charge, generating $718.9 million in EMV and 15.2 billion impressions through creator-driven content featuring authentic voiceovers and green screen effects.
- Instagram: Brands in the top 100 on Instagram generated 149% more EMV on average than TikTok brands ($442.1 million vs. $177.2 million), positioning Instagram as the dominant platform for brand-building, particularly in the fashion sector.
- YouTube: Led EMV generation for streaming and music brands. Spotify captured $3.9 billion of its total $6.2 billion EMV from YouTube, driven by video podcasts and curated content.
The full CreatorIQ Top 100: Brands of the Year 2024 report features comprehensive insights across multiple industries, with brands like Nike, Adidas, Red Bull, Netflix, and Prime Video leading their respective categories.
Methodology Behind the CreatorIQ Top 100 Rankings
The rankings are derived from first-party creator marketing data sourced from major social platforms, including Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), and Pinterest. The report spans 16 global markets, including the U.S., U.K., France, Korea, Germany, and MENA. It serves as an extension of CreatorIQ’s Top 10 Leaderboard, a monthly dynamic ranking tool that identifies top-performing brands in creator marketing.
To ensure an objective and fair assessment, the rankings are based on specific qualification criteria that consider key performance indicators such as EMV, engagement growth, and creator retention. Key qualifications include:
- YoY EMV, Engagement, and Impression Growth: New brands launched in 2024 are excluded from these categories to prevent skewed comparisons. Instead, new brands are recognized in the Top Brand Launches of 2024 section.
- $10 Million EMV Minimum: Only brands with at least $10 million in EMV for 2024 qualify, ensuring the rankings focus on brands with substantial, sustained performance.
By setting industry benchmarks and identifying emerging trends, the CreatorIQ Top 100: Brands of the Year 2024 report provides businesses with actionable insights to refine their creator marketing strategies and maximize their impact in the evolving digital landscape.
