Ninety-one percent of brands now operate creator programs with an always-on component, according to a new study. Not one respondent called their program ad hoc. The campaign flight, with its launch date and its dead air afterward, has quietly lost. This article explains why always on creator programs became the default, what they demand operationally, and where they break.
The number behind the shift
The figure comes from the fourth annual Creator Marketing Study by LTK and Northwestern University’s Retail Analytics Council. Per Net Influencer’s coverage of the study, 91% of brands run creator programs with an always-on component. Of those, the study as reported by Net Influencer found that 62% describe a hybrid of campaigns and continuous activity, and 29% call their programs fully continuous.
Read that split carefully. “Always on” rarely means abandoning launches. It means a baseline of steady creator presence with campaign bursts layered on top.
The study surveyed 209 senior marketers, and most respondents represented organizations with more than $100 million in annual revenue. LTK and Northwestern also say sample and questionnaire changes make year-over-year comparisons directional. So treat the headline number as a strong signal about large brands, not a census of every advertiser.
Why continuous beats campaign
The logic is not mysterious. Consumers do not buy on your flight schedule.
The same study found creator recommendations influence the whole journey. Net Influencer’s summary of the study shows conversion and loyalty led at 55% each, ahead of consideration (52%), discovery (50%) and repeat purchase (48%). If creators matter at the bottom of the funnel and after the sale, a four-week burst captures a sliver of that influence.
Outcomes are moving too. According to the same report, brands attributing lead generation gains to creator work rose from 29% to 48%, and sales from 46% to 49%. Those are reported attributions, not audited lift, but they explain why finance teams stopped treating creators as a discretionary line.
Always-on is a budgeting argument as much as a content one: steady spend with known creators lowers the cost of every asset after the first.
That is the part many teams miss. Relationships compound. A creator who has posted for you six times knows your product, your legal constraints and your audience’s objections. Our piece on repeat creator deals covers why burn-and-turn is losing ground.
The roster problem nobody budgets for
Continuous programs need more people on the roster. In the study, 52% of brands now work with 100 or more creators, up from 44% in the prior year. Per Net Influencer’s report, social (65%), media (61%), brand (60%) and shopper marketing (40%) teams all touch creator programs.
Four departments, 100-plus creators, one brand voice. What could go wrong?
- Disclosure gaps. More posts and more hands mean more chances for a missing tag. See our analysis of how untagged posts scale with rosters.
- Duplicated outreach. Social and PR both emailing the same creator with different rates is a fast way to lose goodwill.
- Manual overhead. The study found 45% of brands still rely on manual processes such as spreadsheets, email and direct messaging, and 90% want a less complex technology stack.
The labor cost is real. One Net Influencer analysis of AI in the creator economy cites an industry figure of roughly thirty minutes of skilled work to vet one influencer, or about fifty hours for a list of one hundred. Multiply that by quarterly refreshes and the always-on model stops being cheap fast.
Compliance does not pause between campaigns
Continuous activity means continuous legal exposure. The FTC’s guidance is blunt about where it looks first. In its Endorsement Guides FAQ, the agency says that if enforcement becomes necessary, its focus usually will be on advertisers or their ad agencies and public relations firms. Your creators are not the primary target. You are.
Practical controls for a large roster:
- Put disclosure language in every brief and contract, with examples per platform.
- Audit a sample of live posts monthly, not just at approval.
- Keep a record of who approved what, and when.
- Train every internal team that contacts creators, not just the influencer lead.
Content reuse adds a second layer. The study found 92% of brands use creator content in social advertising, 50% in display advertising and 36% in connected TV. Each of those needs usage rights written into the deal up front. The cost per asset math only works if rights match the media plan.
Measurement is the real gate
Always-on programs fail quietly. Nobody cancels them; they just drift, with spend rolling forward on habit.
The study offers a hint of better practice. Net Influencer reports that campaign sales and conversion rates gained 14 and 11 percentage points as reported priorities, while reach stood at 28% and return on ad spend at 21%. Brands are instrumenting creator work like a revenue channel.
Whether your budget survives scrutiny depends on this. As we argued in measurement decides winners, creator budgets rarely get cut, but the programs that can prove incremental contribution get the growth.
Two measurement habits worth adopting:
- Hold out a baseline. Pause creator activity in one region or segment and compare, rather than trusting last-click attribution.
- Track per-creator cost trends. If a creator’s cost per conversion rises quarter over quarter, rotate or renegotiate.
Where the new money is going
Two findings stand out for planners. First, 57% of brands said generating content is now a goal of creator campaigns in its own right, up from 42%. Creators are being bought as a production studio as well as a distribution channel.
Second, 41% of brands now use creator content to influence what AI-driven search surfaces about their products. That ties directly to how search engines index creator videos, which means briefs should specify spoken product names, comparisons and the questions buyers actually ask.
Trust helps here. In the study, marketers ranked creators the most trusted source of consumer information at 44%, ahead of social ads at 34% and celebrities at 22%. Respondents also cited transparency about paid relationships (60%) as a top reason creator recommendations feel trustworthy to consumers. Compliance and performance, in other words, are not opposing forces.
FAQs
What does an always-on creator program mean?
It is a continuous creator presence for your brand rather than a one-off campaign. Most brands run a hybrid: a steady baseline of creator content plus campaign bursts for launches and seasonal moments. In the LTK and Northwestern study, 62% described their approach as hybrid and 29% as fully continuous.
Is the 91% figure representative of all brands?
Not entirely. The survey covered 209 senior marketers, and most respondents represented organizations generating more than $100 million in annual revenue. Smaller brands may run leaner programs, so use the figure as a benchmark for larger competitors.
How many creators do I need for an always-on program?
There is no required number. Many large brands run big rosters, but a smaller roster of repeat partners can work if the content cadence and measurement are consistent. Start with the number your team can brief, pay and audit reliably.
Who is liable if a creator skips the disclosure?
The FTC says its enforcement focus usually falls on advertisers or their agencies and PR firms. Brands should therefore monitor live posts, not just approve drafts. Consult counsel for your specific situation.
How do I measure an always-on program?
Track conversion, sales and cost per asset, and use holdout tests to estimate incremental impact. Reach and engagement alone will not defend the budget once finance asks for proof.
Does always-on cost more than campaign work?
Not necessarily. Ongoing relationships can lower per-asset costs through repeat deals and reuse rights, but only if you control vetting labor and manual administration. Fair compensation matters too, as our guide to setting fair creator rates explains.
This week, audit your roster for three things: which creators have posted more than once, which live posts lack a clear disclosure, and which assets you are reusing without written rights. Fix those before you add a single new creator.
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