The evidence supporting creator marketing is becoming unequivocal

2 critical pieces of research have dropped in the past week that now clearly demonstrate the positive impact of creator marketing.

The first by the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IAP) is perhaps the most persuasive. The IAP doesn’t have a dog in the creator fight. Their only mandate is to prepare their members with the data that keeps those members ahead of the pack.

Here is what their research showed: Influencers have the highest long-term multiplier of any channel. The compounding impact of influencer content outpaces almost everything else.

If you are still using creators and influencers as an afterthought with some tiny side budget or letting your least experienced marketers manage the channel, then you are missing the most impactful piece in your marketing arsenal.

The second piece of research comes from TikTok - so perhaps we can consume this one with a teaspoon of salt, but it is done in conjunction with Skift who tend to not the BS pass under their brand moniker.

The big news here: 62% of UK TikTok users are making a booking based on something they’ve seen on the platform. 59% of those bookers make that booking within one week of discovering the content.

This isn’t always or often, last click. These people are not necessarily clicking into a brand bio and clicking the link from there.

These two pieces of information say the same thing.

The advice is clear. Invest in this channel. Measure your change in number and % of direct bookings as the overarching goal. This is the advice we give our clients and the measurement we ultimately are collectively chasing - but our clients don’t need to wait 12 months to see if the goal is achieved or not, we show them live what is happening at every moment to continuously learn and fine tune so the maximum result is achieved.

Videreo is the place where creator marketing is being made as simple. We can find, manage and measure your entire creator program to drive more direct bookings for your business.

Contact me to learn how we can make this happen for you.

This content is provided by the (interim) newsletter sponsor Videreo.com

The Top 5 for 2025

This is the final newsletter for the year, so we are doing things a bit different this week.

Today we look back at the moments which captivated you, the readers in the past 12 months.

No.5: The future of agentic travel by Mario Gavira

Coming in at No.5 was Mario Gavira’s essay written on Phocuswire.

Mario put out some great pieces across the year and it a true leader and deep thinker in the AI space.

No.4: Travel Market Report dives into the drop in AI travel planner usage by young Americans

Our 4th most clicked story for the year looked at how young Americans were starting to move away from using AI trip planners and what was driving that behavior.

It would be great to have another update on these figures and see if that trend in the younger demographic is still holding and what it means for those deep into building trip planners or rebuilding their brand UI around this concept:

No. 3: OpenAI’s Operator Mode

The Video of OpenAI demoing their Operator Mode was the next most clicked across the year at number 3.

I can’t really recall many people talking about “operator mode” since…….. that is pretty much how this AI world rolls……

No.2 is Havard Utheim’s essay into the Trip Planning paradox

Do people love trip planning or is it like a mosquito buzzing you whilst trying to relax on the beach.

Do we value a trip we’ve put no effort into?

These were the themes that captured the attention of our audience this year.

Trip planning as a topic is insanely popular.

If you think someone (or everyone) you know or work with could grow from being more informed on the topic of ai + travel (or could use the training above) then please forward this email to them and they can click the button below:

Marketplace Spotlight:

Thanks to all the businesses who are in the Everything AI in Travel marketplace.

You play a significant role in this content being produced.

If you are trying to connect with travel businesses for your AI product - you should be in there too.

If you have a B2B business underpinned by AI and looking for people to notice you, you can sign up to the marketplace for peanuts (top right corner, 5 mins, bring your logo).

I’ve priced for bootstrapped startups but also accepting larger companies too.

No.1: OpenAI drops its new model

I remember the morning I was about to post the newsletter and I was flicking through LinkedIn to see OpenAI had made an unscheduled and unannounced drop of their 5.0 model.

The LinkedIn post was 8 minutes old. I added it quickly as the top story of the week before posting.

Timing is often everything.

Nearly 19% of all readers clicked this link. (That is insane in newsletter stat world BTW)

Slack Group!

Podcasts and Sponsors

Podcasts now on Spotify and Apple Podcasts:

New podcasts are now showing up on Spotify and Apple Podcasts for your easy listening pleasure!

The special FREE education series continued also this week with Santiago Rodriguez and will continue through to the end of the year!

Our final podcast for 2026 also drops this week. It is with the very impressive Shahar Goldboim of BOOM who is revolutionizing the STR world with AI. Catch it on you favourite podcast player - subscribe to never miss an episode.

Partner with Us

Most clicked last week was the link to the Google announcements (since mainly walked back as above!)

That’s it - you’ve made it to the end of this year. Have a lovely holiday period and if looking for a way to say thanks - you can always buy me a coffee.

I’ll be putting the result of the most clicked post in next week’s edition so you can see where others are focusing. If I’ve missed something, you’ve got a tip or any feedback at all - you can simply reply to this email and it will come straight to me. I’m doing this for You so please don’t be shy to tell me what you think