What UK Influencer Marketers Should Prioritise in Q1-2 2026

Rising budgets vs fragile creator incomes

UK influencer marketing budgets are on the rise. However, creator incomes remain unstable. A small group of high earners dominates visibility, while the majority earn low incomes from social media.

According to the Kolsquare State of Influencer Marketing 2025 Report, 81% of brands expect to increase their influencer marketing budgets in 2026. Marketers are also shifting from short-term, one-off projects to embedding influencer content into the marketing funnel.

Marketers plan to expand the following campaign types:

• long-term influencer partnerships
• paid media to boost creator content
• User-generated content (UGC)

However, some budget increases may come from rising costs. Thirty-three percent of UK marketers cite rising costs and unclear pricing as key concerns around influencer strategies. 

Influencers, on the other hand, post for limited returns. Narratives about influencers’ wealthy lifestyles misrepresent reality, with 42% earning under €1,000 per month from social media content. Affiliate marketing, brand ambassadorships, and subscriptions or donations (on platforms like Patreon) drive the bulk of earnings, with platform payouts playing a smaller role.

The vast majority of influencers navigate brand partnerships on their own; just 9% have an agent. They win collaborations when brands reach out or when they pitch brands themselves. 

Here’s how UK brands should adapt this quarter:

• Conduct in-depth research: Brands must analyse influencers to ensure they can deliver content that connects with their target audience. This benefits brands and influencers by making successful, long-term partnerships more likely.
• Blend compensation models: Affiliate marketing is low risk; however, brands should combine commission-based frameworks with fixed fees for high-performing influencers to secure the collaboration. 
• Prioritise fair compensation: Offering content creators fair payment builds stronger partnerships that tend to produce better content and achieve more consistent results.

Why micro and niche creators should be your top priority

Micro-influencers have been a key trend over the last few years. In the early days, big names won brand deals. But as platforms grow more crowded, performance increasingly comes from creators with strong niche communities. 

Kolsquare research found that 54% of marketers report rising demand for micro and niche-creators. Most UK brands (93%) already work with micro-influencers. To put that in context, only 66% collaborate with macro-creators. 

The driving force behind this shift is trust. Marketers seek authentic, values-driven collaborations with micro and niche creators whose audiences perceive them as credible. Often, these part-time creators lead lifestyles similar to those of their audiences, increasing relatability and trust. Over time, many create communities that view them as experts in their niche. That’s why micro-influencers' engagement rates stay high, and their recommendations make an impact. 

The preference for smaller creators may be driving the surge in influencer partnerships. In the UK, around one in four brands expect to increase the number of creators they work with by more than 50% over the next 12 months. However, as marketers increase campaign size, they must avoid the trap of believing that all niche creators are equal. They should still vet influencers to check past collaborations, audience demographics, engagement rates, compliance, and credibility. 

Here’s how UK brands should incorporate micro-influencers into campaigns:

• Boost relevance and reach: Micro-influencers can be one part of a broader influencer ecosystem. They can be activated alongside macro influencers to achieve a balance of reach and engagement. 
• Protect creative autonomy: Micro-influencers are often highly experienced in their niche. It’s worth giving them creative freedom to develop content that feels authentic and aligns with their style; otherwise, your branded content may not connect with their audiences. 
• Conduct audience and influencer analysis: Selecting creators based on audience fit, engagement, and credibility rather than follower counts results in impactful campaigns. But it’s worth noting that a small follower count doesn’t automatically mean great content or a strong community. You must dig deeper into the data on audience demographics, credibility, and engagement rates to find the right influencers using an influencer marketing platform like Kolsquare. 
• Scale through many small voices: Diversifying your portfolio with multiple niche influencers reduces risk and increases cultural resonance.

How UK marketers should use AI (and where not to)

Artificial intelligence has already entered creator workflows. Brands must also adapt by using AI to streamline repetitive tasks and gain deeper insights into campaign performance.

Fifty-six percent of creators now use AI at least a few times a week. Only 20% say they haven’t used AI in the past year. For now, this technology plays a supportive role, with 72% of creators relying on AI for ideation, scripting, or text editing.

This aligns with how marketers and agencies are incorporating AI. Currently, the clearest advantage is in workflow automation, admin, and reporting. Given its time-saving features, industry leaders frame AI as an efficiency booster that supports authenticity rather than as a creative.

“AI is necessarily impacting all aspects of marketing, so I expect at a minimum it’ll make the management of influencer marketing more efficient. Authenticity is a macro trend that will only continue growing. Social selling is growing rapidly and I only expect it to increase.” Global Senior Marketing Director, Beauty & Cosmetics, budget spend £3.01M–£5M, United Kingdom

For UK brands, the takeaway is that AI in influencer marketing, when used correctly, reduces friction, improves targeting, and frees both brands and creators to focus on storytelling rather than admin tasks. Brands should not AI-generate scripts or rely on AI alone to assess creators. And while there are now AI influencers gaining large followings, their wider effectiveness for influencer campaigns has yet to be proven. 

How UK brands and agencies should use AI today:

• Use AI to promote efficiency across the funnel: AI supports ideation, scripting, reporting, and admin, not full-on content creation.
• Automate discovery and vetting: You can leverage the AI advancements in influencer software, such as Kolsquare, to enable more precise creator selection, audience analysis, and credibility checks at scale. 
• Optimise performance with data: AI can help track results, benchmark campaigns, and inform paid amplification decisions, giving you a deeper understanding of your campaigns. 
• Protect human connection: AI shouldn’t run your entire influencer strategy. You can leave tone, storytelling, and creativity to creators. 

Responsible influence is now non-negotiable

Ethics and responsible influence are taking centre stage. Influencer marketing isn’t the wild west of the late 2000s anymore. It’s now a heavily regulated channel, and audiences expect professionalism from brands and influencers. 

When choosing brand partners, creators consider brand values as much as fees. While 43% believe that compensation is vital, the same share prioritise the brand's alignment with their values.

Marketers and creators are also responsible for ensuring campaigns are transparent. Sixty-one percent of creators rank transparency as a top concern, alongside diversity, mental health awareness, and sustainability. Today’s audiences scrutinise brand and creator behaviour, and poor partnerships threaten audience trust. 

UK brands recognise the risks, reporting the following safety actions:

• 70% require strict adherence to advertising regulations
• 64% prioritise clear disclosure of sponsored content
• 57% avoid creators who promote sensitive or controversial products

Brands that treat disclosure as optional risk losing credibility with consumers and creators, who must protect their own reputations. 

UK companies and agencies should be aware of the following this quarter:

• Make transparency non-negotiable: Brands and creators are equally responsible for content adhering to regulations. That’s why enforcing clear, consistent disclosure across all platforms and formats is a must.
• Select creators for value alignment: Collaborations with compliant creators who align with brand values reduce risk and improve long-term performance.
• Build ethics into briefs and contracts: Marketers and brands should outline acceptable messages and compliance requirements upfront in their documentation.
• Protect creator and audience trust: Treating mental health, diversity, and sustainability as brand-safety considerations with real impact on sales remains essential in 2026. 

Platforms that will define execution this quarter

UK influencer marketing now runs on a mixed platform stack. In 2026, execution success depends less on platform experimentation and more on using the right platforms for the right job.

Instagram remains the backbone of influencer marketing, with 92% of UK marketers running campaigns on the platform. It’s the primary channel for brand storytelling and paid amplification. As short-form video continues to dominate, brands are now making the most of it by reusing UGC across paid social formats to boost reach. 

TikTok drives attention and cultural relevance, with 80% of brands activating creators on TikTok. This is the channel that’s the most trend-led and easiest to gain quick visibility, making it a great fit for top-of-funnel impact. However, content lifespans are shorter. 

Fifty-nine percent of UK marketers use YouTube. It’s a giant for long-form storytelling, reviews, and credibility-building content. 

Facebook also remains popular, with 58% of brands using it. But for B2B campaigns, LinkedIn stands out. Twenty-nine percent of UK brands activate creators on LinkedIn, reflecting its relevance for employer branding and thought leadership content. 

Here’s how to make the most of social media platforms in 2026:

• Focus on short-form: Short-form video is highly engaging. To generate the most value, reuse promotions across paid media, email marketing, and product pages. 
• Assign clear platform roles: TikTok is a hub of authenticity and Gen Z connection, where highly curated brand content is less likely to connect. Instagram, however, is more professional, while YouTube allows brands to develop longer narratives.
• Avoid platform sprawl: There’s no need to be everywhere at once. You should focus your budgets and effort where you see the best performance. 

Make your 2026 influencer strategy smarter

In 2026, influencer budgets and campaigns are growing. Brands are focusing on responsible strategies that feature niche creators and leverage AI to improve influencer selection and performance measurement.

Kolsquare provides the data and tools to identify credible creators, understand audience fit, check creator compliance, and track campaign performance with confidence, reducing risk and helping you make better decisions, faster.