What Advertising Week means for your 2027 social strategy
Three takes worth budgeting around, plus TikTok’s new ad tool and YouTube’s affiliate push.
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[Later Logo](https://later.com/social-media-management-tools/) [The Advertising Week takes we'd actually put money behind](https://digiday.com/marketing/future-of-marketing-briefing-why-top-creators-are-taking-fewer-brand-deals/) Quick Hits - At Made on YouTube on September 23, CEO Neal Mohan called affiliate a long-term bet for the platform. YouTube's affiliate program is [](https://ppc.land/neal-mohan-bets-youtubes-future-on-brand-deals-and-35-country-affiliates/)[targeting 35 countries by the end of 2026](https://ppc.land/neal-mohan-bets-youtubes-future-on-brand-deals-and-35-country-affiliates/), up from 15 in early August, and a new one-click code lets brands run paid media behind creator content. - On October 5, TikTok [](https://www.parasocialmagazine.com/news/tiktok-folds-creator-videos-into-ai-ad-pipeline/)[introduced Smart+ Creative Selection](https://www.parasocialmagazine.com/news/tiktok-folds-creator-videos-into-ai-ad-pipeline/), which pools approved creator videos, a brand's own assets, and Symphony AI-generated creative into one paid campaign that the system optimizes. - Alix Earle, who has 14 million followers across platforms,[](https://digiday.com/marketing/future-of-marketing-briefing-why-top-creators-are-taking-fewer-brand-deals/) [told Digiday](https://digiday.com/marketing/future-of-marketing-briefing-why-top-creators-are-taking-fewer-brand-deals/) she'd rather work with five or six brands a year than 100, and she's weighing equity deals with the partners she keeps. Most creators still want brand deals, and most brands still need them, so the flat-fee sponsorship will be around long after this quarter ends. Here are the three takes from Advertising Week we’d actually build a 2027 budget around: - Budget for creator content like you budget for ads. YouTube and TikTok spent the fall[](https://ppc.land/neal-mohan-bets-youtubes-future-on-brand-deals-and-35-country-affiliates/) [building tools](https://ppc.land/neal-mohan-bets-youtubes-future-on-brand-deals-and-35-country-affiliates/) that treat creator posts like inventory you can test, tag, and boost. Put a paid amplification line next to every creator fee in your 2027 plan, so the post that wins can get money behind it while it’s still winning. - Shrink the roster at the top. The creators everyone wants are [](https://digiday.com/marketing/future-of-marketing-briefing-why-top-creators-are-taking-fewer-brand-deals/)[trimming their brand rosters](https://digiday.com/marketing/future-of-marketing-briefing-why-top-creators-are-taking-fewer-brand-deals/) and asking the partners they keep for equity, product input, or a job title, because they earn more owning part of what they sell than renting out their audience one post at a time. Brands have handed celebrities creative titles since Lady Gaga joined Polaroid, and Howlett shows the same deal now works for people who built their own audiences. Pick your short list of creator partners for 2027 now, sign them for longer than a quarter, and give them a real say in what you make. - Score the fans, too. NowThis editor-in-chief Michael Vito Valentino said the company[](https://digiday.com/marketing/future-of-marketing-briefing-why-top-creators-are-taking-fewer-brand-deals/) [canceled a show](https://digiday.com/marketing/future-of-marketing-briefing-why-top-creators-are-taking-fewer-brand-deals/) that pulled millions of views because its audience never attached to it. Add saves, repeat viewers, and comment quality to your 2027 creator scorecard, so a creator with a smaller, louder fanbase doesn’t lose out to one with a big, bored one. How we see it: Every brand needs both lanes now, even though most are still trying to run them out of one budget line with one brief. The smart setup pairs a wide bench of creators whose content you can license, test, and boost with a handful of creators you treat like true partners, with product input, longer terms, and shared upside. Brands that only run one lane will end up overpaying for the other. The last word: Creator content is getting easier to buy while the best creators are getting harder to book, so build your budget for both. Dig into the details of our full conversation with TikTok and creator Anna Sitar to learn more. [Read the recap →](https://later.com/blog/how-tiktok-and-creator-anna-sitar-think-about-creator-partnerships-that-convert/) What's Trending [TikTok wants the whole purchase to happen in the app.](https://www.parasocialmagazine.com/news/tiktok-folds-creator-videos-into-ai-ad-pipeline/) Alongside Smart+, TikTok launched Shopping Assistant, an AI that answers sizing and shipping questions, and Buy Direct, a checkout built with Shopify, Stripe, Salesforce, and Shoplazza that started rolling out in the U.S. on October 5. If shoppers can ask and pay without leaving the feed, your product page may soon be a chat window. [YouTube will let creators test whole videos on real viewers.](https://ppc.land/neal-mohan-bets-youtubes-future-on-brand-deals-and-35-country-affiliates/) Creators will be able to test up to three cuts of a video and serve up to three thumbnails to different audiences, though there's no release date yet. Marques Brownlee worries broad testing could wear down a channel's niche audience, which is often why you sponsored it, so ask for the test results before you approve a final cut. [Alix Earle is cutting her brand list to five or six a year.](https://digiday.com/marketing/future-of-marketing-briefing-why-top-creators-are-taking-fewer-brand-deals/) On an Advertising Week panel, the creator, who has 14 million followers across platforms, said she'd rather work with five or six brands a year than 100, and she's weighing equity with the ones she keeps. She's in two deals like that now, trading texts with a brand's photographer and stylist on one and sitting in a chain with the creative agency on the other. Earle said getting brought in early makes her want to overdeliver, so if you want her best work, send the invite before the brief. The Receipts - 410,000. The number of U.S. jobs TikTok says it supported in 2025, according to the company's [own economic impact report](https://tiktokeconomicimpact.com/), which also counts about 9 million businesses among the app's 200 million active U.S. accounts. - $10 billion. What TikTok says it added to the U.S. creator economy in 2025, in that [same company-released report](https://tiktokeconomicimpact.com/), which is a lot of creator income riding on one app and a good reason to spread your programs across platforms. - More than half. The share of U.S. adults who've bought something because of a TikTok video, [by TikTok's own count](https://tiktokeconomicimpact.com/), as discovery and checkout increasingly happen in the same scroll. - $60 billion. YouTube's contribution to U.S. GDP in 2025 according to [its latest report](https://www.youtube.com/howyoutubeworks/youtubes-impact/#PA). It's measured differently from TikTok's figures, but both platforms now make their case in jobs and GDP. Inside Later - Made You Look NYC, in case you missed it. On October 6, our CEO Scott Sutton sat down with TikTok’s Isobel Sita-Lumsden and creator Anna Sitar at Ludlow House, in front of 25 marketing leaders. Anna has been posting since 2019, has 13 million followers, and just launched her own line with Pacsun, so the room heard how one post can build the brand and close the sale from someone whose career proves it. [Read the recap](https://later.com/blog/how-tiktok-and-creator-anna-sitar-think-about-creator-partnerships-that-convert/?utm_source=linkedin&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=the-influence&utm_content=newsletter_oct14). - We'll see you in New York. Later Creator Live lands November 17 with top creators, brands, and platform partners in one room, plus a first look at what's next from Later.[](https://later.com/events/later-creator-live-2026/?utm_source=linkedin&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=the-influence&utm_content=newsletter_oct14) [Apply to attend.](https://later.com/events/later-creator-live-2026/?utm_source=linkedin&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=the-influence&utm_content=newsletter_oct14) - Your creators are already writing your AI search results. Our Creator AEO Marketer's Guide shows which creators earn citations from AI assistants and how to brief your next campaign for it. [Get it free here.](https://later.com/resources/creator-aeo-strategy-guide/?utm_source=linkedin&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=the-influence&utm_content=newsletter_oct14) – From the Editorial Team at Later [Custom](https://instagram.com/latermedia) [Custom](https://www.tiktok.com/@later.com) [Custom](https://www.linkedin.com/company/latergram-me/) [Custom](https://www.youtube.com/latermedia) [Custom](https://www.threads.net/@latermedia) [Custom](https://www.facebook.com/latermedia) [Custom](https://www.pinterest.com/latermedia) © 2026 Mavrck LLC dba Later. All rights reserved. Later, Mavrck and associated designs are registered trademark, You are receiving this email from the Later Group Company that you have business relationship with Victory Square Media Inc. or Mavrck LLC. 810 – 60 State Street, Boston, MA 02109, US No longer want to receive these emails? 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