The so-called TikTok-ification of social media, in which the platform’s short-form, viral, and algorithm-driven content, has fueled the exponential growth of the influencer marketplace and creator economy. As it swells, marketers are tasked with allocating ad dollars to maximize return on investment. As it stands, smaller, more niche creators are delivering the best bang for buck, according to five influencer marketing execs Digiday spoke to for this story.

That means general lifestyle influencers have to adapt and find a niche or run the risk of fizzling out.

“It’s attention, really,” said Sophie Crowther, global talent partnerships director at Billion Dollar Boy, and head of creators at FiveTwoNine, the influencer marketing shop’s creator community membership program. “Attention is in new formats, new creators that are tapping into something completely brand new, basically.”

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2024 was the year that kept on giving in terms of retail media network expansion. New players entered the space creating everything from financial media networks to travel media networks. Walmart became a breakout star and RMN ad spend surged. 

Still, there are a few things that marketers and advertisers would ask for if Santa were accepting RMN-related wishlists. Digiday talked to four retail media experts about what they’d like to see come out of the retail media boom. Here’s what they said: 

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Hold on tight. The rollercoaster that was 2024 is finally coming to an end.

Marketers may find themselves dizzy from the many ups and downs the industry experienced this year. 2024 saw more ads on streaming platforms, but also an ad price correction that favored ad buyers’ wallets. There was also the generative AI boom (or bauble, depending on who you ask). Of course, there was Google’s long kiss goodnight with third-party cookies, in which the tech giant decided to keep cookies after all but let users decide if they want to opt in or not. And who could forget the 2024 presidential election, the gift that kept on giving to news publishers. 

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The crusade to make everything an ad network continues as yet another player enters the space: real estate media. 

On Wednesday, global real estate brokerage firm RE/MAX announced its own commerce media network, RE/MAX Media Network, a programmatic offering leveraging the real estate brand’s owned properties across its websites, email newsletters, and in-property digital displays.

The question is: Can media buyers be convinced to shell out on yet another retail media network (RMN) given so many of them already exist, like Zillow Group Media Manager, which could serve as direct competition to ReMax’s newly launched offering?

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Over the last few years, marketers have been trying to flip their position in the cultural zeitgeist — making moments themselves as opposed to retroactively marketing around them. That’s why e.l.f. Beauty has built out its own entertainment arm, e.l.f. made, tasked with creating of the moment content around music, movies, gaming and sports. 

Thanks to the short-form content boom, advertisers like e.I.f Beauty have been working to move at the so-called speed of culture. While key agency partnerships remain intact for brand activation, an in-house entertainment arm allows the beauty brand to produce branded content fast enough to keep up with trends. 

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Walmart’s acquisition of smart TV manufacturer Vizio is official as of this week. The move further bolsters Walmart’s ad business, adding streaming capabilities to potentially attract more brand dollars. Walmart is just one on a growing list of retail media networks that’s after those dollars. Advertisers, however, are keeping the purse strings tied tight on brand budgets for now. 

As more retailers launch their own ad networks, competition continues to grow for trade and shopper budgets. To meet that competition, Walmart and other retailers are eyeing brand budgets, rolling out ad opportunities in streaming, social and other off-platform channels. But the retail media space still faces challenges related to measurement and return on ad spend. Until those challenges are solved, advertisers don’t seem interested in parting with brand marketing dollars.

“None of my clients have said we’re getting ready to throw in a ton of dollars, and especially brand dollars, at this next year,” said Sarah Hoffman, group director of connections at TBWA\Chiat\Day. “I do think that they’ve got some work to do before anybody starts to run the piles of cash in their direction.”

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