An M&A spree in influencer marketing is boosting the creator economy

• Influencer marketing and talent management are key drivers of M&A activity in the creator economy.
• Other parts of the creator industry have struggled to attract buyers or perform on public exchanges.
• Business Insider reviewed 15 recent deals to learn what types of influencer companies are selling.

Influencer-marketing and digital-talent firms are getting scooped up like crazy this year, even as other creator-economy companies have failed to live up to their valuations.

Some deals have involved buyers with big pockets. French ad holding company Publicis Groupe, which has a market cap of around $27 billion, announced it acquired influencer-marketing firm Influential in July. Global marketing firm Stagwell announced its purchase of the influencer-marketing company Leaders that same month.

Other sales have involved smaller firms, such as influencer-marketing company Izea's purchase of influencer agency Hoozu, announced in December.

M&A success stories in influencer marketing arrive as other creator startups that gained unicorn valuations, such as monetization platform Jellysmack and video-shoutout app Cameo, have shrunk. Creator startups that debuted on public exchanges in recent years, like esports company FaZe Clan, have also struggled.

There have been some meaningful creator-focused M&A deals outside of influencer marketing in the past year, including social app BeReal's 500 million euro sale to French gaming company Voodoo in June. But creator startups that offer business-to-business solutions are better targets for M&A than those that cater just to influencers as customers, Houlihan Lokey's John Lambros told Business Insider in August. While digital creators are a newer category within entertainment, influencer marketing and talent management are well-established businesses that can tap into existing budgets within the broader advertising sector.

When Goldman Sachs analysts last year valued the creator industry at $250 billion, they called out influencer marketing as a core part of that valuation.

"The analysts expect spending on influencer marketing and platform payouts fueled by the monetization of short-form video platforms via advertising to be the primary growth drivers of the creator economy," the company wrote in its report summary.

There's been a flurry of M&A deals globally within influencer marketing and creator management since September 2023, according to a BI review of company announcements and data compiled by the data platform Pitchbook. Here's a breakdown of 15 deals that were announced in the past 12 months, and what prompted buyers to make offers:

M&A to add influencer-marketing expertise to an existing marketing suite

• Publicis Groupe announced plans to acquire Influential in July. The company said it was buying Influential for its proprietary tech, network of creators (and data about them), and influencer expertise.
• Stagwell announced in July that it acquired Leaders. The company said it was drawn to Leaders' AI-powered influencer marketing platform, which it planned to blend into its "PRophet Comms Tech Suite" of AI-powered offerings for PR and marketing professionals.
• India-based talent and marketing firm Collective Artists Network announced it acquired influencer-marketing platform Galleri5 in July. The deal was meant to help the firm improve its AI capabilities, founder and CEO Vijay Subramaniam said.
• Marketing agency TBA Worldwide announced it bought the influencer-marketing firm Joybyte in November. TBA, which already offers integrated and performance marketing products, added Joybyte to tack on influencer services, too, describing the company as built for e-commerce clients "in the TikTok era."
• Marketing agency Truform Media Group announced it bought the social-marketing firm Socialfly in March in a move to build a "better, more well-diversified business that offers broader services to our clients," per a blog post from Socialfly CEO Courtney Spritzer.

M&A to expand into a new region

• Izea's acquisition of Australia-based influencer agency Hoozu, announced in December, allowed it to grow an APAC presence and tap into Hoozu's talent-management business in the region. Hoozu announced in July it acquired 26 Talent to further expand its Australian talent roster.
• French influencer-marketing company Ykone announced in March it acquired a 70% stake in Indian influencer-marketing firm Barcode, writing in its release that it was "a strategic move that aligns with the growing opportunities in the Indian influencer market."
• Finnish influencer-marketing firm Boksi announced in February it acquired German influencer-marketing agency the Influencer GmbH to solidify its expansion efforts to Central Europe.

M&A to expand a company's client base or offer new influencer services

• Sports and talent management company Wasserman announced in September it acquired talent-management firm Long Haul to expand its gaming and sports creator roster.
• Italian talent management and content production firm 247 Production announced in July it acquired influencer-marketing firm Influaction to grow its influencer-marketing offering.
• Performance marketer Hawke Media announced it acquired creative agency Lemonade in July, writing that the deal would combine Lemonade's "unique branded entertainment, gaming and blockchain expertise with Hawke Media's performance marketing background." Hawke CEO Erik Huberman, in his statement on the deal, said he was excited to expand into the gaming and entertainment sector and mentioned that Lemonade's production expertise was a draw.
• Canadian talent agency Dulcedo Group announced in November it acquired creator talent agency Influence+All as it sought to build out its influencer talent business.
• Dutch social agency Somention announced in September 2023 that it acquired influencer-marketing platform Influentials to tap into the "growing potential of user-generated content and micro-influencers," Somention's managing partner Charlotte Koeleman said in the announcement.
• Content-marketing agency PinPoint Media announced in December it acquired UGC and influencer-marketing agency NOVA+ to expand its direct-to-consumer performance offering, the company's CEO said in its announcement release.