Creator earnings to rise 10–15% annually as influencer marketing heads to Rs 4,500 crore

India's vast and still-expanding social media economy is beginning to translate scale into sustained income for its creators, particularly at the smallest end of the spectrum.

The country has nearly 500 million social media users and an estimated 2.5 million to 3.5 million influencers. Over the next few years, creator incomes are expected to grow at mid-double-digit rates, driven by rising brand investment and the increasing use of artificial intelligence in content production and marketing, industry executives said.

Earnings across the creator economy are projected to rise 10-15% annually, with the influencer marketing industry expected to reach Rs 4,500 crore in 2025, according to Ritesh Ujjwal, co-founder of the influencer platform Kofluence.

But the fastest growth is likely to come from nano creators (those with between 1,000 and 10,000 followers), who were once considered too small to monetise at scale. Today, many individuals earn between Rs 5,000 and Rs 25,000 per month, often building modest yet sustainable businesses around highly engaged audiences.

"The democratisation is real," Ujjwal said. "A creator with 5,000 engaged followers can now earn consistently. That simply wasn't possible five years ago".

Brands are increasingly drawn to these small creators because they deliver high engagement and clearer returns on investment. Micro and nano influencers typically generate engagement rates of 6 to 10%, well above those of larger, celebrity-led accounts. Nearly half of brands now prefer working with them, Ujjwal said, citing improved return on investment.

Sagar Pushp, the chief executive of the influencer marketing agency ClanConnect, said that while creator earnings overall are expected to rise sharply over the next two years, the steepest gains will accrue to nano and micro influencers. Their content is easier to adapt, more affordable, and often better suited for regional and vernacular campaigns.

"As influencer marketing has become standard practice, senior management is asking harder questions about returns," Pushp said. That scrutiny, he added, is pushing the industry toward performance-linked models, a shift that is likely to accelerate in 2026 and 2027, led by creators from tier-2 and tier-3 cities.

For brands, the challenge is no longer whether influencer marketing works, but how reliably it can deliver results. Viren Sean Noronnha, co-founder and chief executive of the creative agency The New Thing, described the shift as a move toward predictability.

"The real balancing act is finding a cost-to-volume equation that feels sustainable," he said.

'Where the money is flowing'

Beauty and personal care, fashion and apparel, consumer durables, technology services, and quick-service restaurants currently account for the bulk of influencer marketing spending in India. Automobiles and jewellery have also emerged as strong pockets of growth.

E-commerce alone represents about a quarter of total influencer marketing expenditure, according to data from Kofluence, while finance and infotainment creators are seeing particularly rapid growth.

Consumer trust remains a critical driver. 67% of consumers trust influencer recommendations more than traditional advertising, according to Kantar, which has helped to move influencer content deeper into the marketing funnel.

"The effectiveness is no longer limited to awareness," said Soumya Mohanty, managing director and chief client officer for South Asia at Kantar. "Influencers are now delivering measurable impact in the middle and lower funnel as well".

'From transactions to partnerships'

As brands focus more sharply on returns, relationships with creators are becoming longer and more collaborative.

"Instead of chasing reach, brands are backing creators who genuinely live the category," Noronha said. Many are now co-creating episodic content and intellectual property with influencers, a model he said would define the next phase of the industry.

The rise of short-form video over the past few years has further reshaped strategies. Brands are increasingly using content to move consumers from discovery to purchase, while live commerce and shoppable video formats gain traction across major e-commerce platforms, said Pushp.

Artificial intelligence is accelerating these shifts, lowering the cost of content creation while helping brands identify creators based on audience affinity, tone and credibility.

"What we are seeing is intense niching," Ujjwal said, pointing to creators focused on narrowly defined themes such as budget skincare for darker skin tones or exam preparation in regional languages. "These creators often deliver conversion rates that far outperform more generic influencers".

What was once a peripheral marketing tactic has become a central channel built on trust and relevance. For brands, Mohanty, success will increasingly depend on working with creators as partners--combining authenticity with data, storytelling with commerce.