A medida que entra 2025, veo que el influencer marketing está cambiando significativamente, pero no al mismo ritmo en USA y LATAM. Algunos trends parecen ser globales; otros son muy regionales.
Lo que estoy viendo en USA es una obsesión mayor por authenticity at scale. Las marcas quieren micro-influencers, pero con alcance de macros. Eso es empujando a los creadores hacia “founder/CEO” positioning, más que hacia el classico “beauty guru” o “fitness bro.”
En LATAM, sin embargo, estoy viendo exactamente lo opuesto: aumenta el protagonismo de celebrity influencers (gente con TV background, singers, actores). Parece que LATAM está rebounding hacia celebs después de años de preferir creators “reales.”
Otro shift que estoy notando: video short-form está dominando completamente USA (TikTok, Reels, Shorts). En LATAM, veo que sigue siendo importante, pero el engagement en Reels es particularmente fuerte—parece que LATAM está “más native” en Instagram que USA.
Y algo que me intriga: UGC (user-generated content) está exploitando en USA como alternativa a influencer marketing tradicional. Marcas están pagando a creadores para contenido que usan como ads, vs pagar para reach/followers. En LATAM, UGC exists pero no es mainstream aún.
Entonces mi pregunta es: ¿qué trends estuvieran ustedes viendo realmente ganar tracción en 2025? ¿Y cómo se ve diferentes entre tus mercados?
Tres trends que confirmation que estás viendo correcto, + una adicional que es massive:
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Authenticity at scale (USA): Confirm. Victory goes to creators who can feel like “real people” even at 1M followers. This is why people like MrBeast and Emma Chamberlain have staying power—they don’t feel like celebrities, even though they are.
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Performance-based influencer deals: This is the big one nobody talks about. It’s shifting from “pay $5K for a post” to “pay $2K base + 5% commission on sales.” This is happening across both markets but it’s more accepted in USA (brands are more sophisticated with attribution). In LATAM, creators still resist because currency volatility makes revenue uncertain. But it’s coming.
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Long-term creator partnerships vs one-off: Brands are moving away from guerrilla influencer campaigns. 2025 = “creator as employee” model. Pay someone $2K/month to feature your product 2x/week, vs $10K for a one-time guaranteed post. ROI is consistently better because the creator integrates your product into their natural narrative.
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Niche communities over broadcast reach: This I want to emphasize. Forget follower count. The winning metric is “how passionate is the community?” A 50K follower Discord with real fans > 500K followers on Instagram. This applies especially to DTC and Gen Z brands.
Mark’s spot on. I’d add one that’s HUGE in LATAM specifically: WhatsApp group communities. Creators in LATAM are building private WhatsApp/Telegram groups where they have 10K-50K ultra-loyal community members. Brands that crack this channel—not traditional Instagram—are seeing insane conversion. It’s more intimate, higher intent, WAY higher ROI.
Also: celebrity rebrand as “content creators.” In LATAM, the line between celebrity and influencer is blurring hard. Soccer players, TV hosts, they’re all becoming content creators and brands are loving it because they get scale + credibility. It’s different from USA where celebrity + influencer are still seen as separate buckets.
The trend I’m betting on: micro-local influencers. Not regional (like “all of Mexico”), but city-level. A creator with 15K followers in Mexico City might matter more for a local brand than someone with 500K across all of Mexico.
Chloe’s burnout observation is data-backed. Average creator in USA gets 15-20 outreach/week. LATAM is lower (maybe 5-8/week) but growing fast. Creators with any leverage are consolidating partnerships. If you want them, you need to offer: longer-term deals, better rates, or genuine creative freedom. One-off transaction deals are becoming commodity and will pay less.
The educational angle is interesting because it increases average video length + watch time, which algo rewards. So win-win.