Performance Communications | November 9, 2026
Ella Rebbitt looks at the rise of TikTok, how it’s changed the dynamics of the influencer game, and whether another big shift is around the corner.
When you think of influencer brand collaborations, you probably think of Instagram, right?
Take it back to the noughties, when bloggers were busy building followings and communities around fashion, food, lifestyle and more. Brands quickly took note of their unique, authentic voices and the relationships they had built with their audiences – offering an alternative to traditional advertising.
Then came Instagram.
Throughout the 2010s, the platform grew alongside the influencer-brand marketing boom. Beautifully curated feeds, inspirational content and rapidly growing follower counts gave the average Joe the potential to become a celebrity – and a valuable brand ambassador. What started with aesthetic images has evolved into creators inspiring and even shaping entire campaigns.
More recently, TikTok changed the influencing game again.
With its For You page capable of shooting micro-creators into almost instant stardom, creators could reach millions of people within hours. If content resonated, the algorithm could massively boost it, regardless of the creator’s follower count.
This resulted in a less polished, more spontaneous style of content that leans even further into authenticity.
Influencers are no longer simply another channel for paid promotion. Of course, they can still play that role, but they can also launch a product, generate genuine conversation or explain what a product does in a way that doesn’t feel like an advert.
And brands can find incredibly niche creators. They might not have millions of followers, but the audiences they do have can be highly engaged and genuinely interested in what they’re talking about.
This is not to say TikTok has overtaken Instagram. Instagram still has a well-established place in influencer marketing, but the type of content that works on each platform can be very different.
TikTok has the advantage when it comes to discovery and the potential for virality. Instagram remains a strong platform for established creators and long-term brand partnerships, particularly among higher-profile influencers.
The influencer landscape is now firmly multi-platform. Creators often have a presence across several channels, but audiences behave differently on each one.
Perhaps the biggest shift, however, is that followers aren’t the be-all and end-all.
For example, if you’re a carmaker launching a new car in the UK, you might want a petrolhead who can walk viewers through the pros and cons of the vehicle, keeping it authentic and relevant to an audience that genuinely cares about the details.
That doesn’t mean a lifestyle creator wouldn’t make a great brand ambassador. Their strength just lies elsewhere. Put them behind the wheel on a road trip to a relevant location and you’ve got a story that fits naturally into their content, rather than forcing them to explain the technical specifications of a car their audience might not care about.
For brands, a smaller creator with a highly engaged, relevant audience can be far more valuable than someone with millions of followers but little genuine connection to the subject.
The platforms may keep changing, but the fundamentals of influencer PR haven’t.
Change is coming
With how things stand currently, the social media landscape might be about to undergo a big change. Meta is being pressured over the way its platforms are designed, especially when it comes to children and young people. It has agreed to introduce measures like default time limits for teens, muted notifications and hidden likes, following the $18bn settlement over claims that Facebook and Instagram harm children. In California, a separate trial could go even further, with features like infinite scrolling, autoplay and algorithm-dominated feeds potentially being removed altogether.
If this is where social media is heading, it could have a big effect on influencer marketing as we know it. Less reliance on algorithm-driven feeds. Reduced engagement from younger audiences. Greater restrictions around how content is consumed. These could all change what makes a creator valuable to a brand. Having said that, this only proves the point that, as they evolve, brands must continue to utilise multiple social media platforms and react to them accordingly. The value lies in the relationship between a creator and their audience, and that can travel with them across platforms, wherever or whenever the next big thing comes along.
OEMs should not only rely on collaborations but prioritise their own social channels, too. BMW is a great example of this, and one to watch on TikTok. It keeps things professional but is quick to jump on trends. Recently, we’ve seen BMW hop on trends like “your camera roll if you were dating a girl with a BMW”, “five things that are worth the money”, “when someone calls me fast but that’s the least interesting thing about me”, “what will haunt me on a cold January morning”, “this and yapping”, and “kinda chic to…”
One trend we’ve seen a lot of car brands jump on is ASMR. A few accounts have created their own versions using trending audio. A favourite is Mazda US, who’ve clearly done their research – right down to including the nail tapping on the car, which is pure ASMR-creator.
And as we know, authenticity is what matters.
Credit: Image by Thomas Ulrich from Pixabay.
