2025 threw influencer marketers curveball after curveball – from TikTok's near-shutdown in the U.S., to tariff threats, to the AI revolution.

As these economic uncertainties affected marketing budgets across the board, influencer marketers faced a tough question: How do you adapt to constantly changing conditions on a tight budget, and without compromising influencer relationships?

To find out, we surveyed over 50 pro marketers about how they negotiated and structured their influencer collaborations in 2025 while working within their budget constraints, and what they’re planning for 2026.

Marketers are cautious about long-term influencer collaborations

For comparison, we’ll quickly revisit the results from last year’s survey. In 2024, over 75% of marketers we surveyed had increased their long-term collabs compared to 2023, and over 84% even said they had planned to double down on them in 2025.

But 2025 was more capricious than anyone expected, which meant marketers were more hesitant to commit to long-term campaigns. It’s understandable – they didn’t know how things would pan out or how their budget would be affected. Given the economic challenges, it was wiser to invest in short-term collaborations.

Our most recent survey revealed that in reality, only 54% of marketers actually ran more long-term creator collaborations in 2025 than in 2024. And while over 60% of marketers say they’re hoping to invest more into long-term campaigns next year, that number is still about 23% lower than last year.

If you are planning to run more long-term collaborations next year, here are three pro tips to minimize risk:

• Test the waters before committing. Don’t tie your budget to a sinking ship – run trial collaborations to evaluate an influencer’s performance before signing a long-term contract.
  
• Schedule some breaks into your posting calendar. “Long-term” doesn’t mean you have to collaborate with the same creator every month. Bake in some space every now and then to avoid audience fatigue.
  
• Use long-term collaborations as your testing ground. Your always-on partnerships can serve as an excellent experimental lab. These collabs are perfect for testing new creative angles, messaging, storyfit creators, etc. with minimal risk.
  

So, if marketers are lukewarm about long-term creator collaborations this year, what are they choosing to invest in instead?

Marketers are investing more in affiliate collaborations (but influencers are pulling back)

The slight decline in long-term campaigns led to a rise in affiliate programs, which are more secure and offer quicker returns. Over half of the marketers we surveyed said they invested more in their affiliate program in 2025 than they did the year before.

In a risk-averse environment, affiliate programs are excellent for marketers. They’re easy to track, and they deliver a clear ROI – you can see precisely which affiliates bring in the most revenue/clicks, and you can compensate each influencer accordingly. Tamara Torrecillas Gutiérrez says performance-based payment models are becoming the new paradigm of influencer marketing:

Influencer marketing is moving fast toward performance models. In the next couple of years, creators who can’t actually drive sales or real impact will struggle because reach alone just won’t work for many performance-focused brands.

Tamara Torrecillas Digital and Influencer Marketing Manager

But here’s the other side of the coin: In 2024, more than 63% of marketers said influencers were increasingly open to becoming affiliates. This year, that number dropped to 26%. In fact, over 45% of marketers say influencers are less open to becoming affiliates.

Though affiliate partnerships are a safe bet for marketers, when you view them from a creator’s lens, it’s understandable why there’s been a change in sentiment: Affiliate-only is not a secure deal for influencers. Many factors dictate how an influencer’s post performs – many of which, such as algorithm changes, are beyond the creator’s control.

When an influencer is only paid per click or sale, their income is less predictable than, say, a flat-fee model. The economic shakedown has affected creators, too, so it’s not surprising that they’re looking for more stability.

But this doesn’t mean influencers aren’t open to performance-based compensation – quite the contrary.

Marketers get the best of both worlds by offering a flat fee on top of performance-based compensation

In 2025, 61% of marketers used some form of performance-based compensation to pay influencers.

And pairing performance-based compensation with a flat fee gives you the best of both worlds: You can offer the creator security and ensure you get a positive return on your investment. Leslie Belen predicts this hybrid payment structure will only gain more popularity in 2026:

The single biggest trend will be the total migration toward performance-based deals. Every brand is under so much pressure to prove ROI that in 2026, we'll pivot almost entirely to small-retainer-plus-high-commission structures, signaling the end of the flat-fee model's dominance.

Leslie Belen Influencer Search and Outreach Virtual Assistant

The hybrid payment model keeps creators happy while keeping their skin in the game. Over 23% of marketers said influencers were open to performance-based compensation in 2025, but only when a flat fee was provided upfront.

When proposing a hybrid deal, remember to be transparent about how you’ll track an influencer’s sponsored content. This will ease any worries on their part about how their performance will be measured (and paid out).

For example, specify how many days will lapse before you count the total engagement, clicks, or sales from the influencer’s post, and exactly how those metrics will translate into compensation. In Modash, you can assign unique discount codes or links to each influencer to accurately track how many sales they’ve brought in.

If you receive pushback from influencers on the hybrid model, try negotiating using data.

First, show influencers their earning potential. Creators might be hesitant toward performance-based compensation when they don’t know how much they can earn beyond the flat fee. Set an income benchmark by offering examples of what other creator partners have earned in previous campaigns.

You can also try offering a higher commission bracket if you can afford it without cutting into your margins too much. And if neither of those tactics work, sweeten the deal by offering non-monetary incentives.

Marketers use creative non-monetary incentives to close deals and generate a higher ROI

The market conditions (read: unfathomable challenges) in 2025 created a push-and-pull environment between brands and creators. Adding a flat fee on top of performance-based compensation helped both sides feel more secure. But marketers also got creative, introducing additional incentives to close deals with creators while protecting ROI.

Offering non-monetary incentives ranked as the top negotiation tactic in 2025, closely followed by bundling and the hybrid payment model.

We were curious about what non-monetary incentives actually looked like and when to use which. Anna Jędrzejewska took us deep into her own incentive toolbox:

*Unless you’re using influencer marketing for an expensive product.

Offering unique and creative non-monetary incentives makes the influencer feel special, and they often go the extra mile for your brand’s campaign. Do not be afraid to think outside the box, like marketers in the fashion industry, who give their creators custom-made clothing. Brands in the hospitality and travel industry also had unique incentives up their sleeves, including free stays, comped meals, and flight coverage.

Which incentives do creators find most attractive? Anna says while there are a few clear front-runners (early access, long-term collabs, event invites), it also depends on the influencer’s needs:

The biggest winners were early access (everyone loves being the first to show something off) and long-term collaboration potential. Performance-based bonuses and discount codes work best for business-minded creators who like having clear KPIs, while freebies still go a long way with smaller profiles who genuinely use and love the product.

Anna Jędrzejewska Senior Campaign Manager

Free products, PR exposure, and discount codes might be the easiest incentives to offer for you as a marketer, requiring little red tape. Other incentives, such as long-term contracts, take longer to implement as they need approval from internal teams. Have a list of non-monetary incentives you can offer during negotiations.

But marketers had one more negotiation tactic up their sleeve in 2025: bundling. An excellent negotiation tactic, bundling allows you to get more influencer content for the same cost. There are three approaches you can take with bundling:

As bundling was the second biggest negotiation tactic according to our survey, it’s not going anywhere for 2026. It’s crucial to be fair in your ask, though – if a creator’s price is out of budget for Instagram Reels, for instance, you can ask them to include a couple of Instagram Stories, but not a new TikTok video.

The primary takeaway here is to think creatively and understand what the influencer needs – especially when you’re offering non-monetary incentives. If a creator is security-conscious, long-term contracts might be most appealing to them. But if the influencer is more excited to increase their payout, offering performance bonuses might be a better incentive.

Remember: These negotiation tactics aren’t meant to underpay influencers. Use them to find common ground with your creator partners so both parties are happy with the deal.

And if an influencer is performing beyond expectations, offer them additional incentives to show your appreciation. Anna, for example, offers higher-than-average discount codes to select creators and sometimes pays an affiliate-style bonus when results are outstanding.

These gestures might seem small, but they go a long way toward strengthening your influencer relationships, building brand loyalty, and motivating creators for future collaborations.

What’s next for influencer marketing

Influencer marketers weathered a rapidly changing landscape in 2025. Next year might bring even more change. The good news is that the fundamentals remain the same: Focus on what your influencer partners need, and do your best to meet them where they are. 

Here are the top three takeaways from this survey:

• If a creator is performing well, make them a long-term partner. This will help you negotiate better rates and build brand trust. Plus, you’ll have a card in your back pocket in case a new creator suddenly drops out or can’t meet a deadline.
  
• Influencers aren’t keen on becoming affiliates, but that doesn’t mean you can’t use performance-based incentives to your advantage. Sweeten the deal for creators with non-monetary incentives, an additional flat fee, and bundling more assets.
  
• The best way to negotiate with creators is to offer attractive incentives. Understand what they need first, and handpick incentives that make the deal a win-win for that particular influencer.

And as always, go into influencer negotiations with data on your side. You’ll get deep insight into the creator – their audience, performance, growth, and more. Clear numbers make it easier to set expectations, align on pricing, and build long-term relationships.

If you’re looking for the easiest way to go deep on data, Modash is your ticket. Get a free 14-day trial (no credit card needed) when you sign up today.