2024 Political and Nonprofit Creator Benchmarks + 2025 Influencer Trends
Exclusive benchmarks from People First's political and nonprofit campaigns, plus a look at 2025 influencer marketing trends.
Welcome to the first 2025 edition of People First’s newsletter on political, nonprofit, and advocacy digital media strategies, with a special focus on influencer marketing.
This month, we’re unveiling brand-new benchmarks based on data from over 100 creator campaigns for political initiatives and nonprofit organizations in 2024.
We’re also diving deep into the latest “trending trends” in influencer marketing and pinpointing when political creator engagement peaked in 2024.
Feel free to forward this to a friend or colleague who might find it valuable!
Best,
Ryan
Cofounder, People First
2024 Influencer Benchmarks
The following benchmarks are based on thousands of posts from campaigns and organizations throughout 2024 on Instagram Reels and TikTok. We hope in sharing these we can build a community that better understands the performance of creator campaigns.
For context we define microinfluencers as users with fewer than 10,000 followers and macroinfluencers as those with more than 10,000 followers.
2025 Influencer Marketing Trends
We analyzed 97 reports on 2025 social media and influencer marketing to uncover the key "trending trends" shaping the industry. Below are our findings on influencer marketing. For insights on social media, you can read the full report here.
Niche Influencers / Super Brand & Values Fit – 22 mentions
Leading the pack is the strategy of partnering with niche creators who genuinely connect with your brand and align with its values, regardless of their follower count. These types of creators often have built-in credibility with your target audience, stronger relationships with their followers, and higher engagement metrics. Collaborate with creators who have cultivated the specific audiences you want to reach, and give them the freedom to communicate authentically to foster real connections.
Genuine & Authentic Voices – 20 mentions
Closely aligned with niche creators are genuine, real, and authentic voices. These creators aren’t celebrities—they’re moms, teachers, nurses, firefighters, and community leaders. They have the ability to authentically speak about your cause and deliver real, scalable results.
Long Term Collaborations – 18 mentions
There’s real value in partnering with creators over the long term. They become experts in your messaging, can respond to comments more effectively, and ultimately become a genuine extension of your organization. While one-off collaborations still hold value — especially when content is scaled with paid campaigns or repurposed across other channels — longer-term partnerships offer greater ease and allow you to build trust with creators. This trust empowers them to authentically communicate your message to their audiences.
Pico/Nano/MicroInfluencers – 17 mentions
Creators with smaller followings often deliver stronger engagement metrics, maintain authentic connections with their followers, and produce the kind of low-fi, genuine content that organizations need. Regardless of follower count, the key is to partner with creators who are a natural fit for your cause—remember, the messenger is the message.
Full Spectrum Reporting / AI Reporting – 17 mentions
Creators have finally gone full spectrum, engaging supporters at every stage of the marketing funnel. AI-powered tools can enhance reporting, offering deeper insights into comment sentiment and key themes. As clients demand better reporting, agencies are gaining the tools to deliver it effectively in 2025.
Expand Social Commerce – 14 mentions
Appearing on both the social media and influencer marketing lists, social commerce is here to stay. Partnering with creators who know how to sell products or drive fundraising for campaigns will be essential. Expect more creator campaigns in 2025 to focus on driving conversions and delivering a positive ROI.
AI-Driven Creator Selection – 11 mentions
There’s no doubt that AI can help vet creators at scale, identifying key indicators that signal a good fit for your brand or organization. But don’t remove the human touch just yet—ultimately, a creator’s job is to influence real people, not to impress an AI algorithm. Many of the AI-driven creator platforms tend to surface low-quality UGC creators and lack the nuance to distinguish between a creator who produces great content and one who’s simply part of an engagement group, artificially inflating their audience activity.
Virtual Influencers – 9 mentions
Virtual influencers might seem at odds with the push for “human-led” content and authenticity, but younger consumers are showing interest in what these digital creators have to offer. They might be a great fit for tech brands or to hawk crypto, but do I really want to watch a virtual influencer tell me about their “trip” to the Amazon?
Values-Driven Campaigns / Sustainability – 9 mentions
If there’s two things virtual creators lack, it’s values or an interest in sustainability. Brands and organizations aiming to connect with audiences who care about key issues should seek out creators who share those values and can authentically communicate them. The right creator can forge meaningful connections with their audience while aligning your brand with those shared values.
Short Video – 9 mentions
Short video — one of only two themes to appear on both lists — is set to remain the dominant content format for influencers in 2025. With such a massive volume of short videos being produced, brands and organizations must focus on creating content that is authentic, engaging, and truly worth stopping the scroll for.
Read the full report on trends in social media here:
—> Don’t Miss: This Month In Digital on December 2024
Tracking Political Social Engagement
This chart illustrates when political post engagement from our creators peaked in 2024, with the most engagement occurring in October. This isn’t surprising, given the momentum leading up to Election Day. But, what stands out is that campaigns partnering with creators earlier in 2024 still achieved strong engagement—comparable to posts made closer to the election. Notably, there were very few political posts in late 2023.
We recommend that organizations avoid waiting until the final few months before the election to begin messaging. There’s significant value in engaging audiences earlier in the election year—or even the year before!