Annual Research Report 2025–26
Decoding
Influence
2026
India’s most comprehensive influencer marketing report. Influence runs on systems now. Built on data from 750K+ creators, 1,000+ surveys, and 50+ expert interviews.
59%
of creators now use AI tools regularly or sometimes in their workflows
15.2%
as a business entity
or GST individual
13.3%
of brands now directly link influencer marketing to formal revenue targets
What's Inside the Influencer Marketing Benchmark Report
11 Chapters!
Every Dimension of India's Creator Economy
From the decentralisation of influence in Bharat to creator owned IP, AI at the controls, and the 2030 outlook, this report leaves nothing on the table.
Who Is It For
Built for every stakeholder in India's creator economy
Brand Marketers
Decode India's creator landscape with regional insights, platform strategies, and campaign benchmarks.
Creators
Access pricing benchmarks and strategies to boost engagement and monetization.
Agency Professionals
Master 2026's platform trends, tools, and content strategies.
Investors & VCs
Look for trend predictions that will
shape 2026
Key Findings
Numbers That
Define 2026
The data tells a story of a market that has crossed a threshold. Creators are bankable. Brands are accountable. Technology is scalable. These are the findings that matter most for every stakeholder in India’s creator ecosystem.
India's annual influencer marketing spend in 2026
A figure that has nearly doubled in two years, allocated with the same rigour as any other media channel the CFO is now in the room.
₹3,500Cr
Brands have run partnership ads with influencers
with 23.3% doing so regularly across multiple campaigns, pairing creator authenticity with paid distribution.
76.6%
Brands now favor long-term creator partnerships
48.3% agree and 13.8% strongly agree that long-term creator relationships deliver better ROI than one-off campaigns.
62.1%
Creators use AI for content ideation and captioning
AI's most immediate value: solving the blank-page problem. 25.5% use AI almost daily it has moved from early-adopter signal to baseline behaviour in under two years.
59%
Of surveyed creators are based in North India
But Tier-2 and Tier-3 city creators are gaining rapid prominence vernacular content outperforming English across engagement, trust, and conversion.
37.7%
Brands route influencer contracts through legal review
A practice that was near-zero just two years ago formalisation is now the entry barrier, not follower count.
39.3%
Also Inside
The Meta Ecosystem
Meta Leadership Weighs In
The platform shaping where India discovers, trusts, and buys has a point of view on what comes next. And they shared it here, exclusively.
Top Creators Featured in Decoding Influence
Baccha Mat Bolna
@baccha_mat_bolna
Amit Parimal
@amitparimal
Nandini Sharma
@thisis_alaska_
Rohit Bamola
@rohitbamola
Mansi Rajani
@mansirajani85
Kruthika Gowda
@kruthika._gowda._
and More....
Top Brands Featured in Decoding Influence
and More.....
Expert Voices
Decoding Influence, Through the Eyes of Industry Leaders
CEO & Secretary
General of ASCI
Uncertainty is the real creativity killer.
Clear guidelines let teams invest energy in
ideas rather than legal anxiety
CEO,
Publicis Digital Experience
Influence is no longer external to the marketing system. It is the system for culture marketing.
Director - Brand Marketing
Meesho
Local creators are the new balance between aspiration and word-of-mouth from someone you know. The user’s takeaway is: if they can do this, I can too.
EVP Growth,
Kinnect (FCBInterface)
AI has become the content factory of our era. The influencers who thrive will wear their humanity like a badge, making 'made by a human hand' the real product.
National Lead – Digital Platforms,
Bajaj Finserv
Live commerce compressed seven days of BFSI deliberation into seven minutes. The unlock is content that sounds like a neighbour, whether selling a financial product or building brand trust.
Senior Manager, Digital Marketing,
Emami Ltd
In Bharat, resonance is the real KPI – audiences want to see themselves in the content. With quick commerce, the influencer has become the shelf.
Chief Growth Officer,
Dentsu Media Group
Long-form content is seeing a resurgence in Indian marketing strategies, especially as brands focus on deeper engagement and storytelling.
Vice President - Monetization
Noon
The report has been so helpful, I’ve taken a printout and it’s now my go-to reference for benchmarking creators’ performance.
Head of Marketing
Stovekraft
What stood out for me was the depth of market benchmarks and insights, it’s become a key input in our strategic planning.
Vice President, Marketing
Tata CLiQ
With its vast diversity of languages, traditions, and cultures, India requires a nuanced, localized approach. There’s no one-size-fits-all strategy.
Get the Report
Download Decoding Influence 2026
India’s most comprehensive influencer marketing annual research report. Free for brand marketers, creators, agencies, and industry professionals.
- 150+ pages of original data, case studies, and expert analysis from India’s ₹3,500Cr creator economy
- Pricing benchmarks across all influencer tiers, nano to celebrity, across 30+ categories
- 2030 outlook: platform evolution, AI integration, regulatory frameworks, and emerging creator business models
- Proprietary data from 750K+ active creators on the Kofluence platform.
