The funeral has been booked every year since 2020. Marketers arrive in black, eulogies in hand, headlines one click away from being published. Just as the ceremony is about to begin, the deceased rises from the casket, posts a reel tagged #ad, and gracefully walks out; hotter and richer than ever.

In the 6 years that marketers have been predicting the glitzy world of influencer marketing’s demise, the very same industry has quadrupled in value from $9.7B in 2020 to an estimated $40.5B in 2026 [source].

So, with record profits being reported every year, why are the mourning cries only getting louder?

Because the obituaries aren’t entirely wrong: part of the industry is dying, and has been for a while now. But luckily, something with far more clout is already taking its place. Plenty of headlines nominate AI influencers for the job. The numbers point somewhere else.

What “Influence” Used to Mean

Cast your mind back to the early days of the internet, when MySpace and Facebook had a chronological feed and centered around your mates. If someone made a post raving about a new album, you likely knew them personally and trusted their taste; so off to the local CD store (or on to Limewire) you went.

Then the 2010s rolled around and feeds began filling out with strangers. Posts from creators and celebrities appeared between holiday snaps. Users followed people they’d never met but trusted anyway, because their personalities and content were cool.

And so the golden age of The Influencer began.

Brands caught on fast. Influencers were a new type of pseudo-celebrity. By partnering with them, brands could buy access to millions of followers and run posts like small broadcast ads for a fraction of a traditional campaigns cost.

The model ran on one factor: reach. Creators were genuine and relatable, the only thing separating them from their audience was a higher follower count. Audiences believed their recommendations were authentic because the creator was; and the market was small enough that sponsored posts seemed more like stumbling across a good tip rather than being fed an ad.

The Beginning of ‘The End’

But any good influencer will tell you too many ringlights leads to over-exposure that not even the best filter can fix. So as sponsored posts took over feeds, they equally lost appeal to audiences. No matter what kind of spin influencers tried to put on their ads, their reach was dwindling.

As we entered the 2020s, social media became the go-to for communication. Everyone from your nan to your 10-year-old cousin was using it to connect on a daily basis. But this didn’t magically change your feed back to a peer-only space. The algorithm was improving every day, and with it came more ads than ever.

Younger users who grew up online were already pretty savvy about spotting a pitch, but increased regulations on disclosure eventually empowered every other generation to do the same. The downside for brands and influencers is that audiences are now more aware than ever just how often they’re being sold to.

Here’s what we know:

• Only 12% of users trust a recommendation from influencers once they know it’s sponsored [source].
• 71% of users choose to unfollow a creator the second they stop feeling relatable [source]; and
• 56% of Gen Z still enjoy discovering products through creators over traditional ads, but are 2x more likely to feel that influencer content is deceptive, instead of trustworthy [source].

That’s a big shift in where the trust lies for everyone, but Gen Z’s reaction is what you should be paying the most attention to.

As the largest and most active user base, they’re the key to understanding what’s working in digital advertising and what isn’t. Where previous generations had to adapt to the feed, Z’s were raised inside it. If 76% of Gen Z’s agree that too many people are selling something on social media [source], older generations won’t be far behind.

The Authenticity Premium

Gen Z grew up alongside influencer marketing. They came of age online, learning to spot filters, and scripted content while being marketed to by people who looked and acted like their friends. With a world of highly-curated aesthetics and disinformation at their fingertips, Z’s have a finely tuned instinct for performance. That instinct extends to synthetic creators. Clutch’s 2026 survey found 45% of US consumers would not knowingly trust an AI influencer [source].

So for them, authenticity and transparency are no longer optional [source] when it comes to the online experience.

Scripted content gets clocked fast and scrolled past even faster. Since Covid moved so much of life online, the only spaces that mean anything anymore are candid and rooted in real life– think BeReal, IG photo dumps, and stories that disappear after 24 hours.

81% of Gen Z’s prefer influencers who foster a sense of community over those who are simply pushing products [source]. They may be navigating this cultural shift differently to other generations online, but regardless, the sentiment rings true for at least 44% of social media users who say they would stop trusting an influencer if their content felt fake or overly scripted [source].

Such an ecosystem still has space for brands and influencers, just not the ones caught up in chasing trends or posting overly polished content. Trust can only belong to the creators who seem raw and unfiltered; and for any chance at success, advertising needs to follow the shifting tide.

What “Relevant” Actually Means Now

In the golden age of influencer marketing, more followers meant more reach. But high follower counts mean nothing without trust. If every second post from an influencer is an ad, how can their recommendation be worth anything? Users are better than ever at sniffing out inauthenticity. As soon they realise their favourite creator has sold out, they split.

92% of consumers trust nano- and micro-influencers more than traditional advertising or celebrity endorsements [source]. Why? Because they interact more and nurture relationships with their followers in ways that mega- and macro-influencers no longer can.

If they play their cards right, these smaller creators are able to build niche communities around themselves where people talk to each other and the creator in equal measure. The vibe is more personal and authentic; if a product is recommended, the influencer must truly back its quality or risk losing all credibility overnight.

Of course, there’s an angle of exclusivity here too. 71% of Gen Z’s agree social media has made taste more “flat” thanks to everyone buying the same brands [source]. No matter how good a mega-influencer makes a dress look on TikTok, it loses all sense of chicness once you see it being worn by everyone.

In defiance, Z’s are set on developing their own personal style away from the boring trend-cycles fed to them by the algorithm [source]. This puts creators who exist outside the mainstream in a great position to become tastemakers. Think of them as the friend who always knows the good bakery, only with a following. AI is sharpening that preference. Gartner’s 2026 survey found 35% of US consumers now rely on influencers less for shopping advice because of AI-generated content [source]. The creators who hold their ground will be the ones an audience can picture standing in a real bakery.

Gen Z are willing to put in the work to find smaller influencers with recommendations they can trust. They want something unique, which makes the carefully curated taste of these smaller voices more relevant than ever.

Where This Lands for Marketers

So what does this mean for your brand? Pull it back to something you can take into the next influencer brief. Ask three simple questions:

• Is this creator authentic?
• Do they have a distinct taste?
• Does their audience actually trust them?

If the answer is no, you’re not buying influence. Credibility lies with the curators and community-builders, not hollow amplifiers.

Feeds are overcrowded with algorithm-driven ads and users are sick of it. They can pick a genuine recommendations from a sponsored post on sight. If you want to create real impact, don’t add to the clutter. It will just breed resentment for your brand.

Instead, back unique creators and focus on building long-term relationships with them. Trust them to know what their audience will connect best with and don’t get too caught up in perfection. Authenticity is the most valuable thing you can capture. That includes being upfront about AI. Nearly 90% of US consumers in Clutch’s survey want AI-generated content disclosed [source].

Remember: while Gen Z may not be your target audience, they should be your early warning system. They’re the ones who will notice any new advertising formula first, tire of it first, and ultimately decide what it should be replaced with.

A Final Obituary

Traditional influencer marketing is on its way out, but don’t waste time mourning. After all, its replacement has already rocked up and works way harder.

The brands that keep winning with creators won’t be those with the biggest names, or the slickest avatars, attached. They’ll be the ones who understand whose word their customers actually trust, and invest in that instead of just paying for reach.

This is the work Milkman does: helping brands tell the difference between borrowed reach and real credibility before they spend against either.