French commercial influencer marketing trends 2025-2026 barometer, Digi Mart USA News (France): Over one year in France, 46,200 creators with more than 10,000 followers cited at least one of the 1,000 brands tracked by the Commercial Influence Barometer. The second edition of the barometer was published Tuesday, November 3, by the Union of Influence and Content Creator Professions (UMICC) and the Collective for Digital Marketing Professionals (CPA).
The number of creators fell 2.12% compared with the previous year. The study adds 5,000 LinkedIn creators, introduced for the first time in this edition.
Measured from April 1, 2025, to March 31, 2026, brand mentions declined slightly by 3.45%, from 322,000 to 310,900 compared with the first barometer.
The share of paid commercial collaborations fell from 15.5% to 14.3%. As a result, 86% of content mentioning brands came from spontaneous sharing, up from 85% last year, without any commercial compensation.
The study’s authors described this as “free and massive visibility, driven by creators, which continues to gain ground.”
Of the 51,200 professionals studied, more than half are “micro-creators” with communities of 10,000 to 50,000 people, who are often the most engaged. The authors note that 84% of French creators have fewer than 250,000 followers, and only 40% live exclusively from their activity.
Instagram remains the leader, accounting for 54% of active creators, 60% of content, 55% of views and 49% of engagement. TikTok, although it represents just over a quarter of content, generates nearly 41% of total views and 49% of engagement, matching Instagram and showing its ability to amplify campaign reach.
LinkedIn ranks third with 10% of creators. YouTube, Snapchat and X remain marginal in volume and engagement across all sectors.
The report examines ten sectors of advertisers using creators. The automotive sector, which led engagement in 2025, declined sharply, as did home decor and do-it-yourself.
By contrast, food and gaming show rising engagement rates.
Gifting, meaning unpaid commercial collaborations involving sending products or services to creators in exchange for published content on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, grew 52% in number of campaigns compared with the first edition. TikTok has become the leading gifting platform in France, with 56% of campaigns, 59% of posts and 80% of views.
The barometer also includes a chapter on affiliation, in which creators are paid for performance, such as clicks or sales, tracked by dedicated “trusted third-party” platforms. During the study period, 3,024 brands ran influence campaigns generating a total of 376.5 million euros in measured sales, an average ROAS of 11 euros in sales for every 1 euro spent on advertising.
