German association releases influencer marketing landscape for 2025

The Bundesverband Digitale Wirtschaft (BVDW) published the first Market Landscape for the influencer marketing and content creation ecosystem in Germany on November 13, 2025. The document establishes categorization standards for a market experiencing substantial growth and increasing fragmentation.

According to the association, the landscape divides the ecosystem into five main categories: agencies with their own talent portfolios, agencies without portfolios, management companies, platforms, and technology providers. Each category receives specific definitions intended to create common understanding across the industry.

"The strategic relevance of influencers and content creators is constantly increasing. New business models are constantly being added. Players today offer services that go beyond classic artist management or consulting," stated Jean-Paul Daniel from Lucky Shareman, who chairs the Content Creation & Influencer Marketing initiative at BVDW.

The publication arrives as the global creator economy expands rapidly, with projections indicating growth from $191 billion in 2025 to $528.39 billion by 2030. Italian influencer advertising alone reached €350 million across major platforms in 2024, demonstrating the commercial scale of creator marketing across European markets.

The BVDW document distinguishes between agencies maintaining talent rosters and those focused purely on campaign services. Agencies with portfolios combine campaign consulting, execution, and talent management. This structure provides brands direct access to creator networks while agencies serve as strategic partners. The model merges traditional agency services with management functions into integrated operations.

Management companies, by contrast, represent individual creators or portfolios focused on career development. Services encompass brand partnerships, contract negotiations, legal matters, and strategic positioning. Management firms function as close partners negotiating with brands, agencies, and platforms on behalf of talent.

Platform providers supply the technological infrastructure connecting brands, agencies, and creators. These systems enable talent discovery, analysis, selection, briefing coordination, campaign management, and real-time performance data. Platforms deliver metrics covering reach, engagement, and campaign effectiveness. The document positions platforms as the operating system of modern influencer marketing.

Technology vendors provide tools and data supporting transparency, comparability, and efficiency. Solutions include databases, social listening capabilities, audience analysis, performance tracking, campaign reporting, fraud detection, and AI-powered matching systems. These capabilities establish foundations for data-driven, secure, and scalable campaign planning.

The landscape document lists specific companies within each category without claiming completeness. Agencies with portfolios include Beyond Influence, ChannelBuzz, fravio, Game Machine, gentup, HitchOn, Intermate, joii, IC Liebermann, Lucky Shareman, medialabel, segmenta communications, we are era, and MW Weischer Connect. Agencies without portfolios comprise addfame, CiberPrime, LOOKFAMED, SPREADvertise, and We Create Group.

Management category participants include 30, ALL IMPACT Management, Binterim Entertainment, CreatorPlace, HOLCZINGER, INSTINCT3, OHEY, and Yilmaz Hummel. Platform providers listed are AEQOLOT, Freachly, gocomo, influence vision, influenceME, REACHBIRD, refluenced, and Speekly. Technology vendors encompass influData by weCreate, IROIN by Stellar Tech, kolsquare, Linkster, Storyclash, and Nindo.

The categorization reflects market complexity developing as influencer marketing matured beyond early partnership models. Platforms and technology providers gained prominence as brands demanded improved efficiency, transparency, and measurement capabilities. These vendors facilitate professional, scalable collaborations through data-driven real-time tracking, AI-supported campaign management, and automated quality verification.

Philipp Hagl from InfluenceME and Claudia Schmidt, Senior Program Manager at BVDW, led project development alongside Daniel. The initiative involved members of the Content Creation & Influencer Marketing working group within the association.

BVDW plans regular landscape updates to reflect ongoing market dynamics. The association seeks active participation from industry participants to maintain accuracy as the ecosystem evolves. The goal centers on long-term transparency improvement supporting professionalization across the creator economy.

The document includes disclaimers noting the listing remains non-exhaustive without completeness claims. Only companies operating in influencer marketing and content creation fitting stated definitions received consideration. Company order and logo sizes carry no implications regarding relevance or weighting within respective segments.

Market demands for standardization have intensified as the industry expanded. Growing competition increased costs for premium influencer partnerships while expanding opportunities for emerging creators securing brand collaborations. Algorithm changes across Instagram and TikTok affected content distribution patterns throughout measurement periods, influencing which posts achieved viral status and how content reached audiences beyond immediate follower bases.

The German initiative parallels transparency efforts across European markets, where organizations address disclosure standards and consumer awareness challenges. Research indicates only 20 percent of consumers recognize influencer content as commercial messaging, creating impetus for clearer industry structures and definitions.

Measurement and attribution remain significant challenges within influencer marketing operations. IAB Europe pursued standardization initiatives addressing commerce media fragmentation, with research showing 78% of stakeholders identify media measurement as requiring industry alignment.

Technology platforms increasingly shape campaign execution capabilities. YouTube's creator economy developments, including AI-powered content creation tools and dynamic brand insertion features, demonstrate how major platforms influence creator partnerships and advertising approaches. The platform marked $100 billion in creator payouts over four years, representing approximately 45% of YouTube's advertising revenue during that period.

Content authenticity emerged as critical performance factor across platforms. Campaigns achieving highest engagement rates maintained genuine influencer personality integration while delivering brand messages naturally. Research showed influencers convert shoppers six times more effectively than standard social media advertising during peak shopping periods, according to Cyber Monday 2025 preparation analysis.

The landscape publication addresses fragmentation that created orientation challenges for advertisers, agencies, influencers, and content creators. Uniform definitions and clear categorization support market growth comprehension. The structure provides reference framework as business models continue developing beyond traditional artist management or consulting services.

Platform adoption patterns vary by market segment and company size. Smaller businesses with monthly marketing budgets below $1,000 demonstrate 45% higher likelihood of lacking dedicated marketing staff compared to larger operations. Customer referrals remain dominant lead source at 83%, though digital marketing effectiveness correlates strongly with budget size.

International influencer marketing platforms serve diverse needs across territories. GroupM's INCA platform operates across Asia Pacific markets including Singapore, Philippines, Thailand, and Indonesia, connecting brands with trusted publishers and influencers through fraud detection and data-validated processes. The system addresses challenges around manual identification, screening, and management of creators while combating fake follower problems enabled by bots.

Marketing professionals preparing influencer strategies must establish partnerships months before campaign launches. The conversion advantage demonstrated by influencer marketing suggests stronger return on advertising spend compared to standard social media during concentrated shopping periods. Brands waiting until immediately before campaigns sacrifice critical preparation time needed for content creation, audience building, and conversion optimization.

Timeline

• November 13, 2025 – BVDW publishes first Market Landscape for influencer marketing and content creation ecosystem in Germany
• September 26, 2025 – Research reveals 41% of social media users attended influencer events in past year as creator economy shifts toward in-person experiences
• September 16, 2025 – YouTube announces major creator tools with Veo 3 integration and marks $100 billion creator payout milestone
• November 3, 2025 – IAB Croatia releases comprehensive influencer marketing disclosure guidelines addressing transparency standards
• August 3, 2025 – Italian influencer advertising reaches €350M across major platforms according to Media Consultants data
• May 23, 2025 – Industry leaders unveil 4S behaviors framework during Google NewFronts presentation reshaping marketing strategies

Summary

Who: The Bundesverband Digitale Wirtschaft (BVDW), a German digital economy association, published the market landscape. Jean-Paul Daniel from Lucky Shareman chairs the Content Creation & Influencer Marketing initiative. Philipp Hagl from InfluenceME and Claudia Schmidt from BVDW led project development.

What: BVDW released the first comprehensive Market Landscape for Germany's influencer marketing and content creation ecosystem. The document categorizes the market into five segments: agencies with talent portfolios, agencies without portfolios, management companies, platforms, and technology providers. The publication includes company listings and category definitions intended to establish common industry understanding.

When: The association published the landscape on November 13, 2025. BVDW plans regular updates to reflect ongoing market changes and ecosystem evolution.

Where: The landscape covers Germany's influencer marketing and content creation market, though participants include companies serving broader European and international markets. The initiative emerged from BVDW's Berlin headquarters at Obentrautstraße 55.

Why: The landscape addresses fragmentation and complexity within rapidly growing creator economy markets. BVDW seeks to improve transparency, establish standardized definitions, support professionalization, and provide orientation for advertisers, agencies, influencers, and content creators navigating the ecosystem. The document responds to increasing strategic relevance of creators and proliferation of business models extending beyond traditional management or consulting services.