Creator marketing platform CreatorIQ uses its AI-powered discovery tools and automated content and data collection platform to help companies like CVS, Wella Company, and Unilever navigate the $33 billion global influencer market.
Previously, CreatorIQ estimated that influencer marketing leaders, or brands heavily invested in their influencer strategies, saw 27% year-over-year (YoY) increase in engagement, 28% improvement in customer retention rates, 41% improvement in impressions, and 29% increase in conversion rates.
Now the company has released its inaugural Top 100: Brands of the Year report measuring conversation, impact, and loyalty generated through creator marketing in 2024, sourced from TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest, Facebook, and X to determine the brands that came out on top in the last 12 months.
"Marketing is undergoing a significant shift, with creator partnerships emerging as a central component of effective strategies and potentially delivering greater impact than traditional advertising," stated Brit Starr, Chief Marketing Officer of CreatorIQ. "The data shows that no matter the size, industry, or maturity of a brand, investing in long-term creator relationships drives deeper engagement, cultural relevance, and real impact. The brands that fully embrace creators as part of their business strategy will lead the next era of influence."
The report analyzed thousands of brands across 13 industries and 16 markets, using metrics like engagement growth, earned media value (EMV), and impression growth. Earned media value is calculated based on engagement with branded posts. The data captured contains both organic and sponsored mentions, recognizing brand mentions through natural language processing. Only brands with at least $10M EMV in 2024 were considered for inclusion.
Brand with highest total EMV
Whether it’s podcasts, exclusive show-inspired beauty range collaborations, or Fashion Nova’s own beauty brand launch, NovaBeauty, in May 2024, all of these platforms have a beauty component. Spotify also nabbed the first spot for YouTube EMV YoY with a growth of 39% and $3.9B value.
Netflix and Fashion Nova also ranked as the most dominant brands on Instagram (36% Instagram EMV YoY and $2.1B for the streaming service), (13% Instagram EMV YoY and $2.1B for the retailer). Netflix also ranked third for YouTube EMV with 34% YoY and a total value of $300.7M.
One beauty company even made the list: Maybelline with $1.1B EMV, a growth of 47% YoY. This follows the brand making moves in the metaverse with the introduction of an avatar ambassador called May as part of the Falsies Surreal Extensions Mascara campaign and the Makeup Your Mix campaign on Roblox, which allows users to create makeup looks with its products.
Beauty brands with the largest EMV growth YoY
Korean skincare and makeup brand TIRTIR, known for its TikTok viral Cushion Foundation, which has also found success on Amazon, topped the lists for greatest YoY engagement (+2,477%) and impression (+2,059%) growth as the second wave of K-beauty continues to build. All-natural soap brand Dr. Squatch, with a potential valuation of $2 billion and 12-month EBITDA of approximately $90 million, channeled the power of nostalgia-filled campaigns and capitalized on the success of Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones with collaborations. Dr. Squatch also had the second-highest YoY engagement growth (+2,132%) and third-highest YoY impression growth (+1,101%), in part driven by its Don’t Tell Comedy partnership, which drove $34.6M EMV from over 1K mentions.
Polite Society Beauty’s playful branding including “Clean Beauty Doesn’t Have to Be Boring” campaigns and product names like “Go Flush Yourself,” limited-edition makeup collection with influencer Ashley LaMarca, and pop-ups at Ulta Beauty helped build buzz. The brand also placed 8th in YoY impression growth (220.8M, +685%).
Gisou’s 339% increase in creator growth helped broaden its horizons. Doe Lashes, known for its Korean silk fiber lashes, integrates machine learning into its online consultation experiences, which founder Jason Wong states helps the brand collect three times more emails and increases email marketing revenue “drastically.” Doe Lashes also came in 6th in YoY engagement growth (24.1M, +716%).
Rhode Skin’s viral lip tint phone cases (and limited-edition flavor releases) helped build momentum online. SACHEU Beauty, the brand launched by influencer Sarah Cheung and Third Act Ventures, known for its viral peel-off lip liner, has been continuing its successful streak following a 500% jump in sales figures in the wake of its Ulta rollout. The buzz created through UGC has also made it one of the top-three-selling lipliners on Amazon. Another K-beauty brand, Anua, is being discovered by many for its TikTok viral Heartleaf Pore Control Cleansing Oil, which ranked 14th on Amazon’s Q3 2024 bestsellers list. Launching on Ulta.com in December 2024, the brand expanded to 1,400 stores in February 2025, sure to expand its reach even further.
Greatest YoY Engagement Growth
Aside from the aforementioned brands, there were two other beauty entrants on this list:
Tan-Luxe saw boosted engagement following its tanning mist collaboration with Paris Hilton. VT Cosmetics also ranked 6th in total impression growth with an increase of 757 to 448.7M impressions, with the Korean brand outpacing Lynx with 304.6M and a growth in total impressions of 690%.
Most Dominant Brands on TikTok
In no section of the report did beauty dominate the rankings quite as strongly as in the TikTok category. Shein’s beauty offspring, SHEGLAM, was anticipated to reach $5 million in sales on Amazon alone in 2024, Market Defense reported to WWD, and is betting heavily on the UAE market for its growth. NYX Professional Makeup’s Cardi B-backed commercials during the 2024 Super Bowl and NYXTape campaign featuring five bespoke tracks from independent female artists, helped a new audience engage with the brand.
L’Oréal Paris launched a Worth It Resume campaign in April 2024, celebrating the role struggles and setbacks in achieving success, exemplified by celebrity ambassadors like Eva Longoria and Jane Fonda. Charlotte Tilbury, which recently expanded its strategic partnership with Puig, engaged in cross-category collaborations like celebrating female F1 drivers. Huda Beauty, which also ranked as Best on Social Media in Cosmetify’s Annual Index 2024, featured its newly rejoined CEO and brand founder front and center in its This Is Not A Filter campaign to highlight its Easy Blur collection but also challenge the use of filters on social media. MAC enlisted celebrity endorsements through Martha Stewart and Julia Fox for its nude lipstick and I Only Wear MAC campaign, as well as the #MACChallenge campaign, which encouraged influencers of macro and micro levels to create looks using their products.
Greatest YoY Creator Count Growth
Brand Name Retention Rate
The retention rate list was dominated by the sports category, with seven out of the ten listed brands being sports teams. Given the increasing number of sports and beauty brand partnerships, it only speaks to the potential of the market for cosmetics brands. As standalone entities, celebrity MUA-led color cosmetics brand Scott Barnes and Brazilian haircare and keratin-repair-focused brand Novex, kept users returning, whether by star power and approachable product application tips or salon-level results in an at-home format.
Top Brands Launched in 2024 (by EMV)
Celebrity beauty brands continued to lead the way in 2024, whether it was Rihanna’s Fenty Hair, Beyoncé’sCécred, Serena Williams’ WYN BEAUTY, or Blake Lively’s Blake Brown Beauty. In seven months of launch, Fenty Hair ranked 19 among global haircare brands while generating 1.1B impressions and 89.8M engagements, and $73.2M EMV, outpacingCécred’s launch five months prior. Organic creator count growth including micro-influencers and high-impact partnerships—whether it was Rihanna stepping out with her natural hair to promote the brand or onboarding rapper GloRilla as the first partner across all Fenty brands—helped build this growth.
The Rootist (part of BeautyMatter’s FUTURE50 cohort) is a haircare and wellness brand grounded in a proprietary biological ferment to address scalp, root, and hair health that also aims to reduce overconsumption with waterless formulas. The brand launched in Sephora and has anticipated $20 million in retail sales in its first year of trading. By mixing a holistic approach, science-backed formulations, and a sustainability-focused mindset, the brand has clearly captured a key audience since its debut.
Key Takeaways
