Feedfeed Influencer Industry Update 10/17/2025
By Olivia Bradish & Claudia Romero
These past few weeks in influencer news, brands and platforms continue to lean into social-first, creator-driven strategies to connect with audiences in authentic and engaging ways. Target is embracing influencer-led storytelling for its Woolrich collaboration, while Gap Inc. is tapping micro-influencers through a new affiliate and advocacy program across its portfolio. At the same time, AI is poised to reshape the influencer marketing landscape, with marketers exploring automation, creators adopting AI-driven tools, and consumers remaining cautious about undisclosed AI content. On the platform side, TikTok is boosting subscription revenue for U.S. creators, Instagram is testing opening directly to Reels, and Facebook is adding new Reels features to increase engagement. Meanwhile, brands like Motto by Hilton and Sephora are using social-first campaigns and creator-powered affiliate programs to engage Gen Z and millennial audiences in immersive, interactive ways.
INFLUENCER MARKETING IN THE NEWS
- Why Target is embracing social-first marketing for its Woolrich collab: Target is promoting its new Woolrich collaboration with a social-first campaign that swaps studio shots for authentic, influencer-led storytelling featuring creator Lauren Wolfe and musician David Kushner, marking the retailer’s first design partnership fully integrated across social and traditional media. Read more
- Gap Inc. recruits micro-influencers for new affiliate program: Gap Inc. is launching a new creator affiliate and advocacy program across Old Navy, Gap, Banana Republic, and Athleta that taps into micro-influencers to drive authentic, community-based engagement. Read more
- In graphic detail: How AI is going to shape influencer marketing next year: A new Digiday roundup reveals that while many marketers support automating influencer marketing with AI, most still aren’t ready to embrace virtual influencers–meanwhile, creators expect AI-driven tools and marketplaces to reshape the industry, and consumers remain wary of undisclosed or overly AI-generated content. Read more
- TikTok Ups Subscription Revenue Share for US Creators: TikTok is boosting creator earnings in the U.S. and Canada, offering up to 90% of subscription revenue to eligible creators starting October 1, 2025, as part of new incentives to strengthen creator loyalty. Read more
- Instagram Tests Opening To Reels as the Main Feed: Instagram is testing a new layout that opens the app directly to the Reels feed, reflecting its growing focus on video content as Reels now account for half of all time spent on the platform. Read more
- Motto by Hilton gives travelers ‘main character energy’ in social series: Motto by Hilton launched a social-first video series called “Guest Quests,” inspired by choose-your-own-adventure games, featuring influencers like Hannah Berner and Connor Wood to engage Gen Z and millennial travelers and spotlight the brand’s modern, city-centered hotels. Read more
- Sephora cozies up to beauty creators with new affiliate program: Sephora is launching a creator-powered affiliate platform that lets influencers build shoppable digital storefronts integrated with Sephora’s website and app, enabling curated product recommendations, social sharing, and year-round commission opportunities. Read more
- Facebook Adds Topic Search Recommendations and Friend Likes To Reels: Facebook is rolling out new Reels updates—including friend activity indicators, TikTok-style topic search links, and algorithm improvements to surface newer content faster—to boost engagement and keep users spending more time on the platform. Read more
RECENT VIRAL FOOD & BEVERAGE POSTS
- Pumpkin & Fall Desserts: Pumpkin Cheesecake Brownies, Caramel Apple Cheesecake, Magic Shell Pumpkin Yogurt Bites, Invisible Apple Cake, S'mores Dip, Cinnamon Rolls
- Soup Season: Fall Tortellini Soup, Butternut Squash Soup, One-Pot Lasagna Soup, Italian Sausage Ditalini Soup
- Creamy Pasta Dishes: Creamy Tomato Pasta, Fettuccine Alfredo, Pesto Chicken Pasta, One-Pan Creamy Cajun Pasta
- Chocolate & Cookie Creations: Reese’s Egg Cookie Pie, NYC-Style Thick Chocolate Chip Cookies, Chocolate Chip Banana Bread, Churros with Homemade Chocolate Sauce
- Halloween Treats: Mini Ghost Cupcakes, Coraline Button Cookies, Footloaf (Halloween Meatloaf)
FEEDFEED INFLUENCER BRAND PARTNERSHIPS
Here are some of our favorite recent branded influencer campaigns The Feedfeed team has managed.
ABOUT FEEDFEED
Feedfeed is your daily source of inspiration for what to cook, bake, eat, and drink, reaching 55M food lovers each month. We are one of the world’s largest social media food & lifestyle publications fueled by a worldwide community of home cooks, foodies, and food industry pros, that tag their social media posts with #feedfeed. Each month, 50K+ posts per month are shared on our hashtag, serving as a real-time peak into culinary trends around the world. Our Team uses the hashtag to discover new food trends, emerging content creators, influencers, and the best content to feature on our channels. #feedfeed has helped us build lasting relationships and connect all the participants of the food world in a meaningful way. Influencer Marketing
Feedfeed creates start-to-finish custom influencer campaigns that align our brand partners with influencers that create trending content served up to highly engaged audiences. Feedfeed handles influencer sourcing/vetting, conceptualizing, contracting, creative direction, and reporting for branded content campaigns, Influencer trips, events, seeding, and shopper marketing campaigns. Original Content & Distribution
Feedfeed’s original content studio has been a pioneer and leader in social native organic and branded content for 10 years, continuing to spearhead new content trends, formats, and emerging platforms. We leverage in-house content creators and one of the largest networks of food & lifestyle creators, as well as a wide distribution network across all relevant social and digital channels.
Experiential
Feedfeed conceptualizes and executes engaging IRL (in person) and virtual experiences (zoom and metaverse), including dinner parties, cocktail hours, workshops, panel talks and conference activations.
WANT TO WORK WITH US?
Reach out to partnerships@thefeedfeed.com