Uncovering Facebook's hidden influencer marketing potential

Consumers are still showing up on Facebook, but its reputation as a modest space for connecting with friends and family has limited the platform’s role in influencer marketing.

  • US consumers will spend just as much time on Facebook as they will on Instagram daily this year, EMARKETER forecasts.
  • US marketers spent $3.43 billion on Instagram influencer marketing last year and only $1.27 billion on Facebook influencer marketing, according to a February EMARKETER forecast.

As Meta focuses on attracting more creators to the platform, and the average age of a creator increases, experts argue that the attributes that once ruled Facebook out of the influencer marketing conversation might actually work in its favor.

“The creator who looks like your customer’s neighbor performs better there than the aspirational lifestyle creator who cycles through countless brands on Instagram,” said Donatas Smailys, CEO and co-founder at Bilio.

Facebook catches up

While Facebook trails behind Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok in influencer spend, it is not completely left out of influencer strategies. Some 60.5% of US marketers investing in influencer marketing will use Facebook in 2026, EMARKETER forecasts.

Even still, Facebook seems to be acknowledging that successful creators on other platforms might not have a reason to consider the platform.

Facebook is targeting creators with a new Creator Fast Track program, offering three months of guaranteed payouts for eligible creators who post short-form videos on the platform. Meta is then promising creators increased content reach after the three-month period.

  • Creators with at least 100,000 followers on Instagram, YouTube, or TikTok can earn $1,000 monthly to post on Facebook, and creators with over 1 million followers can earn $3,000 monthly.

“Facebook’s creator infrastructure has historically been underdeveloped,” said Smailys. “Creator Fast Track is Meta essentially admitting that and solving it.”

The neighborhood platform’s purchasing power

Some 85% of consumers across generations have profiles on Facebook, the most of any network, and another 39% plan to spend more time on the platform in 2026, according to an October 2025 Sprout Social survey. It is also the top platform for product discovery, with 40% of social users using it to find products.

“The buyer mentality is different. When people are buying on Facebook, they’re looking for deals and discounts, and trying to save money for the family,” said Joy Tang, CEO of Markable. “People on Instagram are mostly looking for things that are eye-catching and exciting.”

Despite being relatively overlooked, the environment is still well positioned for influencer marketing. The branded content Facebook users are most likely to interact with on the platform is short-form video (48%), per Sprout Social.

While TikTok and Instagram lead in distribution and virality, Facebook is much more relationship and community-driven, said Smailys.

“Creator content on Facebook works best when it’s built for conversation, not just consumption and doomscrolling,” he said. “Longer captions, opinion-driven posts, content that people share with ‘this is so true,’... that’s the Facebook mechanic.”

The creator economy ages up

Baby boomers keep up with the rest of the population’s digital habits only when it comes to Facebook. Facebook users between 55 and 64 will spend 45 minutes per day on the platform in 2026, more than any other age group, EMARKETER forecasts.

“Brands are actively selecting older creators at growing rates, and those creators disproportionately create for Meta,” said Smailys.

Facebook’s investment in influencer marketing comes at a time when the older creator marketing is growing.

  • The share of creators 45+ who actually get booked on the Billio platform more than tripled between 2022 and 2025, growing from 4.4% to 14.4%, according to platform data cited by Smailys.

“On Instagram and TikTok, there’s a persistent mismatch,” he said. “Creators skew young, but buyers in categories like health, home, financial services, and wellness skew older. Facebook could become the platform where the creator actually looks and sounds like the customer.”

This was originally featured in the EMARKETER Daily newsletter. For more marketing insights, statistics, and trends, subscribe here.

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