Why Meta thinks AI is making creators more valuable, not less
Meta says creator marketing is shifting from engagement to measurable business results as AI reshapes digital trust.
Meta believes creator marketing has entered a new phase, arguing that as AI transforms how consumers discover information online, trusted creators are becoming even more valuable, particularly when their impact can be measured like any other media channel.
Speaking after discussions at this year's Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, Helen Black, Head of Connection Planning at Meta ANZ, said the conversation has shifted from whether creator marketing works to how brands can make it more accountable, scalable and commercially effective.
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Measurement moves creator marketing into the boardroom
Black said one of the biggest barriers to creator marketing has traditionally been proving its commercial value, particularly when campaigns relied solely on organic content.
She said Partnership Ads have changed that by allowing marketers to apply the same measurement frameworks used across other paid media channels, making creator campaigns easier to evaluate and justify internally.
“I think, historically, the measurement side of it has been the biggest challenge, particularly with organic creative content that hasn't been able to apply the same rigour to performance.”
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According to Black, that shift is changing conversations well beyond the marketing department, giving brands clearer evidence of return on investment when reporting to senior executives and finance teams.
“You can apply the same measurement frameworks to prove business results. And as soon as you can do that, the conversation with the CFO really changes."
Trust still matters in the AI era
While AI dominated many conversations at Cannes Lions, Black said the relationship between creators and audiences remains a significant advantage for marketers.
She said most advertisers already recognise how dramatically content consumption has changed and are working with creators in some capacity. The next step is integrating creator content into broader media strategies rather than treating it as a separate channel.
"I think they understand that, but I think the point of scaling and really leaning in and saying they're not two separate things, when I bring them together, when I add that creative content on top of the other, my brand-led assets or on top of my other media, that's where they get that multiplier effect.
"The power combined, I think that is the opportunity."
Black added that paid amplification extends a creator's content well beyond their existing audience.
“It means that if you amplify your creator content through paid, you can be reaching all these people and all these audiences. So it's incremental to what a brand's existing activity would be delivering.”
AI investment supports advertising growth
Meta’s creator push comes as its advertising business continues to grow alongside its investment in AI. The company reported second-quarter revenue of US$60.8 billion, up 28 per cent year-on-year.
Family of Apps advertising revenue reached US$59.4 billion, an increase of 27 per cent. Ad impressions across Meta’s services rose 14 per cent, while the average price per ad increased 12 per cent.
Will Easton, Managing Director of Meta ANZ, said the quarter showed how the company’s AI investment was influencing its products and advertising tools.
“It's been a landmark quarter for AI innovation at Meta. We shipped Muse Spark 1.1, which made Meta AI significantly smarter across our Family of Apps, launched Meta Glasses, and introduced the Meta AI business agent to help advertisers automate and optimise their campaigns,” Easton said.
“These products show that our investments in AI are having an impact across our business and will improve the capabilities of our AI, and I believe this will lead to new offerings from Meta to service enterprise customers and advertisers of all sizes.”
Meta also reported 3.6 billion daily active people across its family of apps, up 3 per cent year-on-year. Other Family of Apps revenue rose 73 per cent to US$1 billion, driven mainly by WhatsApp paid messaging and subscription revenue.
Marketing silos remain a barrier
While measurement is improving, Black said organisational structure remains one of the biggest obstacles preventing brands from unlocking the full value of creator marketing.
She said many marketing teams still separate organic content and paid media into distinct functions, with creator content developed by one team and media buying handled by another. According to Black, that disconnect means campaigns often fail to reach their full commercial potential.
"I think the biggest challenge right now is a structural one inside marketing teams, and that challange tends to be that paid and organic still sit in separate silos.
"So creative content is being briefed by one team, paid media gets bought by another. And when those two aren't connected, it is just missing a huge opportunity for that creative content to work as hard as it could. So the brands that have moved through that and bridged that internal silo are the ones seeing the biggest returns."
Black said Partnership Ads are helping close that gap by making creator content accountable in the same way as other paid media activity, giving marketers clearer evidence of commercial impact.
"Now that creative content through paid partnership ads can be really accountable. We can see that demonstrable business.
"It is a word now. We can see those business results."
Case studies show commercial uplift
Both Black and Meta highlighted Australian and New Zealand campaigns from My Fiji and Dove as examples of the commercial impact Partnership Ads can deliver.
Travel brand My Fiji reported a 37.8-point lift in ad recall, a 24.1-point increase in brand awareness and a 20.7-point lift in purchase intent after amplifying creator content through Partnership Ads. The campaign also generated a reported 3.8-times increase in sales.
Meanwhile, Dove shifted creator content from earned media to paid media across Australia and New Zealand, delivering 44% higher ad recall, 208% higher brand awareness than business-as-usual campaigns, and purchase intent three times the consumer packaged goods category average.
Meta said the figures are drawn from self-reported case studies conducted in March 2026.
New resource hub for marketers
To help marketers expand creator activity, Meta launched the ANZ Instagram Hub, a resource centre featuring guidance, best practice and examples of businesses using Partnership Ads.
For Black, the opportunity isn't simply working with more creators, but making creator content a fully integrated part of a brand's media strategy.
“The point of scaling and really leaning in and saying they're not two separate things, when I bring them together, when I add that creative content on top of the other, my brand-led assets or on top of my other media, that's where they get that multiplier effect.
“The power combined, I think that is the opportunity.”
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