The future of influencer marketing – it’s time to consider the funnel differently

This post is sponsored by Spark It.

The Philippines fosters a growing and competitive influencer marketing market. The numbers to remember are staggering: 95.8 million user identities and an estimated $127.68 million influencer advertising spend in 2025.

Such growth speaks not of a formula that simply repeats the past, it is a clear indication we’re beyond the usual. It’s not just about reach, but relevance. The indicators of success are simply not just the number of eyeballs on a post. And AI is not threat, but a useful tool – if brands can get a handle on how to tailor it to their needs.

The rise of a new breed of creators proves that relevance is now just as important as reach – if not more so. Key opinion leaders (KOLs) are your news makers, but key opinion consumers (KOCs) and key opinion sellers (KOS), guarantee diversification when it comes to your audience, and nuance when it comes to forming your community.

When it comes to spreading the word about your product or service, the KOL-KOC-KOS provides a new framework. It’s no longer about quantifying creators according to follower count (mega, macro, mid-tier, and micro), but qualifying them in terms of their role within their sphere of influence.

Guided by your brand goals and specific campaign objectives, KOLs, KOCs, and KOS can provide a holistic approach to your messaging. As KOLs set the tone on an overall scale, KOCs bring the word about your brand to a peer-level conversation, while KOS can drive conversions that are precise and more concrete than the usual projections of traditional influencer marketing.

The shift in looking at different content creators or influencers feeds into creating a new definition of success. Virality is relatively easily understood across many industries, but impact is measured in proportion to the company’s goals. Thus, what works for one brand isn’t necessarily the standard the next brand should use.

Now, brands can dictate what success means for them before they release the campaign and send the posting briefs to their chosen creators. Instead of a flood of numbers and statistics, awareness is tracked through reach, VTR, and share of voice. Engagement through tier-benchmarked engagement rate, sentiment, and video completion. Conversion through CTR, promo code performance, and platform purchase data. Brand and business impact through EMV, campaign ROI, and brand lift. And that’s how the full funnel is redefined.

Such a specialised look into creators and metrics makes AI such a useful tool. AI’s ability to summarise the berth of information and scour the internet for even the most minuscule of digital footprints can help brands find the right creators for their projects.

When it comes to the AI approach to insight, Reddit plays into the overall narrative. As a platform that provides an anonymous way to share reviews, hacks, and opinions, Reddit continues to grow as a rich source for search results.

An AI-generated search usually provides answers that draw from indexed Reddit conversations – spaces that are beyond the control of a brand, truly organic, and spontaneous. Reddit incites a community that is a candid picture of the zeitgeist. It seems wise for brands to tap into what Reddit can deliver to a brand. Investing early allows brands to have a genuine community presence on Reddit that won’t just give you goodwill, but will help you get ahead every time someone projects a query to AI.

Of course, any talk of AI poses the question of whether it will replace real, human creators. The simple answer is no. In the Philippine market, the personal still outweighs the prompt.

The Filipino market continues to gravitate towards content rooted in cultural identity – from the unique verbal cues of Taglish (a mix of Tagalog and English) to the trust brands have built over the years. These elements have become even more important as audiences increasingly scrutinise whether content is AI-generated.

Spark It walks its talk as these findings and insights were shared by Shannen Uy-Orosa, chief operating officer of Spark It, during an episode of Next Monday, the podcast by the Digital Marketing Association of the Philippines. 

Broadening that conversation and to bridge the gap between what creators want from brands and what brands actually need from creators, Spark It has also produced an in-house webinar and content series called Beyond The Post.

Moderated by Spark It’s client services director, Marc Amoranto, the first instalment brought together Dani Barretto-Panlilio, content creator, podcast host, and CEO of Wellness Whispers; entrepreneur and content creator Jax Reyes; and Retty Contreras, senior marketing manager of SM Beauty and LOOK At Me, one of the Philippines’ leading beauty retailers.