Are you still wondering which basket to put your marketing eggs into this year? Consider that the latest influencer marketing trends below represent a massive market size, to the tune of an estimated $32.55 billion for 2025. In short, influencers have a lot of clout among consumers. Savvy NYC event planners would be wise to invest in these influencer marketing trends for 2025.
1. 2025’s Wildest Influencer Marketing Trend: AI Influencers
AI anxiety is real. According to one study, 75% of those surveyed feel uneasy about the rise of the machines. Perhaps that’s why it’s so surprising that AI influencers are amassing enormous followers — and earnings — in 2025. Is your brain still puzzling this out? Let us break it down.
An AI influencer is exactly what it sounds like, an AI-generated “person” that creates content that appears eerily human-like. Tech gurus fully flesh out their AI creations, complete with history, interests, and personality. The result is an uncanny and realistic character that fans flock to and commiserate with.
It’s easy to imagine how AI influencers can collaborate with retail brands. Their tech creators can easily dress them in a chic pair of Calvin Kleins. However, AI influencers have been crashing real-life events to great success, too.
Imma, an AI influencer with 407,000 Instagram followers, attended Apple’s WWDC event. Lil Miquela is an AI influencer that earned $10 million in 2023. Lil Miquela celebrated Super Bowl 2024 in Las Vegas, though she lamented that many Vegas clubs don’t allow 19-year-old robots and voiced her frustrations in a curious and comical post.
AI influencers can give your NYC event that same kind of innovative and offbeat vibe if your influencer marketing budget is big enough. AI influencers are effective but have a larger upfront price tag.
2. AI’s Tamer Role in Influencer Marketing for Events
Let’s set the Frankenstein allusions aside and talk about AI’s more conventional role in influencer marketing. AI tools for the management and analysis of influencer marketing are getting better by the minute. According to Influencer Marketing Hub, integrating AI in the management of your influencer campaign can increase its effectiveness by 66.4%. Let’s see how.
- Use AI to effortlessly analyze thousands of influencers for the perfect brand match.
- Protect yourself from dishonest influencers by using AI to spot fake followers and other false engagement metrics.
- Tweak your campaign in real time using AI-driven predictive analytics.
- Hit the bullseye when you use AI to analyze and segment your target audience.
- Set and forget it by using AI’s ability to automate tasks.
3. Full-Funnel Influencer Marketing for Events
Influencer campaigns used to focus on building awareness about NYC events. In 2025, influencer marketing strategies will be used at each stage of the marketing funnel. From the top, middle, and bottom, your influencer marketing campaign can guide your audience until they click “checkout.”
- Influencer marketing at the top of the funnel still focuses on audience growth and social media mentions.
- In the middle of the funnel, your influencers expand their audience’s engagement with content that dives deeper into your event and addresses their pain points.
- Influencers become instrumental at the bottom of the funnel as they host live events and offer promo codes to boost ticket sales.
4. Growing Distinction Between Influencers vs Creators
Influencer marketing lingo in 2025 draws a distinction between influencers and creators, and NYC event planners will probably prefer creators to helm their campaigns. Influencers are increasingly referring to celebrities with millions of followers who are well-known apart from their social media brand, for instance, Kylie Jenner or Nicki Minaj. Huge brands will use celebrities to expand their brand’s reach and credibility.
Creators are lesser-known influencers who are considered experts in their niche. Though their following is a few hundred thousand at most, they’re much more effective at converting their audience. Rather than being star-struck, their followers have an interest in the creators’ content and will often make purchasing decisions based on the trusted creator’s recommendations.
The definitive separation of creators and celebrity influencers in 2025 is evidence of creators’ growing value when it comes to influencer-related marketing.
5. 2025 Trend: Rise of B2B Influencers
Influencers have been in the B2C realm since time immemorial, or at least since 1760 when the Queen endorsed a pottery maker. B2B influencer marketing, on the other hand, is a lesser-known strategy. But in 2025, B2B influencer marketing is finally getting the respect it deserves.
Use B2B influencer marketing for corporate events. Influencers within the B2B realm are experts within your event’s industry. Sponsors and speakers are ideal influencers who can use their audiences to boost ticket sales. You can look beyond your event to find even more B2B influencers to expand your event’s reach.
Learn the Latest Marketing Trends at The Event Planner Expo
Influencer marketing is a top strategy for getting the word out about your event and increasing ticket sales. Grab a chunk of that $32 billion pie when you use the latest influencer marketing trends above.
You can learn even more when you attend The Event Planner Expo. Take part in the industry’s leading trade show. Learn from the trendsetters themselves during dozens of presentations. And build your event planning firm when you connect with corporate decision-makers in the event planning space. Don’t miss out. Buy your ticket today.
