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B2B influencer marketing is growing up.
The narrative has been that B2B companies lag far behind consumer brands when it comes to influencer marketing. Now, it seems like everyone from software companies to AI startups are turning to creators to help shape the narrative about their products and influence business buying decisions.
Their creator strategies are also evolving: B2B companies aren’t just looking for thought leaders or practitioners with technical expertise—and they’re not only focused on LinkedIn. This is especially true for companies that cater both to a business and consumer audience.
Take Microsoft. Earlier this week, Alix Earle posted a vlog of her visit to the company’s Seattle headquarters on Instagram and TikTok. Earle, who has been working with Microsoft to promote its AI tools, filmed herself changing outfits in the airport bathroom, meeting the social team in tree houses on its campus and checking out Microsoft’s 3D printing lab. That’s not the style of video—or creator partnership—you might expect from a legacy tech company.
These companies are also pouring more money into influencer marketing. Microsoft and Google have paid creators between $400,000 and $600,000 for partnerships that span several months, according to CNBC. Meanwhile, 75% of B2B companies expect to increase their investments in influencer relations in 2026, per data from research firm Forrester.
Then there’s Natalie Marshall, who is better known as Corporate Natalie. Marshall saw her workplace comedy videos blow up on TikTok during the pandemic. Since then, she’s also amassed a following of more than 300,000 on LinkedIn, where she recently joined the Top Voices 360 program to create exclusive shows for the platform. Still, she says her “bread and butter” is Instagram, where she has 1.4 million followers.
“The marrying of Instagram and LinkedIn is very powerful, instead of just a pure LinkedIn collaboration,” Marshall told us on today’s episode of Scalable. “You need to hit them across channels, across platforms,” she added, referring to B2B creator campaigns.
That’s because B2B buyers are people, too. And many of them are young: In 2024, 71% of B2B buyers in the US were Gen Z or millennials, according to another Forrester report. They’re the same consumers who are scrolling Instagram or TikTok after work or during their lunch breaks.
Still, not all B2B brands are as advanced with their influencer marketing strategies. Marshall said campaign briefs still tend to be “very stale” and often have multiple calls to action, making content feel clunky, too salesy or just boring.
“I’ve seen briefs with five calls to action. I'm trying to do this in 30 seconds. I don't even have the time to say all of those words—let alone make it funny,” she said.
Part of the challenge is that many of these companies sell expensive products, such as software subscriptions, that businesses spend months researching and only purchase occasionally. Many of these products are also highly technical, so brands may try to cram too much information into one campaign or prioritize technical expertise over entertainment.
There also aren’t as many B2B-focused agencies to help those brands think outside of the box. For example, LinkedIn only works with a handful of official partners for influencer marketing, including Creator Authority and Whalar Group.
That’s one reason why Marshall launched her own B2B agency, called Expand Co-Lab, earlier this year.
Her pitch for why it’s different from other influencer ad agencies: She brings creators into the process earlier to discuss campaigns with brands—and with each other, including by setting up group chats with creators to brainstorm ideas. Creators also appear in branded videos together, helping boost engagement. That includes collab posts on Instagram, which Marshall says have driven more engagement on her channel compared to her organic posts alone over the past 28 days.
Expand Co-Lab currently works with a group of about 50 creators with Instagram and LinkedIn followings. “Our core model is collaboration,” she said. “We believe that leads to better content.”
Marshall argues that not every piece of content for B2B brands needs to be highly technical. Brands can mix it up by pairing a comedy creator like her with a developer through formats like Q&As or demos.
“It’s a balance. Sometimes if you go too technical, it’s the wrong strategy,” she said.
In this week’s episode, we also spoke to Marshall about why she thinks AI startups are the biggest opportunity for B2B creators, her red flags when working with brands and why her bachelorette content went so viral. Plus, we have more details about Kaya’s interview with Piers Morgan in London last week.
You can tune into the full episode on Spotify, across podcast platforms or watch below.
The Round Up
Meta Platforms is rolling out subscription plans globally for Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp. Users who subscribe for $3 or $4 per month will have access to bonus features, such as ways to customize their profiles. The company is also testing new subscriptions for businesses, creators and Meta AI.
Meta may be looking to offset some of its AI costs, which it estimated could reach up to $145 billion this year. But subscription plans have not been highly lucrative for most social platforms besides Snapchat.
Amazon MGM Studios announced a GenAI Creators’ Fund, which offers funding and access to AI production tools for filmmakers, digital creators and tech startups to create TV shows and movies. The studio, which wouldn’t share how much fund recipients will receive, will decide which proposed projects move forward.
YouTube is trying to make it clearer when a video uses AI. Previously, an AI label was included in video descriptions, but now on mobile it will appear as an overlay on the video. On desktop, a label will show up above the description of the video and below where you play the video.
YouTube also added more podcasting features for Premium users, including an AI tool that recommends podcasts to listen to.
Spotify announced a podcast clips feature that allows viewers to clip a particular part of a show to share with friends or their followers on social media.
Reddit users can now reply to comment threads with videos.
Donut’s Next Gear
Donut Media, the automotive media company, announced a deal with Tubi to bring the new season of its YouTube series “HiLow” to the free, ad-supported streaming service.
“HighLow” follows the Donut team as they build two identical cars, one with cheap parts and the other with expensive ones. The series has generated more than 200 million views on YouTube.
It’s the latest move by Donut to push onto connected TVs. In November, the company also launched its own FAST channel on Samsung TV Plus.
The shift makes sense: The majority of Donut’s watch time on YouTube now happens on smart TVs, Max Maddox, the company’s head of creative, told us on a previous episode of Scalable.
There may be even bigger screens ahead. “We are going to be having some videos premiere in theaters in front of a live audience in the coming year,” Maddox said. Watch the full interview below.
Deals, Deals, Deals
Spotify and Netflix are partnering to bring Jay Shetty’s podcast “On Purpose” to both services, in an unusual deal that takes direct aim at rival YouTube. Video episodes will be available starting July 13 on both services and will no longer be offered on YouTube. The agreement is worth as much as $100 million over multiple years, according to Bloomberg.
Goldenset, a company that raised $10 million to make equity investments in creators, was acquired by Cantina Labs, the AI social platform founded by Sean Parker, co-founder of Napster and former president of Facebook.
Terms of the deal were not announced, but Goldenset’s co-founders joined Cantina as part of the deal: Darren Lachtman is the chief partnership officer, while Nick Millman is vice president. Separately, Katherine Rundell, Beehiiv’s former VP of creators, also joined Cantina recently in a partnerships role.
Mk2 Alt, a Paris-based film sales, production and distribution company, acquired the European rights of Creator Camp’s “‘Two Sleepy People.” The romantic comedy, whose main stars are digital creators, managed to get into movie theaters without the backing of a studio or massive marketing budget. Instead, the team got creative with its strategy, as we detailed in this piece and explored further on our podcast.
Creator Moves
Spy Ninjas Entertainment, a creator-led media company, announced its investing $25 million into its business to grow its YouTube presence, increase production and hire 50 employees this year. The company also hired former Jubilee Media executive Shelly Soriano to be president of its content arm.
UTA signed Steven Rinella, an outdoors creator, as well as his media company MeatEater, which includes podcasts, FAST channels and live events. MeatEater had a hunting show on Netflix that ran for six seasons beginning in 2012.
Julian Shapiro-Barnum, Michelle Khare and Sean Evans are among the creators vying for Primetime Emmy awards this year, according to a YouTube blog post. Some of these creators, including Shapiro-Barnum, are also now developing exclusive shows for YouTube.
Wesley Wang, a film creator, launched a production company called Wesley Wang Media, which plans to create and sell viral social media shows to streaming companies.
Bedford, a new educational platform for the creator economy, launched Wednesday. Its advisory board includes creators and industry experts such as Samir Chaudry, Adam Grant and Jordan Matter. The company offers a 6-week intensive course designed for individuals and companies interested in developing content creation skills and strategy. Annual tuition costs $3,750.
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to clarify that UTA also signed Rinella’s company MeatEater.
A Message from Cannes Lions
Join us at LIONS Creators to help Dhar Mann build a narrative live - deciding whether OnePay’s Jessica Williams or Gap’s Fabiola Tores will walk away with a $200,000 brand integration on Dhar Mann Studios main channel. Be part of it.
LIONS Creators | 22-26 June 2026 | Cannes, France
Media Moments
GammaTime, a microdrama platform, announced a new gossip series with tabloid newspaper National Enquirer. The show, which features 60 to 90 second reports on recent pop culture stories, will drop as part of 15 to 20 minute episodes. The “National Enquirer Uncovered” show is hosted by E! News reporter Justin Sylvester.
Paris Hilton’s 11:11 Media partnered with former CNN tech reporter Laurie Segall to release a vertical docuseries called “Searching for Mr. Deepfakes” which debuted on Hilton’s TikTok account. Hilton has been advocating against non-consensual explicit deepfakes.
Talent Tracker
Colin Fleming is the new CMO of OpenAI’s business unit. The AI giant split marketing duties into two different roles after Kate Rouch stepped down last month following a cancer diagnosis. Fleming is the former CMO of ServiceNow.
Jessica Williams joined fintech firm OnePay as CMO. Most recently, she was head of brand and partnerships at Shopify.
Tara Wadhwa joined Discord as senior director of safety policy. Before that, she spent more than seven years at TikTok, most recently as head of regional product policy.
Sam Mulinder joined OpenAI to help build its ads business and marketing science division. Previously, he spent nearly a decade at Snap, most recently as head of marketing science for North America and the mid-market.
