Brands that cheap out on social media marketing risk losing out on sales.
About a quarter of revenue on US retail sites during the holiday season was driven by either clicks from social media posts or affiliate marketing links via influencers, publishers, or other partners, according to an Adobe analysis of online consumer transactions. Despite its growth, influencer marketing remains behind more mature categories, such as search and digital video, in annual US ad spend.
Affiliates and partners, a marketing category where brands pay influencers, publishers, and other promoters a commission for linking to products, contributed around 20% of roughly $258 billion in revenue on US retail sites during the holiday season. That mode of marketing grew by around 16% as a share of revenue during the 2025 holiday period compared to the same period a year ago.
Excluding influencer posts, social media marketing in November and December grew about 40% from the previous year, a “standout” in Adobe’s report. The category drove around 5% of the US retail-site revenue. To reach its tally, Adobe counted user clicks from non-affiliate social posts that led to a purchase on a retailer’s site.
Adobe’s analysis centered on US retail-site sales and didn’t include purchases happening directly on social apps like TikTok Shop, which told Business Insider it helped merchants pull in over $500 million in US sales during the 4-day window between Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
TikTok Shop was one of the fastest growing brands in the US in 2025, according to a Morning Consult report on consumer purchase consideration. Household-name brands like Ralph Lauren and Samsung joined the platform in the US last year as the app has gained steam.
Now, more than ever, US consumers are turning to social apps to decide what to buy. They’re following the shopping habits of their peers in other regions like Asia, where influencers can steer followers to spend millions of dollars in a single livestream. Some view creators as the most authentic and trustworthy shopping guides.
Social commerce was slow to take off in the US, where scaled players like Amazon and Walmart dictate shopping habits. But the format is picking up in the US as TikTok Shop, Whatnot, and other platforms train shoppers to buy stuff in social feeds.
The takeaway for CMOs or e-commerce executives planning for 2026 is simple: Get your social media game plan as buttoned up as your search and email marketing strategies, or you could miss out.
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