인플루언서 마케팅, 2026년에도 효과 있을까 — 5,685건 데이터로 확인한 현실

Is Influencer Marketing Still Effective in 2026?

Naver search trends show a 42% drop in "influencer marketing" interest. Is it really over? Actual YouTube collaboration data tells a different story.

"Influencer marketing is dead" is a claim you hear frequently in the industry. Naver DataLab shows a 42% decline in search interest over the past 60 days, and questions like "Is influencer marketing effective?" keep appearing on Naver Knowledge iN.

But tracking YouTube collaborations on the Dhesy platform over the past 3 months paints a different picture. After removing package deal duplicates and counting only unique collaborations, there were 5,685 brand-creator partnerships. 2,241 brands and 1,761 creators participated. The market hasn't shrunk — the search frequency for the term "influencer marketing" has decreased, while execution has become routine.

Global market size supports this. According to Fortune Business Insights, the influencer marketing platform market is projected at $27.54 billion (approximately 40 trillion KRW) in 2026, with an annual growth rate of 15.9%.

Where the Money Flows — and Where It Doesn't

Which industries are most actively collaborating with YouTube creators? Here's the data from the past 3 months by sector.

Beauty leads with 1,014 collaborations. With 344 brands working with 474 creators, that's an average of 1.4 creators per brand. The creator pool is broad and pricing is relatively distributed, making it a low-barrier sector.

Food & Beverage stands out. While collaboration count is 730 (second place), the average views per video at 377,000 is the highest across all sectors. The data confirms that mukbang and cooking content pairs well with brand sponsorships.

Tech ranks at 474 collaborations with 254,000 average views, showing a good performance balance. Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics lead this sector with 42 and 38 creators respectively.

Mega vs Micro — Where Are Brands Betting?

Let's look at how collaborations are distributed by subscriber tier.

Nearly half (46.8%) of all collaborations occur in the 100K–500K subscriber range. 883 creators worked with 1,303 brands. The "mega for awareness, micro for conversion" dual-track strategy mentioned in BAT Crew's 2026 trend report is confirmed by the data.

That said, mega creators (1M+) average 631K views per video — over 4x the mid-tier — making them still effective for brand awareness campaigns. 585 brands collaborated with creators in this tier.

According to Shopify's micro-influencer analysis, 47% of marketers reported the best results from smaller creator partnerships, and Dhesy data points in the same direction.

Brands with the Most Creator Partnerships

Looking at individual brands, the strategic differences become clearer.

Speak employed a classic spread strategy, partnering with 63 creators for 1–2 videos each. For an English education app, broad exposure across diverse genres matters.

Ajeongdang took a hybrid approach — 62 creators but 141 videos. Some creators had package deals for repeated exposure. This strategy paid off with the highest average views at 424K among the top brands.

The Package Deal Variable

The gap between video count and actual collaboration count is explained by "package deals." When a creator uploads dozens of videos for the same brand within a month, these aren't individual sponsorships — they're long-term contracts with repeated exposure.

DB Insurance and Hanmunchul TV exemplify this. 267 videos featured the brand over 3 months — not individual sponsorships but program-level sponsorship. Financial brands favor these long-term packages because financial products require sustained trust-building through consistent channel exposure.

Samsung Asset Management follows a similar pattern, maintaining long-term partnerships with financial channels like Hankyung Global Market (115 videos) and Butiful (69 videos).

So, Is Influencer Marketing Worth It?

Three things are clear from the data.

First, the market hasn't shrunk. 2,241 brands collaborated with YouTube creators over 3 months, regardless of the keyword's declining search volume.

Second, mid-tier (100K–500K) is the core market. 46.8% of all collaborations happen in this range — the sweet spot between cost-efficiency and reach.

Third, strategies are polarizing. Spread strategies like Speak (63 creators, 1 video each), exclusive strategies like DB Insurance (1 creator, 267 videos), and hybrid approaches like Ajeongdang coexist.

"Is influencer marketing effective?" is no longer the right question. What matters is which creator tier, what contract structure, and which industry you're in.

Key Statistics

• 5,685 YouTube brand collaborations in 3 months (package duplicates removed)
• 2,241 brands and 1,761 creators participated
• 100K–500K subscriber creators account for 46.8% of collaborations
• Food & Beverage leads with 377K average views per collaboration
• Mega creators (1M+) average 631K views — 4.2x the mid-tier
• Global influencer marketing market: $27.54B, CAGR 15.9%
• Source: Dhesy platform analysis of 3,451 brands and 5,772 creators (Q1 2026)

FAQ

Q. Is the decline in "influencer marketing" searches a sign of market shrinkage?

A. Declining search volume and market shrinkage are different things. Dhesy data shows 2,241 brands actively ran YouTube collaborations in the past 3 months. As influencer marketing becomes a routine marketing tool rather than a novelty, the need to search for it naturally decreases.

Q. Does more subscribers always mean better results?

A. Creators with 1M+ subscribers average 631K views, but account for only 17.2% of collaborations. 46.8% of brands choose creators in the 100K–500K range, where the 151K average views still delivers strong ROI relative to cost.

Q. Why does Food & Beverage perform best on YouTube?

A. Mukbang and cooking content has low viewer dropout rates and naturally integrates brand exposure. F&B collaboration videos average 377K views, significantly outperforming Beauty (214K) and Tech (254K), with 390 brands actively operating in this sector.

Q. Package deals vs single collaborations — which is more effective?

A. It depends on the goal. DB Insurance strengthened brand association through a long-term package with Hanmunchul TV, while Speak secured broad reach with 63 different creators. Ajeongdang combined both strategies — 62 creators and 141 videos — achieving the highest average views at 424K.

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Data source: Dhesy platform analysis (Q1 2026) External sources: Fortune Business Insights, BAT 2026 Influencer Marketing Trends, Shopify Micro-Influencer Strategy Last updated: 2026-03-18