2025 Begins with a New Acquisition in the Influencer Marketing Landscape

Later, a platform focused on influencer marketing and social media management, revealed on Friday that it has acquired Mavely for a total of $250 million.

Mavely boasts a community of over 120,000 creators, a network that has reportedly generated upwards of $1 billion in gross merchandising volume for more than 1,400 well-known brands, such as Nike, Anthropologie, Lululemon, Macy’s, Old Navy, and Adidas.

According to a statement from Later regarding this acquisition, integrating Mavely’s capabilities will empower marketers to assess comprehensive impacts across the sales funnel and achieve measurable ROI, all while providing creators with opportunities to increase their income.

Explore more: The Importance of Influencer Marketing in B2B

The Necessity for Data and AI in Influencer Firms to Compete with Major Agencies

eMarketer projects that influencer marketing expenditures in the U.S. could reach $9.29 billion by 2025, reflecting a year-over-year growth of 14.2%. At this growth pace, influencer marketing is expected to surpass both digital and social media ad spending increases in the U.S., although its proportion of overall spend remains considerably smaller.

In the summer of 2024, significant advertising agencies, like Publicis Groupe, made notable moves into the influencer marketing sector by acquiring companies such as Influential.

It’s not unexpected that these acquisitions center around data and AI. Like various contemporary marketing channels, influencer marketing yields extensive data. Entities that can effectively and swiftly generate and analyze this data are poised to gain a competitive edge.

AI technologies can assist marketers in selecting appropriate influencers, pinpointing target audiences, and evaluating campaign outcomes.

When Influential was acquired by Publicis, it announced that its AI-enhanced platform had amassed 100 billion data points and included a network of 3.5 million creators.

Later indicated that its predictive analytics powered by AI will now utilize first-party performance data from Mavely’s vast network of over 120,000 creators.

Mavely was originally a part of Rhyz Inc., a branch of Nu Skin Enterprises. The acquisition by Later was made feasible through a strategic investment from Summit Partners.