Influencer marketing refers to the collaborations between brands and content creators on social media, aimed at promoting a product, service, or image. In France, investments in this lever reached 587 million euros in 2025, up 13.1% year-on-year according to the France Pub-ARPP study.
This divergence from overall communication spending, which decreased by 1.3% over the same period, reflects a structural shift in advertising budgets towards creators.
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Contractualization threshold set at 1,000 euros: what the decree 2025-1137 changes
Decree No. 2025-1137, published on November 28, 2025, sets the threshold at 1,000 euros excluding VAT per year and per advertiser, above which a written contract becomes legally mandatory for any commercial influencer service. This measure operationalizes the law of June 9, 2023, regulating influencers, and its entry into force is dated January 1, 2026.
Specifically, a creator who receives more than 1,000 euros excluding VAT from the same advertiser over a year must have a contract detailing the nature of the service, transparency obligations, and payment terms. Below this threshold, the relationship remains possible without written formalities, but advertising mention obligations still apply.
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This rule has a direct effect on micro-influencers. Many have until now operated with informal agreements (product shipments, visibility exchanges). Once a collaboration exceeds the cumulative threshold of 1,000 euros excluding VAT over twelve months, the absence of a written contract exposes the advertiser to sanctions. Brands that engage in multiple one-off partnerships must now track their financial commitments creator by creator.
To keep up with the evolution of this regulatory framework and find all the news on influencenews.fr, regular monitoring of implementing decrees remains the most reliable method.
Intermediation by specialized agencies: the new norm of influencer marketing
In 2025, 65% of French advertisers use specialized agencies or platforms to identify and contract with creators, up from 37% in 2022 according to the France Pub-ARPP study. This figure marks a profound change in operations.
The massive use of intermediaries responds to two simultaneous constraints:
- Regulatory compliance, with the contractualization threshold and transparency obligations requiring rigorous legal oversight of each partnership.
- Volume management, as a brand collaborating with several dozen creators per quarter can no longer manage briefs, approvals, and payments in a handcrafted manner.
This intermediation also changes the creator-brand relationship. The creator less often negotiates directly with the advertiser. The conditions (formats, publication deadlines, exclusivity clauses) are standardized by the agency. For medium-sized creators, this standardization can reduce the negotiation margin on compensation.
Real Me movement and deinfluencing: the tension between authenticity and spectacle
The sector is experiencing a clear polarization. On one side, creators’ video productions are professionalizing and competing with television formats. On the other, movements like deinfluencing and the “Real Me” movement are gaining ground by explicitly rejecting the overconsumption promoted by certain commercial collaborations.
Deinfluencing involves discouraging the purchase of a product deemed overpriced or unnecessary. This format works because it reverses the usual mechanics: instead of selling, the creator critiques. The paradox is that this type of content generates engagement and visibility, which in turn attracts brands wishing to associate with an image of honesty.
The Real Me movement, on the other hand, values raw content, without filters or elaborate staging. Creators publish videos in a single take, without editing, with spontaneous speech. This format appeals to part of the audience tired of the polished advertising aesthetic dominating social media.
Impact on brand strategies
Advertisers must choose between two approaches. Betting on spectacular productions, with high budgets and a look close to an advertising spot, captures attention in a saturated flow. Betting on raw authenticity costs less in production but exposes the brand to a less controlled discourse.
The coexistence of these two trends creates a segmented market. Large luxury or entertainment brands continue to invest in the spectacular. Brands focused on well-being, food, or sustainable fashion prefer creators affiliated with Real Me. The choice of approach depends more on brand positioning than on the available budget.
Measuring ROI in influence: why tracking remains fragmented
The issue of measuring return on investment in influencer marketing is structural. Each platform (TikTok, Instagram, YouTube) provides its own metrics, with varying definitions of engagement, reach, or impressions. Comparing the results of a multi-platform campaign requires a third-party tool capable of aggregating this data, and these tools remain costly.
Another obstacle lies in attribution. A consumer may see a creator’s content on Instagram, search for the product on Google three days later, and then purchase via a price comparison site. Attributing this conversion to the influencer campaign requires a multi-touch attribution model that most mid-sized advertisers have not deployed.
The most reliable metrics remain unique promotional codes and tracked links, which allow for direct attribution. Awareness indicators (mentions, sentiment, share of voice) complement the picture but do not directly translate into measurable revenue.
The French influencer market is progressing faster than the measurement tools that accompany it. Advertisers who structure their tracking from the campaign design stage, integrating dedicated codes and UTM per creator, obtain actionable data. Others remain dependent on rough estimates, which undermines the justification of the increasing budgets allocated to this lever.