ISSUE #3, JULY 2026
HypeAuditor Digest
Fresh insights, trends, and updates
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PRODUCT UPDATES
What's new inside HypeAuditor
This month's updates focus on the parts of influencer marketing that happen every day: evaluating creators and reviewing campaign performance. We've made both workflows quicker, with more detailed engagement data and a smoother way to find creators similar to your best performers.
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Each content type gets its own ER now
Not all content performs the same way, and now your campaign reports reflect that. We've broken engagement rate down by content type to see how a creator's audience responds to their Posts, Reels, and Stories separately instead of looking at one blended number that smooths everything out.
It's a small change with a big impact. A creator with average overall engagement might have exceptional numbers on Reels and almost nothing on Posts. That's useful to know before you decide what to brief them on next time.Stories ER is also now included in campaigns, entered manually the same way you're used to.
Track your campaign contentA better Lookalike search
Finding creators similar to your best performers just got much easier. Lookalike search now returns results instantly, which allows you to explore more creators without waiting for searches to finish.
The experience has also been redesigned to help you evaluate creators faster. Preview their content directly from the results page, filter by audience location, engagement rate, average views, and niche, then sort results to find the best match for your campaign.
A few workflow improvements came along with it too. Recent searches are saved automatically, results can be exported as CSV, discovered creators can be added to My Network in one click, and even see how many creators match your filters before running a search.
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MARKETING NEWS
What we're putting out there
We spend every month creating resources to help marketers run better influencer campaigns, and our CEO Alex Frolov’s YouTube channel has become one of the main places we share them. His latest video is one every marketer should have somewhere they can find it again.
Influencer Marketing 101: Key Terms Every Brand Must Know
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SPOTLIGHT OF THE MONTH
FIFA World Cup 2026: Football's biggest stage, the creator economy's biggest steal
No sporting event shakes the creator economy quite like the FIFA World Cup. Football's biggest names are also among the world's biggest creators, with Cristiano Ronaldo remaining the most-followed person on social media. Their influence reaches far beyond countries where football is a national obsession, which is why the tournament creates ripple effects across the global creator economy.
It creates new stars overnight, moves audiences at a pace few events can match, and hands brands some of the most interesting influencer marketing moments of the year. Here's a few of what happened.
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Vozinha's breakout moment
One clean sheet against Spain was all it took. Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha started the World Cup with around 500,000 Instagram followers. Within weeks, that number had climbed to 29.5 million, representing a yearly growth rate of 130,322%. The quality behind that growth looks solid too, with 62.2% real followers, an 8.31% engagement rate, and 83% positive sentiment.
Stories like this don't happen often, but they show why timing matters in creator discovery. By the time a creator reaches tens of millions of followers, brands are already competing for the same partnership. Vozinha's story is a reminder that the best influencer marketing opportunities rarely announce themselves in advance.
TikTok earns its World Cup seat
When FIFA named TikTok its first-ever Preferred Platform for the World Cup, it looked like a gamble on younger audiences. But the data shows it wasn’t a bet at all - fans who watch sports content on TikTok are 42% more likely to tune into live matches than those who don't.
Creator content on TikTok isn't staying on the sidelines anymore. It's pulling people straight into the stadium, or at least in front of a screen when kickoff hits. More and more, the "match" starts in the feed before it reaches the pitch.
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A creator's biggest assist
Tim Payne wasn't expected to be one of the World Cup's biggest social media stories. But after Argentine creator Valen Scarsini encouraged his followers to support the New Zealand defender, Payne's audience grew from 4,700 to more than 5.5 million. The growth reached roughly 116,900%, while engagement remained at 7.21% and sentiment at 86% positive.
This phenomenon shows what creator influence looks like at its best. Reach can be bought, but the kind of trust that inspires millions of people to rally behind a complete stranger is not easy to establish.
Beckham is still the US football's favorite face
When FIFA named TikTok its first-ever Preferred Platform for the World Cup, it looked like a gamble on younger audiences. But the data shows it wasn’t a bet at all - fans who watch sports content on TikTok are 42% more likely to tune into live matches than those who don't.
Creator content on TikTok isn't staying on the sidelines anymore. It's pulling people straight into the stadium, or at least in front of a screen when kickoff hits. More and more, the "match" starts in the feed before it reaches the pitch.
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Ha-Ha-Ha-Haaland, hey
Some headlines come with a soundtrack, indeed. Haaland was already one of football's biggest stars, but what nobody quite expected was how much personality would come with the goals. Between the raccoon he brought home on the plane, the dressing-room posts seconds after final whistles, and his effortlessly playful side made him one of the tournament's most talked-about figures without even trying.
His following grew 74.79% in the last 30 days alone, with an engagement rate of 6.72%. Haaland also holds 84% positive sentiment and an excellent Audience Quality Score (AQS) of 91. An unfiltered feed, it turns out, can outperform a perfectly managed one.
The World Cup's biggest follower gainers
The World Cup doesn't end when the trophy is lifted. For many players, that's when a much bigger audience begins. Over just 39 days, the World Cup created one of the biggest waves of Instagram audience growth football has seen.
Haaland and Vozinha alone added more followers than most brands' entire audience combined. One won fans with goals, humor, and a personality people couldn't get enough of. The other did it with a single save nobody saw coming. Bellingham, Ronaldo, and Yamal each added double-digit millions to audiences that were already among the biggest in football.
Some players arrived with global fame and left with millions more followers. Others earned their first taste of international recognition. Together, they show how major sporting events can bring a new wave of creators into the spotlight almost overnight, which creates new opportunities for athletes and new partnerships for brands.
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ANALYST’S CORNER
Behind the creator strategies of World Cup sponsors
Sponsorship gets you in. Creators get you seen.
World Cup sponsors have always leaned on television campaigns, stadium branding, hospitality, and celebrity ambassadors to turn a partnership into something fans actually notice. This year, creators became the piece connecting all of it to social audiences, and every sponsor we studied used them differently.
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