Creator marketing shifts as haul and unboxing posts lose momentum

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Creator marketing shifts

Highlights

Traackr data shows haul posts dropped from 2.4% to 1.2% and unboxing posts from 1.3% to 0.7% of sponsored posts between 2025 and 2026.
CreatorIQ reports average monthly engagements per sponsored haul post fell from 2,633 in 2025 to 1,780 in 2026, down from 5,900 in 2022.
Brands are reallocating budgets from volume-driven posts to storytelling and product utility due to shifting consumer preferences and anticipated holiday financial trade-offs.

Engagement data points to a format reset

As first reported by Business Insider, data from influencer marketing platforms Traackr and CreatorIQ suggests haul and unboxing content is losing share within sponsored creator posts even as overall paid posting activity grows.

Traackr data pulled for January through September shows haul posts accounted for 2.4% of sponsored posts in 2025 and 1.2% in the same period of 2026. Sponsored unboxing videos fell from 1.3% to 0.7% over the same stretch.

CreatorIQ data also indicates engagement has flattened across haul and unboxing content over the past year after earlier growth. Sponsored haul posts recorded average monthly engagements per post of 2,633 in 2025, compared with 1,780 from January through October this year; in 2022, the average stood at 5,900.

Industry executives say brands are responding by reducing direct product roundup formats and shifting budgets toward posts that build a clearer narrative around one item or a smaller set of products. The coming holiday season is likely to test whether the format can still perform in a period when it typically becomes more prevalent.

Brands and creators favor storytelling over surplus

Marketers, talent managers, and creators interviewed in the report say briefs are increasingly centered on storytelling, product utility, and more organic integration rather than volume-driven showcases. Examples include cost-per-wear breakdowns, re-styling videos, demonstrations, and content explaining why a product stays in a creator's routine.

That shift also reflects broader consumer fatigue with constant sales pitches, along with pressure from inflation and trends such as underconsumption and deinfluencing. A Harris Poll cited in the report found 59% of holiday shoppers surveyed in October expect to make financial trade-offs this season.

Even so, the format is not disappearing entirely. Product-led videos and unboxings still can convert effectively on platforms such as TikTok Shop, particularly when purchasing is frictionless or when the product carries novelty, surprise, or aspirational appeal.

We recently reported on the AI stock sell-off as oil hit $110 a barrel, stoking inflation and Fed-policy worries.

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