This is really a history question rather than a platform one, which means the dates are best treated loosely. Creators became a mainstream marketing force through the 2010s, as social platforms matured and audiences began trusting relatable people over polished ads. What matters for a brand today is not the timeline but choosing creators whose influence is genuine.
When did influencers become popular in marketing?
When influencers became popular is better answered as a gradual shift than a single date, which is why it helps to hold the timeline loosely and avoid false precision. Broadly, the rise ran through the 2010s. Early blogging and YouTube in the late 2000s created the first creators with real followings, then Instagram and later TikTok turned that into a mainstream marketing channel as smartphones and social feeds became universal. The deeper reason they became popular is durable: audiences increasingly trusted recommendations from relatable people over traditional advertising, with brands following that trust. This is really a market-history question rather than something a discovery platform owns, which is why the honest thing is to give the broad arc without inventing statistics. What actually matters for a brand now is not when the trend started but whether a given creator's influence is real today. That present-tense question, genuine reach and authentic engagement, is exactly what Flinque helps you check.