The seismic shift in the U.S. electorate led to the massive victory for President-elect Trump. Voters focused on economic uncertainty and inflation. Working class people of all ethnic backgrounds shifted allegiance based on personal well-being. But the most stunning change was in younger voters, with young men, 18-29 years old, shifting 28 points to the right (3 million votes) while young women shifted 15 points (1.5 million votes). Creators played an important role in influencing younger voters.

President-elect Trump went with long-form Podcasts and unscripted content partnerships on YouTube to target young males. Among the shows he did were The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, Theo Von’s This Past Weekend podcast, and Andrew Schultz’s Flagrant podcast. Then there were sit downs with content creators such as professional golfer Bryson DeChambeau, Logan Paul, Adin Ross, and the Nelk Boys. The “Bro Podcast Tour” registered 123 million views for the fourteen appearances, reaching an audience that was 80 percent male. Half of these appearances were in October. The newly elected president sometimes appeared with his VP candidate, JD Vance, or Elon Musk.

VP Kamala Harris focused more on short-form video on TikTok and Instagram, more as media messaging channels than collaboration. The campaign tried to court Gen-Z voters by capitalizing on memes such as Brat Summer or Coconut Tree. The candidate appeared on five major podcasts in October (such as Alex Cooper’s Call Her Daddy), with 50/50 gender breakdown. She also did more mainstream media than the Trump campaign, with appearances on The View and 60 Minutes. Harris had VP candidate Tim Walz, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and businessman Mark Cuban on her podcasts. Harris had a @KamalaHQ TikTok page. She relied heavily on celebrity endorsements from Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, and Taylor Swift.

Media consumption patterns are a key indicator in voter intention. Latinos and young people are twice as likely to get their news from social media (there is major crossover between youth and Latino given young population). The increasing reliance of young people on social channels as primary outlets for news is seen in these two statistics. As of 2024, 52 percent of TikTok users get their news on the channel, up from 22 percent in 2020, while 40 percent of Instagram users get their news on the channel versus 28 percent in 2020. Part of this is lack of access to local newspapers (one third have closed in the past two decades) while the number of reporters is down 60 percent.

A few conclusions from Tyler Vaught, who runs our Creator Marketing offering at Edelman. First, the social media landscape has moved from User Generated Content to established episodic shows with massive audiences. Second, scripted, filtered, and edited content is out, while raw unedited authenticity and vulnerability is in. Third, lengthy, unscripted conversations with show hosts allow for the creation of parasocial relationships which build trust and affinity. Fourth, traditional celebrity endorsements have much less power over young voters because this generation prefers accessibility, getting to know the person.

Creators are no longer the future to build trust with audiences, they are the present. Trust in mainstream media has been deeply eroded, especially for Republicans and bottom quartile income earners. Brands must pay attention; politics is a mainstream topic for Creators, so risk mitigation is more important than ever. Brands should clearly establish their values, recognize their permission space, and thoroughly vet Creators for communities and conversations that make sense.