Why Target killed its creator program, launched 2 new ones
Target has completely reengineered its creator ecosystem through two distinct new programs.
In April, Target told creators that it would sunset its previous creator program in May, Ad Age reported. The retired program was commission-based and allowed creators to build out digital storefronts.
In its place, Target has launched Club Target and Target Ambassadors. Club Target is designed for smaller creators or enthusiastic Target shoppers, offering them Target gift cards, opportunities to be reshared on social channels or, in some cases, commissions for posting about the retailer. Thousands of creators are already participating in a pilot program of Club Target, the company said. Target Ambassadors, on the other hand, is a program in partnership with creator commerce platform LTK. Designed for larger creators, it offers commissions and monthly bonuses for eligible content. And it gives the retailer the opportunity to tap into creators who already use the LTK platform, which supports more than 55,000 creator partnerships each year, according to its website.
“As the creator space has evolved, it became clear that a one-size-fits-all model no longer reflected how creators engage or how guests shop,” Sarah Travis, Target executive vice president and chief digital and revenue officer, said in an email. “We learned a lot from the previous program, including that creators don’t all operate the same way.”
The company rebuilt its creator programs to reflect the two distinct cohorts that now occupy the creator space, instead of forcing every creator to fit into one model.
“Some are everyday guests organically sharing their Target finds, while others are running full-scale content businesses,” she said. “The goal is to better support creators at different stages and make the path from inspiration to purchase feel easier for our guests.”
Club Target’s content will focus on everyday Target fans who already share items they’ve found at Target, their Target shopping routines or other moments that involve the retailer. The program is open to people in the U.S. who are at least 18 years old and have at least 500 followers on Instagram or TikTok.
“Guests are increasingly discovering products through relatable, real-world content in their social feeds,” Travis said. “By investing in these everyday advocates, we can build on the trusted storytelling that already makes Target show up organically in conversation every day.”
Creators with 1,000 to 10,000 followers have the highest engagement rate of any creator cohort, (excluding accounts with fewer than 1,000 followers), according to a report published this year by HypeAuditor, a creator campaign-management platform. EMarketer forecasts that influencers with 1,000 to 19,999 followers will represent almost half of all influencer marketing spending by 2027.
Alessandro Bogliari, co-founder and CEO of The Influencer Marketing Factory, an agency with offices in New York and Miami, the opportunity to be featured on Target’s social media channels may be especially compelling for creators with a small number of followers, and it may inspire other shoppers to try to be featured, as well.
“Giving this narrative right to people, that you can potentially be selected tomorrow to be the face of the company … it’s much more interesting for some of them than just getting affiliate commissions,” he said. “Sometimes people forget that if you’re creating content, you want to be seen, and it’s not just about the money.”
The Ambassador program is designed to decrease friction for larger creators, Travis said. It allows them to manage campaigns, storefronts and earnings through LTK, where they may work with other retailers. LTK says it has more than 40 million monthly users who use the platform to shop at retailers such as Sephora, Amazon, Abercrombie & Fitch and Wayfair via creators.
“The result is a simpler, more connected experience,” Travis said. “Creators have a clearer way to grow with Target, and guests can move more seamlessly from inspiration to purchase.“
Target Ambassador also integrates with Target’s Roundel retail media network, so brand advertisers with Roundel can activate across LTK’s creator network. “Bringing together creator content, commerce capabilities and Roundel helps create stronger storytelling while connecting inspiration to performance,” Travis added. “That integration matters because social is increasingly where discovery, trust and shopping come together.”
The launch of Club Target and Target Ambassador comes as Target is implementing a new strategy centered around its “merchandising authority,” guest experience and technology in hopes of returning to growth. Anne Mezzenga, founder and CEO of Retail Field Report and a former Target marketing executive, said it shows that the company is making an effort to show why some shoppers still love the brand while others are still disappointed with the retailer for reasons such as long lines, empty shelves or its controversial pullback of DEI initiatives last year.
“They’re doing this in a really smart, strategic way so that those creators are rewarded and engaged, and they’re going to continue to create that content,” Mezzenga said. “It makes me think that the organization is really listening to what is happening in the industry and making the right moves to stay relevant with the customer of 2026 and beyond.”
Still, Bogliari said he’s interested in seeing whether the two programs can maintain participation among creators in the long term. Often, creator programs see their participation drop off over time, unless they offer enough incentive for influencers to continue to post, he said.
“Maybe you close one of the two,” if one doesn’t bring in good enough results, Bogliari said. However, he added that “if both of them work at the same time, I think more and more retailers will go in that direction, having the everyday-customer type of messaging and the … ambassadorship.”
Travis said the creator initiatives are especially important to its guest experience because style, value and discovery are among its differentiators.
“Creators are increasingly shaping how guests discover products and decide what to buy. They bring our assortment to life in authentic, relatable ways,” Travis said. “The opportunity now is to build on that momentum more intentionally, deepen authentic storytelling and create more seamless pathways from inspiration to purchase. That’s a meaningful growth driver for us moving forward.”