The creator economy is an ecosystem where people make money from content. It’s an essential part of the global economy, now worth an estimated $100 billion dollars and includes content from bloggers, social media influencers, streamers, and video makers.
If you are a business, now is the time to take advantage of this booming industry. Working with creators allows you to promote your services directly to your ideal customer. Below, we have explained the creator economy and how you can use it for growth and profit.
What is the creator economy?
In the past, a business would promote its products or services with traditional media. This includes television, newspaper, and radio. However, with the rise of new technology, we have entered a new knowledge-based economy where people make a living online.
This is called the creator economy, a revolutionary system for people to create, share and make money. People are no longer limited with career choices; online you can make your passions and hobbies profitable. Better still, this new economy has tremendous growth.
There are now over 50 million creators worldwide, and numbers will continue to rise. In fact, almost a third of kids today say that being a YouTuber is their dream job. We no longer live in a service and manufacturing world. Plus, it’s not too late to join this new online ecosystem.
How does the creator economy work?
There are lots of ways content creators can make money. First, the creator builds an online audience. They then promote services, goods, and advertisements to their audience for a cost. One of the major ways creators make money is through brand deals and sponsorships.
Unlike traditional media, a creator has a very focused niche audience. So, as a business owner, you know that you are reaching the right people. Influencer marketing works because there is a high level of trust in content creators.
These creators are bloggers, YouTubers, Instagrammers, gamers, musicians and podcasters. There are creators within every creative medium who target content towards various demographics. For example, TikTok marketing is a must for brands with a Gen Z audience.
Follower age, primary content and full-time creator follower size:
- TikTok, 15-24, short videos, three million
- YouTube, 25-44, long videos, one million
- Instagram, 25-34, photographs, 500K
- Twitch, 16-34, live streaming, 300K
Creator economy for business
So, how do you promote your business or brand within the creator economy? The first step is to define your target audience. You should start by creating a character breakdown of your ideal customer or client, including their age, gender, hobbies, ethics, and location.
Next, you will need to research where your ideal customer hangs out online. You will find that there is a crossover on platforms for younger generations. Although Pinterest has the highest age range, at 50-64-year-olds, YouTube has the highest all-around age demographic.
Now you know where your ideal customer hangs out, it’s time to find influencers. One way to do this is to research brands that are similar to yours and see who they have previously worked with. You can also use hashtag searches and try influencer marketing tools.
Working with creators
When choosing a creator, you need to consider their audience size, engagement, niche, ethics, and budget. Remember that although some creators have a small following, they might have a very focused niche audience that is a perfect fit for your business.
Many creators will have contact details on social media. Some will have emails especially for brand deals, and popular influencers will have an agent. Send the creator a collaborative enquiry with a summary of your business and why you want to work with them.
The cost of working with a creator will differ depending on the individual and, of course, their audience size. For reference, Influencer Marketing Hub estimates that a mid-tier Instagram influencer with 500,000 followers can charge up to $5,000 per sponsored post.
How businesses can work with content creators:
- Product collaborations
- Giveaways and competitions
- Social media takeovers
- Discounts and affiliate codes
Creator marketing examples
Loot Crate is a company that sells bundles of collectable memorabilia. They have worked with some of the world’s top creators, including PewDiePie, with 111 million YouTube subscribers. This campaign included sponsored videos and a promotional discount code.
Audible is a software app that sells audiobooks and podcasts. Their marketing campaign with Instagram photographer Jesse Driftwood shows how the creator economy is not just for mega influencers. The result was a friendly, natural post that his audience could trust.
Almond Breeze is a Korean-based company that wanted to promote its products to a wider audience. So they contracted food blogger Jeanine Donofrio of Love and Lemons. Almond Breeze received over 20,000+ new Facebook fans with a blog and Instagram sponsorship.
Better Help offers affordable online therapy worldwide. In 2021, they teamed up with lifestyle influencer Kelly Stamps to promote their services to her 660,000 YouTube followers. Better Help sponsored many videos and provided Stamps with an affiliate link.
PSD Underwear typically features models to promote its products. However, in their creator campaign, they worked with Twitch star Ninja. On his Instagram and Twitch stream, Ninja announced a 500 free pairs PSD giveaway and encouraged followers to share it online.
Creator economy projections
Undoubtedly, the creator economy will continue to grow this year and well into the future. In 2021, the industry grew by a whopping $13.8 Billion. With trends close to the gig economy, the creator economy has an estimated future worth $1 trillion and beyond.
What this means is that businesses need to change their future marketing methods. What’s more, it’s not too late to start working with creators. It’s estimated that 77% of all influencers rely solely on brand sponsorships. So, creators are out there looking for you too.
The creator economy is the new way to promote your business. It’s the key to the future of marketing, and if you want to stay relevant, you need to adapt. We hope you are excited about the creator economy. With the right strategy, this is a win for everyone involved!
