What exactly is a creator economy?

The creator economy is defined as the class of businesses built by more than 50 million independent content creators, curators, and community builders, such as social media influencers, bloggers, and videographers, as well as the software and finance tools designed to facilitate their growth and monetization.

The term ‘creator economy’ is used today in any context that involves the commercial aspects of content creation online.

Many companies now work in this space enabling creators to monetise various types of content that is produced.

Let’s take a look at some trends in this rapidly growing creator economy space.

#1 – Taking Loyal Followers To Their Own Platforms

Creators over time tend to develop loyal followers who actively engage with their posts. They are willing to share content and even buy products from creators, whether it be branded merchandise or digital goods.

Today, creators are slowly shifting their loyal audiences over to their own sites, apps and other monetisation tools. This migration is predicted to happen at a much bigger rate in the future as the creator space grows.

#2 – Creators As Business Owners

Creators, apart from their content, are also now founders of small and medium size businesses. They are responsible for building teams and using their influence to gain a quick advantage over the markets that they cater to.

This positions content creators as business owners, with an upper edge in marketing themselves because of their followers.

More and more creators will become small business owners in the next decade. This is especially so with the advent of many platforms introducing tools to help creators earn.

YouTube is currently working on its Shopping feature for creators to sell their merchandise or other products. Instagram is working on a marketplace page for each creator, and a subscription-based model.

#3 – Using One’s Personality As A Brand

As creators gain influence in the media ecosystem, fans seek to connect with individuals who have an established personality. Statistically, they prefer this than uploaders who remain behind the camera only on social media.

Seeing the real side of online personalities has become a major attraction factor for many big creators. People today wish to see their flaws and blemishes, and not a forced, squeaky clean image.

The personality of creators are now used to sell products whether it be through humorous video content in the form of sponsored posts or full fledged traditional marketing campaigns.

By having established a direct relationship with their fans, creators become less susceptible to changes in the priorities of tech giants or their algorithms. Regardless of the specificity of their style, each creator is capable of assembling a unique mix of revenue streams. 

It’s a win-win situation, as creators who cater to each of our niche interests can build a sustainable career. Instead of homogeneous, lowest-common-denominator primetime sitcoms, we receive content tailored to every subculture in the spectrum. 

Now there are sufficient creators to support an entire ecosystem of startups that help them turn their passion into a career.

Also Read :

YouTube Shopping – Here’s All That We Know So Far