Economic predictions for the creator economy The 2023 forecast --
The world of creators was full of viral moments in 2022: ChatGPT was introduced, it was the year that Corn Kid and Chrissy Wake Up were rerun (IYKYK) as well as, of course, creators regularly graced our screens with something new to discover or to laugh at. However, the creator economy, and the companies fueling it, saw a number of changes. There were a lot of technological layoffs at companies like Patreon, Thinkific, and Meta, and there was an approximate 50% drop in funds for entrepreneurs who are creators. This has left many people thinking, what's the next step for the industry?
As 2023 approaches, organizations that operate in the creative economy must focus on creator-first solutions that address the fundamental issue of monetization.Before we dig into our key predictions and the essential starter kit for creators this year, let's first take a look at the trends that we observed in 2022.
Top creator trends from 2022
To get a pulse on creator life last year, we asked creators to provide feedback on their income, monetization methods, and social media use. Three major trends were identified:
- The majority of creators don't make enough money to pursue their creator company full-time.
- Videos and the media platforms supporting it are the kings of the hill.
- Most creators depend on an external monetization service to generate revenue from their work.
Tendencies in the income
In a digital world in which you could go viral one minute and have several brand sponsorships the next, everyone wants to know what creators make, especially amateurs looking to determine if it's a feasible career path.
We asked creators what they had earned from online sources during the past twelve months. Not surprisingly, 42 percent of creators earned at least $10,000while just 9% of creators made above $250,000. Around 22% of the creators had less than $1,000from their creations.
For creators who earned money from their content, YouTube at 23% was the most popular platform which they earned the bulk of their earnings. TikTok was second and tied for third were Instagram and events that took place in person.
Historically, YouTube was the few social media platforms that offer ad revenues to creators by way of AdSense which is what explains the popularity of YouTube among creators. Still, the payouts are low since 97.5 percent of YouTube users don't make enough to meet that U.S. poverty line. In TikTok and Instagram there are sponsored feed content and videos that promote brand deals are typically more lucrative as compared to creator fund pay outs, but the payouts are tiny for the number of creators on the platforms.
There are many ways creators can monetize their content , such as direct monetization (charging customers through their website or tools, or platforms like ) and third-party revenue generation (brand sponsorships or ads to another business). We asked creators if and which ways they made money from the following forms of their content. These included online course and live webinars. Coaching, newsletters, podcasts, live events, books, posts on social media, as well as blog content. Creators also had the option of choosing to offer their content in exchange for a fee or did not offer them.
With 40% of the participants the online course proved to be the top option to directly earn money from. For third-party monetization, coaching at 35% was most well-known. Then, blog and newsletter articles ranked at 39%, which is the highest number of type of content that creators could offer without cost.
In the aggregate, third-party monetization was the most popular method of creators. For instance, taking sponsorships on a podcast or posting an #ad to social media. This relates back to the fact that 69 percent of creators believe they rely on third-party monetization like brand deals to make money.
Social media trends
The creators are a part of social media because it's an important tools for communication and audience building. In terms of platforms for social media, YouTube had the largest percentage of creators on the platform, with 77 percent. Facebook came in second with 72% followed by Instagram with 70% and TikTok at 62%. The most popular social media platform was LinkedIn which was rated at just 27 percent. YouTube's rise in popularity confirms our earlier findings that it's the top platform on which creators earn the bulk of their creative earnings.
We'll talk about the social media users. It's a common belief within the world of creators that to be a successful creator one must have hundreds of thousands or even thousands of followers. But, according to our findings, the majority of creators are less than 10,000 followers across all platforms. About 35% of respondents reported following counts between 1,000-9,999 and 26% had under 1,000. The majority of creators fall at the level of micro-influencers (less than 50k followers) which is better and more appealing to companies as micro-influencers have an extremely loyal and niche fan base with higher engagement level.
We also asked creators what events on social media that they were involved in. For example, did they work with a company on an initiative or organize a live video event through a social feed? At 48%, the most popular task creators have reported was replying to comments and queries on stories and posts. In second place, 36% of creators reported that they designed digital products in order as a complement to their influencer marketing. Being connected to your online audience is essential for all creators. Responding to questions and comments on their posts is a good way to build a genuine brand , and increasing customer interaction.
Overall, these findings from 2022 confirm that content creators are actively making tons of material, particularly for social media, but only the best few get the highest returns.
Economic predictions of the Creator for 2023
There have already been a lot of forecasts about what's coming to the economy of creators in 2023. There are hot innovative AI tools popping up, YouTube and TikTok going against each other to gain over audiences, amplified the burnout of creators, and perhaps, TikTok replacing Google as the new search engine.
The most important problem is that creators are becoming increasingly aware that relying on social platforms for payment isn't working. Some of the top creators have started to call this fact out. Influencer Hank Green revealed that his income was only $0.02 to $0.03 for every 1,000 views on TikTok as well as the world-renowned social media influencer MrBeast stated that he earned less than $15,000 a year on TikTok regardless of the fact that his content has garnered millions of views.
In 2023, creatives will be leaning into creator-first solutions and methods which allow them to earn what their content is worth. As a leading player in the direct-to-creator economy space We have three major expectations for the year ahead:
1. More creators will start to control their own online communities.
2. Creators can count on social media to be a traffic source, instead of a revenue stream.
3. Live interaction with the public will bring back the full force.
It's been 3 years since the start of the pandemic which will be a factor in 2023 when the return of in-person events fully. While events made a mini-comeback in 2022, the attendance of events was still down since people chose to stay home with alternatives that were hybrid. In 2023, we're expecting that more creators will host live events in person, be it gatherings, workshops or online classes or retreats. The events that were held in person were an element of the three most popular ways creators generated the largest portion of their earnings. It's expected that they'll continue to build the use of this method.
4. Creators will increasingly use AI tools to help run their business.
Unless you've been living under a rock, you are aware that ChatGPT has taken over the internet. It's a model trained by OpenAI that can aid in content creation--long tales in a nutshell, give a subject or question and ChatGPT creates the content for you. And, (spoiler alert) the text is usually pretty good. Creators may begin to utilize tools like ChatGPT to help them increase and improve the quality of their work. This can help avoid burning out of creators.
The Starter pack of the creator for 2023.
No matter what will happen in the coming year creatives should fireproof their companies with the proper tools. If you're a creative looking to take on this year's business, here's the most comprehensive starter kit
- Direct-monetization toolto allow creators to pursue the things they enjoy full-time plus earn what their content is worth Direct monetization is essential. This is known as the direct-to-creator economy. Instead of relying on third party sponsorships like ads or brand deals, creators should be at the forefront of business in determining the cost of their own content. Tools that are geared towards creators allow them to achieve this through the direct monetization of digital goods such as courses, coaching podcasts, memberships, and communities--plus, helps to streamline your company so that everything is in one central location. Creators have earned more than $4.3 billion in revenues and manage all of it.
In 2023, one thing's evident: the creators must remain in control in deciding what their content is worth. Although social media is crucial to build brand awareness and connecting with an audience, creators who rely entirely on social media in their businesses are playing risky games.
The goal is to become a major element of the creation economy discussion--through data-supported findings and stories, we aim to make the path to making money easier for all creators. We've discovered that the majority of creators with whom we work full-time on their online business make over six figures.
Methodology:
The insights in this survey are first-party data. The survey was sent to more than 1,900 creators that are not using . We received 1,046 replies with a 95% certainty interval. Please note we cannot access email data from customers using an alternative email marketing service, and we cannot capture revenues for transactions or revenue generated outside of the platform. The data we collect is intended used for general analysis only. Each response is confidential and we will not divulge the identity publicly or with third parties. If you would like access to the data, or to inquire about collaboration contact us at [email protected].