Economic predictions for the creator economy The outlook for 2023 -
The economy of the creator featured a myriad of viral videos in 2022: ChatGPT made its entrance, it was the year that Corn Kid and Chrissy Wake Up played on repeat (IYKYK) as well as the creators were constantly on our newsfeeds with something new to discover or share a laugh with. In the meantime, the creator economy, as well as the businesses that fuel it, underwent many changes. The industry saw dozens of tech layoffs from players like Patreon, Thinkific, and Meta, and there was the 50% decrease in the amount of funding available to companies that are based around creators. The result has many wondering, what's next for the industry?
Going into 2023, companies in the creator economy will need to prioritize creator-first solutions that address the fundamental issue of monetization.Before we get into our predictions for the year as well as the key starter kit for creators the coming year, let's review the top our findings on trends in the creator economy in 2022.
Top creator trends starting in 2022
To get a pulse on the life of creators last year we conducted a survey of creators about the sources of income, methods to monetize, and social media use. Three main trends were observed:
- A majority of creators don't make enough money income to sustain their businesses full-time.
- Video content and the platforms supporting it rule supreme.
- Most creators depend on third-party monetization as a way to earn money from their content.
Trends in income
In a digital world that can be in a flash and receive numerous brand sponsorship opportunities the next, everyone wants to know what the creators are earning--especially amateur creators looking to determine if it's an option for a career.
We asked creators what they made from their online accounts during the past twelve months. Not surprisingly, 42 percent of creators earned $10,000 or lesswhile just 9% of them earned more than $250,000. The average is 22percent of the creators earned less than $1000from their content.
In the case of creators earning money from their content, YouTube with 23% was the most popular platform where they made the bulk of their earnings. TikTok placed second and tied for third were Instagram and in-person events.
The past was when YouTube was the sole social networks to give creators a share of ad revenue through AdSense which easily explains the popularity of YouTube among creators. Still, the payouts are low as 97.5 percent of YouTubers do not earn enough money to reach that U.S. poverty line. In TikTok as well as Instagram there are sponsored feed videos and posts for brand deals are typically higher-paying in comparison to the creator fund payouts which are too tiny for the number of creators who use the platforms.
There are many ways for creators to earn revenue from their work, including direct commercialization (charging customers through their own tools/website or through an online platform such as ) and third-party commercialization (brand advertisements or sponsorships on behalf of a different company). We asked creators whether and what they used to monetize the following forms of their content. These included online course including live webinars, coaching, newsletters, podcasts, in-person events, ebooks, posts on social media, as well as blog content. Creators can also choose to offer their content in exchange for a fee or did not offer them.
With 40% of the participants, online courses proved to be the top product to directly profit from. For third-party monetization, coaching at 35% was most well-known. Finally, newsletters and blog posts tied at 39% as the top type of content that creators could offer at no cost.
Cumulatively, third-party monetization was the most popular method among creators--for example, taking sponsorships on a podcast or posting an #ad to social media. This is in direct correlation to the reality that 60 percent of creators claim they depend on third-party monetization like branding deals to generate revenue.
Social media trends
Social media, as it's a vital tools for communication and audience building. With regard to platforms for social media, YouTube had the most creators using the platform with 77%. Facebook came in second with 72% followed by Instagram with 70% and TikTok with 62 percentage. The most popular social media platform was LinkedIn which was rated at just 27%. YouTube's rise in popularity confirms our earlier findings that it's the top platform on which creators earn the majority of their creator-related earnings.
We'll talk about social media followers. There's an argument about the creation economy and for a creator to succeed it is necessary to accumulate hundreds or thousands, and perhaps thousands of followers. In our research findings, the majority of creators are just a few thousand followers across every platform. About 35% of respondents reported following numbers between 1,000 and 999, while 26% reported under 1,000. Most creators are at the micro-influencer level (less than 50k followers) that can prove more beneficial and attractive for brands as micro-influencers have an extremely loyal and niche fan base with higher engagement level.
We also asked creators what actions on social media they participated in. In other words did they collaborate with a brand on campaigns or even host a live video event via a feed on social media? at 48% The most used action creators were able to report was responding to comments and inquiries about stories or posts. Second in the list was just 36% of authors stated that they developed digital products in order to supplement their influencer marketing. Being connected to your online audience is a non-negotiable for creators. Responding to comments and questions on their posts is a good way to build a genuine image and increasing engagement with customers.
The overall results of 2022 show that people are actively making tons of material, particularly for social media, but only the best few have the greatest success.
Economic predictions of the Creator for 2023
There's been a lot of forecasts about what's coming to the economy of creators in 2023. There are hot new AI tools popping up, YouTube and TikTok going in a battle to win over viewers, heightened creator burnout, and even, TikTok replacing Google as the new search engine.
But, the most poignant elephant in the room is creators are becoming increasingly aware the use of social networks for payment isn't working. Some of the top creators have started to call this out. The influencer Hank Green revealed the amount of his earnings was $0.02 to $0.03 per 1,000 views on TikTok as well as the world-renowned influential MrBeast claimed he earned less than 15,000 dollars a year through TikTok regardless of the fact that his videos have garnered billions of viewers.
In 2023, creatives will be leaning toward solutions designed for creators and strategies which allow them to get paid for what their content worth. In its position as a leader in the direct-to-creator economy space there are three main predictions for the new year:
1. Many creators will begin to own their online communities.
2. Creators can count on social media to be a traffic source, instead of income streams.
3. Connecting with audiences live will be a huge comeback.
It's been 3 years since the start of the epidemic in 2022, and the year 2023 is expected to see live events returning fully. While events made a mini-comeback in 2022, attendees were lower as people chose to avoid the crowds with alternative options. In 2023, we expect more creators to host live events in person, be it meetups, workshops, live classes, or retreats. In-person events have been one of the top three ways that creators made the majority of their earnings. It's expected that they'll keep expanding the use of this method.
4. Creators will more often use AI tools to manage their operations.
Unless you've been living under a rock for a while, you already know that ChatGPT is now the dominant internet. It's a model trained by OpenAI that can help with content creation--long story short, you choose a topic or query and ChatGPT creates the content for you. And, (spoiler warning) the content is typically quite good. Creators will start to use programs such as ChatGPT to help them increase the quality of their output and speed up their process. This will help prevent creator burnout.
The Creator starter pack designed for 2023.
Regardless of what happens during the year ahead Creators must ensure the security of their business with the appropriate tools. If you're an aspiring creator looking to get started this year's business, here's the ultimate starter pack:
- Direct-monetization toolin order to enable creators to be able to focus on what they love full-time, plus earn what their content is worth direct monetization is crucial. This is known as the direct-to-creator market. Instead of relying on third party sponsorships such as ads or brand partnerships, creators should be at the forefront of business making the decision on how much they charge for their content. Creator-first tools allow creators to accomplish this by allowing directly monetizing digital content including courses, coaching, memberships, podcasts, websites and communities. They also help simplify your business, so that all of it can be located in one place. Creators have generated more than $4.3 billion in revenues and retain all that money.
As we head into 2023, one thing is evident: the creators must remain in control in deciding what their content is worth. Although social media is vital to building brand awareness and engaging with audiences but creators who solely rely on social media to run their business are playing an unwise game.
aims to be a key component of the creative economy conversation. By presenting data-based research and stories, we aim to make the path to the monetization of knowledge easier for all creators. We've found one in three makers that work full-time on their online business make over the six-figure mark..
Methodology:
The findings in this survey come from first-party sources. The survey was sent to more than 1,900 creators we don't use . We got 1,046 responses, with a 95% certainty interval. We are unable to access the email addresses of customers who use an alternative email marketing service as well as we are not able to record revenue numbers for any transactions or revenue that is not processed through the platform. Data is provided for general analytical use only. Individual responses are confidential, and we will not divulge information about the individual's identity with any third-party. For access to data or for a discussion about collaborating contact us at [email protected].