Regular readers of this newsletter know that we’re obsessed with the Creator Economy. It creates many new jobs, provides the rising generation’s vehicle of self-expression, and is one of the strongest creators of the new workforce. We built the Creator
Lab at this year’s NAB Show to explore what happens when worlds of broadcast, old and new, collide. And collide, they have.
The White House just announced The Creator Economy Conference, which will be hosted by the White House’s Office of Digital Strategy. The White House Creator Economy Conference (the unpronounceable WHCEC) will open its doors to a group of curated digital creators and
industry professionals who will discuss pressing issues within the creator economy today, including privacy, fair pay, AI, mental health, and more.
It’s no shocker that the White House initiative was announced at VidCon, the largest gathering of content creators, which was held in Anaheim this past week.VidCon bolsters the burgeoning Creator Economy with a combination of educational panels, industry insider knowledge, how-tos, and plenty
of room for networking fun.
I’ve been following the VidCon discussions and talking to many of the attendees. What’s the outlook for the Creator Economy? Not all grown up, but getting there. Not all rosy, but some very bright spots:
Tribalization
Like most maturing industries, expect verticalization and specialization. A beauty influencer needs a different skill set than a cooking coach or a travel influencer.
Expanding Revenue Models
Creators are wising up to the “many ways to skin a cat” adage. They’re experimenting with different personality-driven forms of content, whether that’s selling merchandise, building brands, merchandising, selling courseware, or doing something else.
Building Teams, Not Stars
The isolated creator won’t be able to compete very well. There’s a focus on team-building talent.
Monetization Problems Persist
Shira Lazar wrote to say, “Despite the creator economy being worth billions, many are still figuring out how to make money outside the top 1%. My hope is for creators to leverage their talent and expertise to
collaborate with companies, helping to build a better ecosystem together.”
Brandification
“The absence of brands at VidCon was a red flag for the future of that particular conference and a missed opportunity for creators," said Jasmine Engberg. “Brand deals remain the #1 source of income for creators." Her publication, EMARKETER, expects sponsored content to account for 59.4% of the revenues creators generate from social media this year. Creators and brands need help finding each other in the sea of noise. Engberg’s report continues, “Ad dollars are flowing nicely into the creator economy. We expect US influencer marketing spending to rise by 16.0% to $8.14 billion this year. We also expect US social video ad spending to overtake linear TV ad spending in 2025.”
Growing Pains
The big theme that emerged from the industry track of the show was the maturation of the creator economy and how creators can scale their operations. “It’s the end of the beginning,” said Tubefilter’s Joshua Cohen. “Words like 'adulting,' 'investment,' and 'retirement' were common in conversations," added Engberg.
YouTube Triumphs, for Now
The tumult of the potential TikTok ban, and the constant changing of the rules and algorithms, are helping creators retreat to their comfort zone: YouTube. Nearly two-thirds of #GenZ now identify as creators, per YouTube’s latest Culture and Trends report. The study goes on to say that only a small fraction of creators are actually earning income from their efforts. With so much interest, competition for ad dollars is fierce. This interesting clip, generated by Tim Peterson, a creator at VidCon, shows a sampling of attendees who love YouTube. Jim Louderback writes that YouTube is already old media, but unlike other old media (say, the broadcast television networks), it remains laser-focused on long-term viewer satisfaction, rather than the whims of a programmer (say, like the networks) or the politics of an owner (say, like TikTok).
AI and the Creators
Jim Louderback, one of my partners in building the Creator Lab at the NAB Show, thinks AI wasn’t much of a topic at VidCon. That’s probably because most creators have already adopted AI in their workflow. “AI has cooled off as a dominant
topic, as creators are looking for more breakthrough products, rather than hyped-up tools that don’t deliver and promises that seem locked in closed beta. For now, it is fading into the background, which is probably where it should have been all along,” says Louderback. My guess is that adoption has been swift and somewhat hubbub-free. A study reported by Amplify found that 63% of respondents say they plan to use AI in executing their influencer campaigns, alongside 27.1% who think they might. Only 9.9% gave an unequivocal no to the question.
Bottom Line
Like poets, artists, actors, and countless creators before them, there’s a top 1% and a struggling group behind them. And don’t forget that creators are not just MrBeast wannabes. VidCon focuses on a sliver of the content-generation world. Think about how many creators will find their way to the immersive worlds of AR and VR, the virtualization of broadcasting,
synthetic human creation, and more. We’ve just begun to imagine content creation for a new generation.
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