How Big Is The Creator Economy?

I don't like the term Creator Economy, because it sounds like it's an industry but it’s not, the creator economy is reshaping sales and marketing for all categories and verticals. Today creators are taking up key roles in entertainment, education, financial services and entrepreneurship. In the future, the creator economy will leave its footprint on EVERY industry, because at the end of the day - people follow people, not brands or ideas.

A creator isn't someone who creates.
A creator is an individual who scales without permission.
(Hugo Amsellem, VP of JellySmack)

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Creator Economy by the Numbers

• 4.2 Billion Social Media Users, 200 Million Creators (Linktree)

• 51 Million Youtube Channels, 29,000 of them have over 1M in Subs (Tubics)

• Keywords “Creator” and “Influencers” rose 91% and 147% in search (Meta IQ)

• 160 venture-backed creator economy startups (Shopify)

• $13.8 Billion was spent on Influencer Marketing (Collabstr)

• Creator Economy startup investments hit $3.7B - $5B in 2021 (The Information)

• 15% of consumers subscribe to a creator’s membership site (GWI)

• 82 Million tracks and 3.6 Million podcast titles on Spotify in 2021 (Spotify)

• 1 Million paid users on Substack in November 2021 (Nieman Labs)

• Creator Economy is estimated to be $104 billion (Influencer Marketing Hub)

Building in the Creator Economy

Today, the integration of creators in brand marketing is similar to in 2015 when companies started to create their social media accounts. The creator economy will in fact become the economy.

Many startups have tapped into the creator economy by introducing platforms, tools, and applications to help creators grow. The most notable ones today are mostly membership platforms (Substack, Paetron), NFT platforms (Opensea, Royal, Mirror), Content tools (Jellysmack, Descript), E-Commerce Tools (Pietra, Merch), Knowledge Sharing (Maven, NasAcademy), Income-Sharing & Financing (Stir, Karat).

Nate O’Brien, a personal finance Youtuber has tweeted that his three biggest problems as a creator are (1) Stability, (2) Scaling Solutions (Hiring & Outsourcing), (3) Taxes, Lines of Credit, etc.

One of the hardest truths we’ll see in the future is that a lot of the creator economy ventures are building around creators’ wants instead of their needs. During the downturn of an economy, we’ll start to see great ideas weathering through the storm where others will not stand the test of time.

P.S. if you are interested in getting to know more creator-focused ventures, feel free to check out these market maps from Antler, CB Insights, Influence.co, Bessemer Venture Partners.

Conclusion

The creator economy is the new economy. As content and commerce become more intertwined, creators will become the next generation of investors, entrepreneurs, brand leaders, etc. There is never been a better time to be a creator.

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💡 This Week's News In the Creator Economy

• Ryan Trahan’s Feeding America Fundraised Reached $500,000 in Donations

• Netflix and Roku may be in Acquisition Talks

• Jericho Mencke launches first paywalled show on TikTok

• Creator Economy Platform Koji Announces "Shop the Look" Link-In-Bio App

• Web3 Social Token Powered Creator Platform Calaxy Raised $26M

• Ex-Youtube Content Strategist Matt Koval made Youtube Debut

✌️ That’s it until next time!

If you have this helpful, please subscribe for more content surrounding the creator economy. I’d love to engage and collect some feedback if you have any ideas, my DMs are always open!