Need to break into Creator Economy? Here is how you can make it happen

Authored by Janie Lim, Senior Marketing Director of Adobe’s Digital Media Business in Asia Pacific

Content creation is easier than ever in 2022, with a fast-growing creator economy that businesses in the digital space can tap into. The fastest-growing “Creator Economy” refers to micro-entrepreneurs creating content as a business. It is an industry built by over 50 million independent content creators, curators, and community builders, including social media influencers, bloggers, and videographers. It includes people of all ages from across the world, creating content for money in hundreds of languages.

You can make the best of this industry by creating quality, tailored content for your consumers without spending the extra money on getting known celebrities, equipment, or space. Most likely, you will already have a digital existence on major social media channels like Instagram and YouTube and can leverage content creators on these platforms to bring more credible and customised content for your business through collaborations, influencer marketing, and paid promotions.

As content consumption across platforms increases, you must keep up with the demand by constantly creating fresh and relatable content. Therefore, understanding the trends in the creator economy can help build your approach.

Independent, credible content - Content creators as micro-entrepreneur

Content creators are becoming founders and business owners, sometimes even with small teams to help create and promote content. Instead of creating exclusive content for only one business, the idea is to be independent and create tailored content for a range of different companies. Typically, most creators like to build a persona and brand for themselves that can be monetised - something that inevitably becomes the primary selling point. This can also bring serious credibility as they are perceived as authentic users of a brand rather than paid celebrities that promote anything they're given.

Influencer Marketing and supporting agencies

As influencers and their followers are on the rise, so are the marketing agencies that support them. Influencer marketing agencies provide visibility, a platform for discoverability, and often the tools to create content, such as a fully equipped studio, recording and editing tools, software, etc. They also connect influencers or high-growth potential content creators with businesses looking for similar content, further driving the economy’s overall growth. Based on your requirements, you can either approach a creator directly for your content or go through an agency.

Direct funding from fans

Another fast-growing trend in the content economy is creators gaining a fan following for themselves outside the realm of the media they create. For example, a decade ago, the only revenue source for bloggers on YouTube was what they earned from the platform itself, based on their content popularity. Today, those very bloggers not only earn from YouTube but also through brand sponsorships on Instagram, Snapchat and other social media platforms, or even directly from their fans, through channels like Patreon, GoFundMe, and Kickstarter. You can choose the best content creators for your brand based on which social media you already exist on and choosing popular or trending creators in that space.

Technology innovation

The digital technology industry is a sector powered majorly by the creator economy. Creators are constantly looking for better, faster, easier tools to create and edit their content. The past few years have seen it all, from more diverse filters to better recording technology to user-friendly editing software. Gone are the days of recording and editing lengthy videos for hours to create five minutes of content. Today, creators can make short transformation videos with filters within apps like Instagram and TikTok without using external editing software. Moreover, content creation tools like Adobe's Premiere Pro, which includes Photoshop and Illustrator, offer the option of editing long-form content efficiently and with ease. Tools as such help you effortlessly pick the best fit for your brand's content needs and get content on-demand.

The metaverse is also posited to be the future of digital interaction. We believe brands need to prepare now to make the most of the many opportunities, such as immersive customer experiences and efficiencies in internal business processes. It is an exciting new era and one that is set to change the way we work, play and connect. Our 3D and immersive collaborative content creation products, such as Adobe Substance 3D and Adobe Aero, are industry leaders in creating today's immersive experiences, including games, immersive commerce, and augmented reality environments

Benefits for Businesses

If there’s one undeniable fact about the COVID-19 pandemic, it is that it has kindled an almost unfathomable fire in the content space. Never had the world seen content consumption like during the pandemic, and innumerable businesses have further oiled the fire by using this to their advantage. If there was ever a time for you to focus on content marketing, it is now.

The past few years have seen the birth of many new-age media platforms and developments in existing ones, leading to shorter, easy-to-make, and easy-to-consume content. As a result, many users of media platforms started spending more extended periods on them, consuming more and more content, and growing the need for new entrants in the creator space. This has, in turn, led to a growth in the number of creators, creation tools, and agencies.

You have an endless choice when it comes to picking the right creators for your brand and will never again have to settle for mediocre content for your business. The sky is the limit for what creators can do in this space and how you can benefit from their innovative work!