Although the creator economy is growing and changing rapidly, there are not many Reports about their space activity, making it difficult for stakeholders to understand what goes on behind the creation process. The Unicorn Linktree, publishes a report with the results of a survey of 9.500 creators, which helps illuminate some general trends in how creators are trying to succeed on social media.
It's easier than ever to become a creator: according to figures from LinktreeMore than 200 million people could be classified as creators, which the company defines as anyone who uses their influence and creativity to monetize their audience, regardless of the platforms they use. But the study found that 39% of creators, regardless of their income level, reported that they must constantly take steps to reduce stress; in fact, 13% of full-time creators say they are extremely stressed.
Credits: LinkTree
This tension makes sense. Creators don't just pose in interesting clothes on Instagram and dance in any way on TikTok. They're running small businesses, which often require them to be "on" at all hours of the day, dealing with a constant barrage of Instagram comments, client emails, and probably overdue bills, as anyone who's done any freelance work knows that paying at the agreed time is a fluke. It's not just about posting videos - it's about writing scripts, filming, editing, marketing, accounting, and anything else a business requires.
But one of the report's most shocking revelations is that creators are leaving money behind in the process, he says. Linktree. Only 12% of full-time creators make more than $50.000 a year, while 46% of full-time creators make less than $1.000 a year (…which begs the question, who are those people making 1000 a year working full time? Are there more amateur, retired influencers than you might think?). Linktree also found that there is no direct correlation between time spent creating content and annual revenue. 32% of creators earning up to $10.000 a year spend more than ten hours a week creating content, while 52% of creators earning between $50.000 and $100.000 spend less than ten hours a week creating content. create new content.
Linktree estimates that 66% of creators view their online activities as a sideline, while 36% of creators have only been creating content for a year or less. Of those creators, whom Linktree classified as “beginners”, only 6% have earned more than $10.000. 35% have monetized but have not earned enough to have a "living income", while 59% have not monetized yet.
Credits: LinkTree
An earlier report on the economy of creators of Influencer Marketing Hub y neoreach showed that agreements with brands were the main source revenue for creators. But Linktree confirm that it is not true. According to data from Linktree, 70% of creators earn less than 10% of their total revenue from brand partnership, indicating that brand partnerships are not reliable or consistent sources of revenue. Additionally, 12% of creators earn less than $100 per brand collaboration.
Please, they are worth more than that amount of money!. It is incomparable with mass media and general ads in terms of effectiveness, creativity, respect for the brand, etc.
Perhaps this means that creators are benefiting from things like YouTube ad revenue, Patreon membership, merch sales, creator funding, etc. Also, it's worth remembering that this is not a survey of a specific brand of influencers; is a survey of 9.500 users of Linktree throughout the creator space. So while a recipe Instagrammer might partner with their favorite gluten-free noodle company, a YouTuber might keep that AdSense money for themselves.
“68% of part-time creators earn less than 1K,” said Eric Jacks, chief strategy officer at Collab, Inc., who was associated with Linktree in this studio. "This research underscores how difficult it can be to become a creator and how important it is for creators to find partners, platforms and services that streamline monetization opportunities."
According to these results, Linktree recommends that creators find a specific niche, citing that 37% of niche creators got brand collaborations, compared to 26% of more general creators. After all, there is more competition in the "kitchen" than in "kitchen hacks for vegans who unfortunately are allergic to soy and therefore cannot eat tofu, tempe, or frozen chicken nuggets."
Finally, he demonstrates he finds that having a smaller, highly engaged audience helps creators monetize more effectively than a large, minimally engaged audience. This makes sense, as many brands require potential influencer partners to share information about audience engagement rates, not just number of followers.
This new data helps to better understand the breadth of the maker economy and the struggles its participants face. But of course, no creator guide is unique.
