Bridging the creator gap Monetising social video’s micro-communities
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20,000 foot view: The pandemic-induced boom in content creation has saturated social video platforms at a time when creators are battling a downturn in digital advertising revenues. These dual pressures of less exposure and dwindling financial returns have put pressure on mid-tier creators; the community that derives all their creator income from advertising, subscriptions, and donations, but have subscale audience to superstar creators. Mid-tier creators can fight back by forging groups that enable them to stand out above the waves, and to bolster their commercial clout and negotiation power. While platforms could perceive this as a potential threat, those that choose to empower mid-tier creators can gain a first-mover advantage over rivals when it comes to keeping creators happy.
Key insights
- Platforms are focused on nurturing early-stage and creators, without providing mid-tier creators the growth tools needed to future stars
- Reappraising the needs of mid-tier creators can new revenue streams
- The number hours per week that creators on producing content has grown in 2021 to in 2022
- Mid-tier creators marry their unique audience intelligence their collective scale to provide for mainstream marketers, which can the top-tier creators
- Social platforms capitalize on communities’ feedback to to help build features that creators to better prosper and motivated to stay on the
- As time becomes more constrained post-lockdown, collaborative tactics can consolidate users’ favourite into one viewing experience
Companies and brands mentioned in this report: Awesamdude, BadBoyHalo, Callahaniscool, Discord, Dream, DropsByPonk, Facebook Gaming, GeorgeNotFound, itsAlyssa, jschlatt, Ludwig Ahgren, Minecraft, Sapnap, Tarik Celik, Technoblade, The Dream SNP, TikTok, TommyInnit, Twitch, YouTube
Definitions:
Early-stage creator: A creator who is making no income from creating or has made a small amount from the platform’s entry-level creator programs
Mid-tier creator: A part-time or full-time creator who derives all their creator income from advertising, subscriptions, and donations. They have no meaningful affiliate sponsorship, or platform deals. They have a substantial viewership but remain sub-scale to the biggest creators
Top-tier creator: A full-time creator who has an exclusive deal with a platform, or significant sponsorship deals, that supplement a large subscription, advertising, and donations income