Make the most of the creator economy

By Andy Karuza, Marketing Manager at NachoNacho and founder of several technology startups.

The rise of the content creator has been well documented over the past 15 years, but the economics that have come with it are reaching levels never seen before and growing exponentially. The creator economy is estimated at over $100 billion, and more than 50 million people worldwide consider themselves creators, but the vast majority are hobbyists.

There are approximately 2 million professional content creators, and nearly half of them make their living on YouTube. Instagram ranks second with about 500,000 professional creators, and Twitch's live streaming service has about 300,000. For the 48 million amateur creators, Instagram is the number one option.

One of the most well-known ways to make a living is by creating video content that people want to watch, and the YouTube Partner Program was one of the pioneers in this area. It was built in 2007, and if a creator meets the membership criteria, they can put ads on their videos. YouTube captures 55% of ad revenue and creators keep the remaining 45%

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, is catching up in this space. It just recently announced a similar deal for creators. It will also allow creators to keep 55% of ad revenue while the company takes 45%. It focuses on the Instagram Reels feature, which can also be shared on Facebook.

TikTok is rolling out a new way for creators to make money on its platform. TikTok Pulse allows advertisers to insert brands into the top 4% of videos on the platform. But creators must have at least 100,000 subscribers to participate in the first phase of the program. Until now, the only way brands could advertise with TikTok creators was through affiliate marketing.

Affiliate marketing is one of the most common strategies used by brands to leverage social media influencers. It is also one of the most common forms of advertising encountered by consumers when using social media. The relationship exists directly between the brand and the creator outside of social media platforms. Creators must disclose their relationship with the seller, and the brand leverages the inherent trust established between the affiliate and their followers. In