Trends and Predictions for the Creator Economy
As social media rapidly evolves, so does the language we use to define the people shaping its future. The London event once known as the Influencer Marketing Show, recently rebranded itself "CreatorFest - the festival for the Creator Economy", reflecting a shift in how those who create online content think of themselves.
Many creators never set out to be an “influencer”. They started creating content to share their knowledge, to entertain or simply to connect with other people like them. For some, the word “influencer” now has negative connotations, implying they’ve “sold out” in some way.
CreatorFest, the one-day event on 24 October 2024, featured over 40 speaker sessions, exhibition stands and plenty of networking areas. Here are some of the themes and take-aways from attending several sessions on the day.
Brands: How to get the most from working with popular Creators
Consumers are becoming more savvy. They can tell if a creator they follow isn’t really into your brand or product, or they’re not being themselves when they talk about it. Equally, creators with influence are becoming more selective about who they partner with.
Here’s what creators like GK Barry and Sam Chapman say they look for in brand relationships:
Green Flags - the brand is:
Red Flags- the brand or their agency:
Creators: How to build a following and get brand deals
As well as juggling content planning, production and publishing, and engaging with your audience across multiple platforms, it’s also critical to keep on top of marketing yourself in a brand-friendly way. A few tips from Creator-led sessions and Snap Inc. , OTG and Lickd :
Future Predictions
Several of the speakers at CreatorFest reflected on what’s changed over the last 10-15 years.
Increasing Quality, But Also Noise
OGs like Gary Thompson , Sam Chapman and Hannah Witton built their following with content that compared to today's higher production content, could be seen as amateurish.
The bar is constantly being raised on production quality. AI is making it easier than ever for creators with limited production skills to produce professional quality content. The quantity of content being published will no doubt increase at a rapid rate, putting pressure on brands trying to cut through all the noise and then find, manage and assess the impact of creator content, something that was a theme of the presentation by Colby Smith of Bazaarvoice .
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Attention Spans and Forgotten Content
As attention spans get shorter, several speakers observed long-form content like podcasts, articles and TV show-style videos seeing a resurgence, with high profile social media creators like GK Barry crossing over into mainstream media. It seems people are starting to crave more than superficial, bite-sized overviews of topics.
From my days as a trainer, I know that the statistics on forgetting are shocking. Unless you make notes and keep reviewing your notes, you’ll very quickly forget most of what you’ve learned. Research conducted over 100 years ago, showed that people typically forgot 75% of what they learned within a day or two. Now, I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s down to a few minutes or even a few seconds.
When content is so easily forgotten, I can see the importance of forging longer term partnerships between creators and brands. We can no longer rely on consumers remembering a one-off piece of branded content, unless it’s truly exceptional.
Full-Funnel, Integrated Marketing
We need to move beyond “influencer marketing” generally meaning a one-off ad designed to close the sale, and partner with creators at all stages of the marketing funnel. Social content then becomes part of an integrated marketing strategy - a theme touched on by Gareth Harrison and Amelia Wollaston at SocialChain in their session.
The Rise of Employee Generated Content
During my time at eBay UK , I built an in-house video production team, repurposing a meeting room as a fully functional video recording studio. We used this to film short explainer videos teaching sellers how to be more successful on eBay and increase their sales. The videos featuring employees (myself included), were popular with sellers because they brought a human face to a technology company as well as showing them step-by-step how to use the product.
At CreatorFest, Breanna Cull of TRIBE shared how other brands were also beginning to tap into the power of Employee Generated Content (EGC) to create a human connection with customers and consumers. Front line employees who deal with customers every day, know how to speak to customers authentically and also know the products inside out.
It's logical that brands should be thinking about when to use both internal and external content creators to tell their story.
Lessons from B2B
Reflecting on the day, it struck me that in many ways, there’s a lot to be learned from the B2B world. B2B marketers and sales teams, who typically work on much longer sales cycle, have long known the power of endorsement by a trusted advisor at key moments in the buying cycle. Trust is earned through customer advocacy, strategic partnerships, building customer communities, and consistency.
Closing Thoughts
In a world that's been moving more and more online, it was such a pleasure to connect with and meet people face-to-face. Nothing beats making a human connection. And that's what makes the Creator Economy so powerful.
Let's finish with a couple of images from the day featuring Hannah Wilson ??? , Hannah Witton , Hannah H. (aka the 3 Hannahs) and Gary Thompson @ OTG .
Thank you for this recap and your thoughts, Hannah! As always, you compiled an easy to read recap with a ton of information! I completely agree with you on the longer term partnerships with creators that really fit the brand and the crucial and challenging part of giving them the freedom to create authentic content without too much meddling! The “EGC” part is a no-brainer for me, as I was part of your team ?? After reading all this, I just wish I had been there, too!