💥 Linktree Creator Report Reveals Key Insights on Global Creator Economy

What does the data tell us about the real state of things?

Hey Guys,

As you know I like to think and talk about all things Creator Economy. So there’s been a new report that I think sheds a lot of light on the actual state of affairs for many of us. This article is like the Nielsen of Influencer economy and I'm here for it. How about you?

How Big is the Creator Economy Getting?

⚡️So what’s going on?

Linktree, the link-in-bio category leader and creator enabler, released its proprietary 2022 Creator Report of key trends and industry insights with data from more than 9,500 creators across the globe.

🍍 Linktree's ground-breaking research has uncovered one of the industry's greatest mysteries - just how large is the burgeoning creator economy? According to the data, there are 200 million individuals using their influence, creativity, or skills to aggregate and monetize their audience.

The Stats, Numbers and Figures

🌏 So this is pretty revealing guys listen closely:

Five key findings stand out from the survey results:

• Despite popular belief, the creator economy has expanded well beyond sponsored Instagram posts:

  • 70% of creators earn less than 10% of total income from brand partnerships

  • Working with brands is neither a reliable nor a consistent stream of revenue for most creators

  • Nearly 70% of creators have not completed any brand partnerships on their social channels

  • 53% of creators earn under $100 from a single brand collaboration

• Niche creators are seeing unexpected success:

  • More creators are realizing the value of connecting with an engaged audience united by unique interests - 66% consider themselves niche creators

  • 7% of niche creators earn over $100K USD per year vs 5% of non-niche creators

  • 37% of niche creators had a brand collaboration vs 26% of non-niche creators

• Creators are leaving money on the table with a significant opportunity to monetize:

  • 59% of beginner* creators have not monetized yet

  • Just 6% of beginner* creators have earned over $10k USD

  • 12% of full-time creators make over $50k USD

• It's easier than ever to become a creator:

  • 36% of creators have only been creating content for less than a year

  • Newbies see TikTok as their largest platform (12%)

• Creators are battling burnout, regardless of income level:

  • Full-time creators feel burnout the most with 13% saying they're extremely/consistently stressed vs 9% of part-time creators

  • 39% of creators report consistently taking measures to relieve stress

Learn more about the findings of the 2022 Creator Report here

So to turn this into normal talk:

• Creators are on the poor side, think gig-economy hustlers

• Creators don’t make a ton on Sponsored posts, in the end. (Kind of a myth)

• While many participate in the Creator Economy, there are comparatively few “winners” (something like top 10% makes 80% of the income). Think classic pyramid structure.

• Niche Creators do comparatively well. Substack is a testament to this fact.

So for us on Substack, I think you can expect 80% from Subscription revenue and around 20% from Sponsored content, if you do things right and depending on your vertical.

The Stressed Out Creators

Inspite of not making much money, Creators (like a social media manager) are pretty stressed the fucked out. The study found that 39% of creators — regardless of their income level — reported they consistently must take measures to reduce stress; in fact, 13% of full-time creators say they’re extremely stressed.

This is kind of worrisome for our mental health guys! Only 12% of full-time creators made over $50,000, that’s barely a living wage with inflation, which means tons of Creators if that’s their full-time gig, actually live in poverty. It is what it is, in 2022.

We have to give some credit to Linktree for conducting the survey. It’s not a huge sample size, but 9,500 is enough. Creators can use Linktree to streamline their online identity, and to showcase and personalize their profile in the following ways. Founded by brothers Alex and Anthony Zaccaria and Nick Humphreys in 2016, Linktree is headquartered in Melbourne, Australia. Anyways. What else did we learn?

• Approximately 70% of creators earn only a fraction of their total income from brand deals, according to Linktree’s first Creator Report, which surveyed its customer base of online creatives, entrepreneurs and small businesses. 

• The passion economy isn’t so glamorous after all. For many creators, finding ways to monetize their passions has been “a challenge we are more determined than ever to solve”, Alex Zaccaria, co-founder and chief executive of Linktree says.

The Part Time Side Gig Creators

TechCruch reminds us that though the creator economy is rapidly growing and changing, there isn’t much existing research about the space, making it difficult for stakeholders to understand what’s going on behind the ring light.

13% of full-time creators say they’re extremely stressed. That’s a high-rate of miserable folk who probably shouldn’t be doing this. YouTube and Instagram Creators seem to work on pretty toxic deadlines and situations at times.

Many Creators it turns out skip “brand partnerships and sponsored deals” altogether. The report found that two out of every three creators had not engaged in any brand partnerships at all, and nearly 70% of creators do not use brand partnerships on their social channels to earn income. The myth that we are shady backroom dealers on IG is sort of a crazy myth. Albeit a funny one!

Creators are running a small business, but many of them are leaving money on the table. Many of us sort of suck at monetization and waste time on things that don’t deliver real ROI. Ain’t that the truth!

Many Creators are just dipping their toes into the Creator Economy, and it’s barely even a side gig for them. Eric Jacks, chief strategy officer at Collab, Inc. which partnered with Linktree on this research, said the finding that 68% of part-time creators make less than $1000 annually underscored the market opportunity to better equip creators to fund the content they make. That’s pretty crazy, though I can imagine a lot of Twitch and Medium folk fit into that category.

The Bare Bones Reality in 2022

Running a self-employed indie gig is hard guys! Many of us will fail at this. Creators aren’t just posing in cute clothes on Instagram and doing silly TikTok dances. They’re running small businesses, which often require them to be “on” at all hours of the day. Substack (bless the heart of readers) is very difficult to scale. Still the TAM is pretty wild.

Creators as a group will continue to grow, and fast.

• It’s a winner-takes all gig, many of the most successful don’t have to work much at all according to the data. Those weekly Newsletter writers just blow my mind! I have 10 Newsletters, and most of them are more than once a week for sure.

• Linktree also found that there’s not a direct correlation between time spent on content creation and annual income. Thirty-two percent of creators making up to $10,000 per year spent more than 10 hours a week on content creation, while 52% of creators making between $50,000 and $100,000 dedicated less than 10 hours a week to making new content. That’s still kind of shocking.

• The Ecosystem is still very much in a Carrot phase of growth, where the promise and allure takes you through some dark days and epic struggles.

The Hustle is Real

Linktree estimates that 66% of creators see their online pursuits as a side hustle, while 36% of creators have only been making content for a year or less. Of those creators, whom Linktree classifies as “beginners,” only 6% have earned over $10,000.

And should you focus on a niche? Hell yeah!

How many followers do you need to be considered a Pro? 10k, apparently.

Creators are increasingly speaking to niche audiences

The report also highlighted a shift in the industry’s valuing of giant followings over niche, and more engaged audiences. 

This comes as businesses looking to partner with influencers increasingly look to work with people that align with their brand’s values and audience.

Of those surveyed, 66% said they consider themselves “niche” creators.

These creators (62%) believe creating specialized content helped them maintain their engagement. 7% of niche creators earn over US$100,000 ($134,000) a year compared with 5% of non-niche creators. 

I’ve noticed too that Substack Creators that focus on a niche, tend to monetize a lot better. Others with great communities but no niche tend to get mad if you point this out to them (Sorry Conor!).

The “believers” though. Thirty-five percent have monetized, but haven’t earned enough to make a “livable income,” while 59% haven’t monetized yet. Haha, yikes.

Finding the right tools to monetize seems to be key. This vital research underscores how difficult it can be to be a creator, and just how important it is for creators to find partners, platforms and services that streamline monetization opportunities. Linktree is of course trying to advertise their own solutions, but yeah, we need to focus on a few. That’s what diversification is all about.

• Niche Creators seem to get more access to Sponsors and Brand Deals. This suggests being a niche creator might be more easy to monetize due to this greater access to helping businesses in the same niche grow awareness.

The survey also showed 37% of niche creators consistently worked with brands, compared with 26% of the creators who didn’t consider their content as catering to a specific audience. 

Try to Build Traction not Numbers: Takeaway

Finally, the study finds that having a highly engaged, smaller audience helps creators monetize more effectively than a large, minimally engaged one. This makes sense, since many brands require potential influencer partners to share information about audience engagement rates, not just their follower counts.

So if Niche followers could pay you more, so be it, they will. Don’t be afraid to boost your rates if you are offering quality information or inspiration to a well-defined niche.

If you can Break Into the 1% Top of Creators You may not have to work very hard

These are also pretty crazy fields, once you’ve done your homework, you might literally be able to FIRE. (financial independence retire early). 10 hours a week? Haha. One of the more amusing myths is also about TikTok. The report said just 12% of newcomers saw TikTok, as their largest platform. 

Food 🍕 for thought yo!

Thanks for reading! Did anything from the report surprise you?