5 Predictions for the Creator Economy in 2022

Editor’s note: This piece is part of our Columnist Network series, which explores the tactical thoughts and actions from Adweek’s community of high-level experts. More brands, more creators Let’s start with one that might seem obvious: We’ve seen significant growth in the creator space over the last couple of years, with more creators reaching larger audiences and brands allocating their marketing dollars to work with them. Broadly, this is in large part driven by the emergence and impact of TikTok and the subsequent changes at Instagram and YouTube as a result, as well as by Gen Z and their natural integration of internet content and culture into their lives. Creating content is normal for Gen Z, and creating content for other cohorts is becoming increasingly normal as the barriers to entry are lowered and we see the cool kids doing it. All of this means there are going to be more creators and brands working together in 2022 than ever before, and if your marketing plan doesn’t feature creators in 2022, you’re missing a required component. It’s no longer a fun add-on—it’s increasingly becoming the core marketing plan. Every platform will onboard creators All the major platforms are onboarding creators and will continue to do so as they realize it’s a turf that needs to be built and defended. You’ll see some surprising platforms like Pinterest (a natural home for creators) and Reddit (I’m intrigued to see how this manifests) also onboarding creators. I would not be surprised if Waze has a plan for creators, too. The appeal of the stickiness and engaged audiences is too great to ignore, and a new epigram or adage might be, “All platforms are creator platforms.” Creators are going to be platform-ubiquitous, and that is a fantastic opportunity for marketers. Less commodification, more scale I’ve written a few times about the dangers of the commodification of creators. Creators are not a work-for-hire, cheap production resource, nor are they an anonymous, interchangeable resource delivered programmatically. Taking either of those approaches doesn’t tap into the true potential at play; creators are the closest a marketer can get to meaningful word-of-mouth marketing at scale—arguably the holy grail for us all. When you think of creators this way, you tend to take a more thoughtful approach in selecting the right creator talent, delivering smart, insight-backed creative and reaching your audience through performant media. We’re going to see more marketers paying more attention to their creator campaign executions in order to unlock word-of-mouth and less so treating it as something that can be outsourced and then largely ignored. Those who lean in will reap the rewards in 2022. Venture capital investment and product collaboration We’re going to see a (further) flood of VC money to the creator space, even as talk of too many unicorns and a tech bubble percolates in the background. Creators are appealing for VC funding as marketing dollar growth continues to move to creator campaigns, and the ways in which we’ve unlocked the potential to market and monetize creators has yet to be fully revealed. Creators might have their own merch, but what’s next? Further, brands that are able to collaborate with creators on products and services are going to find success. Think of it as a distributed approach for your brand, where with every collaboration you give your brand away and, by doing so, reach far more people in more meaningful ways. New technologies and applications It’s easy to throw nonfungible tokens (NFTs) onto a list of 2022 predictions—but let’s use them as an example. Almost every day, new and interesting applications of emerging technologies like NFTs are cropping up; some will fall by the wayside, and some will become the killer use case, getting major traction. The creator space is one to watch when it comes to these new technologies, as the applications are numerous and the ability to execute is easily accessible. Any new technology currently being experimented should be considered through a creator lens. We’ll see some very compelling ideas crop up in 2022, which might blow the corners of the marketing space wide open. Social commerce and livestream shopping are ones to keep an eye on.

Columnist Network

5 Predictions for All Things Creator Economy

Spoiler alert: 2022 will see more brands and platforms teaming up with creators

More brands, more creators

Will Eagle

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