The Rise of the Creator Economy in 2021 and the Way Ahead

‘Creator economy’ has become one of those words that created quite a buzz in 2021. Content creators from all walks of life have gained access to a wide range of audiences for their engaging content. Believe it or not, the creator economy is pegged at $100 billion dollars as of today with Youtube registering a $30 billion stream of revenue. Creators are increasingly monetizing their passions by leveraging this new found popularity. From viral challenges to brand promotions initiated by social media platforms, there are several avenues today for creators to make money.

The boom has also witnessed the emergence of short video apps and social media behemoths like Youtube, Instagram Reels, and Snapchat launching creator funds to tap in the opportunity in the short video segment. What gives them the creators and micro-influencers the push is access to a substantially large user base at significantly lower costs. Creators are using the best content creation tools to leverage the power of creating content.

Creator Economy

Why the paradigm shift?

  • Cheap Internet Costs: The cost of wireless data(as of June 2020) stood at a meagre Rs 10.55 per GB enabling internet access at a rapid pace
  • Affordable Handset Prices: 
  • The COVID-19 Pandemic: The pandemic accelerated the creator economy with a shift in workplace policies and WFH flexibility.. The creators saw this as a chance to do something they had a passion for as a side-hustle for tertiary income.
  • The emergence of low code or no-code tools

The basic belief that anyone can rise to be a successful creator is the primary driving factor behind the booming creator economy.

Opportunities to Monetize

Are content creators tethered to one source of monetization? No. 

Innovative avenues have opened up such as

  • Sponsored Content
  • Gig Marketplaces(ex: Fiverr, Upwork, Freelancer)
  • Crowdsourcing(creators earning money from subscribers through memberships)
  • Followers/Patreon driven platforms(ex: Patreon,Indiegogo)
creator economy

Domain expertise of creators in today’s age extends to diverse areas such as photography, music, dance classes, baking, fashion, make-up, educational content creators, and the like.

Challenges of these platforms

While it’s worthwhile to say the creator economy has rode a wave by way of leveraging multiple social media platforms, the question remains pertinent, ‘Are they really empowering creators?’. These platforms are not inherently built to enable creators in the long run. This is due to multiple factors like their structural algorithm and their business model and flows. Due to these limitations, a lot of the middle brass of the creators from unconventional domains are not able to scale up their business or in some cases even launch their business idea. The idea of democratizing content of any kind is not a fully realized dream 

creator economy

Giving Voice to Unconventional Content Creators

Solving this conundrum, Exly, a platform specifically designed for creators and professionals from every field, enables creators to stamp their identity, gives them a sense of ownership and at the same time gives them custom tools to launch and grow their business. Its young founders firmly believe that no creator in the modern age should miss out on an opportunity to launch their business online without being dependent on other channels. 

Atma-Nirbharta of the creator is their primary goal. 

The platform makes them self-sufficient by allowing them to make their own website with several customizable templates, list and publish class/course bookings, promote them on social media through state-of-the-art marketing integration tools and track leads and revenue. In a nutshell, it combines the reach of social media platforms with high-utility tools like a powerful dashboard and an advanced lead capturing funnel so that the creator focuses on his skill and lets the platform manage the more complicated parts of his/her business. Currently, Exly is a 20,000+ strong community and is rising by the day as more and more creators from unorthodox domains are finding a platform that does exactly what they want.

Why Exly is a hit with unorthodox content creators is it gives them the power, flexibility, and bandwidth to launch their business independently. Two groups of creators who have benefited immensely are fitness coaches and astrology/tarot card, readers. While it has proved to be a boon for fitness instructors who struggled to manage their growing business and the hassles of tracking payments, classes, 1-1 appointments, it has also helped niche domain professionals like tarot card readers to scale their niche segment and find fresh channels of customer acquisition and engagement, With Exly, they opine, it is easier to find leads and retain long-term customers. Plus, their personal brand gets a push.

Just the tip of the iceberg?

Creators now have more opportunities than ever with several doors opening up. For instance, Instagram influencers now can launch their own fashion and lifestyle brands, fitness coaches can launch their own private fitness gear, writers and freelance content writers can launch paid newsletters, and consultants can get a bunch of consulting opportunities and speaking gigs as keynote speakers at business conferences, all thanks to the creator economy boom.

The creator’s fraternity is the ecosystem and emerging tools are the currency of this ecosystem. With evolving trends in technology like AI, and increased automation, the barriers to entry for creators will be low and micro-entrepreneurship and unconventional professions will get a much-needed momentum shift. In addition, with no-code technology platforms, automation means more creators will get a chance to showcase their creativity and build an audience.

Creators get to do what they love, consumers have access to a variety of content across multiple channels and creator-enabling platforms give a voice to the unheard and unconventional creators. The ‘creator economy’ juggernaut is set to roll big in the times to come. Let’s wait and watch.

Shriya Sarang

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