Report: 200 Million People Currently Work As Online “Creatives”

There are currently 200 million individuals, or “creatives” using their influence, creativity, or skills to aggregate and monetise their audience, according to new data by Linktree. You can view the full report HERE.

Linktree has today released its proprietary 2022 Creator Report of key trends and industry insights with data from more than 9,500 creators across the globe.

The ground-breaking research has uncovered one of the industry’s greatest mysteries, that being the exact size of the burgeoning creator economy.

Besides the aforementioned 200 million individuals aggregating and monetising their audience, Linktree also found several other illuminating insights through its report and accompanying survey.

According to the 2022 Creator Report, the creator economy has expanded beyond sponsored Instagram posts, with 70 per cent of creators earning less than 10 per cent of total income from brand partnerships.

Working with brands was found to be neither a reliable nor a consistent stream of revenue for most creators, with nearly 70 per cent of creators having not completed any brand partnerships on their social channels.

In fact, 53 per cent of creators earn under $100 from a single brand collaboration

Linktree also found niche creators were seeing unprecedented success. Currently, 66 per cent consider themselves “niche creators”, with seven per cent of niche creators earning over $US100,000 ($A134,000) per year, compared with five per cent of non-niche creators.

A further 37 per cent of niche creators had a brand collaboration, compared with 26 per cent of non-niche creators.

Creators were also found to be leaving money on the table with a significant opportunity to monetise.

A surprising 59 per cent of “beginner” creators have not yet monetised, while just six per cent these of beginner creators have earned over $US10,000, compared with 12 per cent of full-time creators who amass over $US50,000.

Perhaps what’s not as surprising is that it’s now easier than ever to become a creator, with only 36 per cent of those in the sector having been creating content for only less than a year. TikTok seems to be their platform of choice.

While this all seems enviable, Linktree found creators, regardless of income level, are battling burnout.

Full-time creators feel burnout the most with 13 per cent saying they’re extremely or consistently stressed, versus nine per cent of part-time creators.

Linktree also found 39 per cent of creators reported consistently taking measures to relieve stress.

“It is impossible to imagine our online ecosystem without creators. Without them, it simply would not exist and their influence and prominence is growing by the day,” said Linktree CEO and co-founder, Alex Zaccaria.

“Our team’s mission is to develop products and integrations for creators that evolve with them and make their lives easier.

“The feedback we are driving as a business enables that process and demonstrates why we built this business in the first place – for our creators.

“For many creators, finding ways to monetise their passions has been a challenge we are more determined than ever to solve.”

Eric Jacks, chief strategy officer at Collab, Inc. who partnered with Linktree on this research, said, “68 per cent of part-time creators make less than 1K. 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 monetisation opportunities.

“Linktree does just this, acting as a gateway to other revenue streams that contribute to monthly income and makes the creators job a little easier.”

These insights from global creators will enable Linktree to continue building new solutions customised to the needs of creators, ensuring Linktree remains easy to use and best promotes streamlining the creator economy at large, developing fresh, leading edge products.

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