Creator Economy Scoop: When small creators reign supreme
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The Creator Economy Scoop is a roundup of the weekly news, data and trends that are defining the industry. (graphic by Lindsay Hill)
Smaller audiences mean more engagement on Instagram, YouTube is pushing the power of its short-form product and a creator's divorce just made way for her new Hyundai. Here's the rest of this week's scoop:
Quick numbers 💯
25% - more than 25% of channels in the YouTube Partnership Program are now earning through revenue sharing on YouTube Shorts [1]
$70B - YouTube has paid $70B to creators, artists and media companies over the last three years [2]
61% of top beauty brands are working to increase repeat purchases [3]
57% of top beauty brands are working to solve product recognition [4]
77% of Gen Z prefers video [5]
What you should know ☕
Impact of revenue sharing on YouTube Shorts
- More than 25% of channels in YPP are now earning through revenue sharing on YouTube Shorts
- More than 80% of YPP creators are also earning through other YPP monetization features on YouTube–fan funding, YouTube Premium, BrandConnect, Shopping, etc.
- YouTube has paid $70B to creators, artists and media companies over the last three years
- Sydney Morgan (7.6M subscribers)
- Morgan fell in love with makeup during the pandemic when she was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease
- “I am very comfortably making a living off that revenue alone full time unlike any other platform. As a hybrid account, I still make the majority of my revenue from Shorts.”
Target and Disneyland’s creative use of Instagram’s carousel “hold and scroll” feature
- They both use the “hold and scroll” to make stop motion content and tell a story through images
- This could be a really cool way for creators to engage with their audience using Carousels
Florida bans kids under 14 from social media
- HB3, which comes into effect in January 2025, will ban Florida children under 14 from joining social media
- 61% of top beauty brands are working to increase repeat purchases
- 57% of top beauty brands are working to solve product recognition
- 91% of beauty brands anticipate increasing creator budgets for marketing in 2024
- Beauty routines are trending six times more than beauty GRWM content
- Creator beauty mentions up 14% YoY
Instagram nano creators outperform
- Nano-influencers, with under 10,000 followers, boast the platform's highest engagement rate at 6.23%
- In contrast, TikTok’s creators with 1.5M+ followers see an average ER of 4.95%
- There is a fascinating contrast in engagement rates by influencer tier between Instagram and TikTok
Social platforms 📲
Meta 📸
- Instagram is rolling out its “link history” feature, allowing users to view all the links they’ve clicked through in the last 30 days
LinkedIn 🖇️
- LinkedIn is testing a video tab similar to TikTok’s FYP that will allow users to scroll through featured vertical videos
YouTube 📹
- Todd Beaupre, YouTube’s product lead, told creators not to delete old videos because it disrupts the connection they’ve made with their audience: "keep your videos public or unlist them."
Snapchat 🫰
- Snapchat announced users will be able to create longer videos (up to three minutes) and upload longer videos (up to five minutes) for Chats, Stories and Spotlight
Notable partnerships 📓
- This Elf Cosmetics x Liquid Death collab, which is the usually bubbly beauty brand’s foray into darker makeup trends, sold out in 45 minutes
- Hyundai x @ReesaTeesa: “I think I’ve met the one”
- The creator’s ex-husband promised her a BMW, and BMW leaned in suggesting they would gift her one, but then pulled back. Hyundai jumped at the opportunity and it’s paid off for the brand on TikTok.
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