LatAm Tech Weekly: Special Edition: The Next Big Thing LatAm 2023 – Creators

This article is part of the LatAm Tech Weekly Series, written by Julia De Luca and powered by Nasdaq. Through Nasdaq’s global network, we partner with Latin American companies to support their entire business lifecycle to elevate their brand and access the global markets. Learn more about Latin American Listings here.

By Julia De Luca and Lucas Abreu

After a democratic vote, The Next Big Thing Deep Dive this month is focused on the Creator Economy! With such a hot topic, there are several good materials available. With that, the idea here is to synthesize and simplify, thus bringing light to the key themes revolving the subject. This is intended to be an easy read – and hopefully a more straightforward report that can be your go to guide to the theme.

As always, we will have our Thought Leader section to bring more insights and of course the LatAm market map with local startups of this sector – which was the major hit of our first deep dive. 

We consider ourselves creators – after all, we do send newsletters on a weekly basis and this actual report (apart from our day-to-day jobs). The theme therefore has a special place in our hearts since we feel the potential and impact of being a creator.

We’ll cover:

• Introduction
• Economic System of Creators Economy
• Discussions with Thought Leaders 
• What moves this market
• Opportunities
• Venture Capital investments 
• Top VCs Actively Investing in the Creator Economy
• What comes next?
• Creators Economy LatAm Market Map
• Conclusion
• Reading suggestions 

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Introduction

A bit of history:

Through time, several forms of media that interact directly with the end consumer were created. In the 9^th century, books and journals were being produced by the Chinese using woodblock. The Koreans, in turn, were also printing with movable metal type around the 12^th century. However, the invention of the first movable-type printing press came in 1436. This initiated what is called the Printing Revolution. Later came into picture radio, movies, TV and finally the internet. One thing in common among all these: content creation was controlled and centralized.

But then, came social media – and everything changed. It is true that personal blogs did exist before. However, it was rather hard to escalate the number of readers or the impact of each piece. Social media democratizes content production – and for the first time in history content for the masses is not dependent upon studios or big companies. This caused a meaningful change to our everyday lives since one is always consuming content one way or the other. With that, communicating, increasing reach, gaining relevance and thus causing an impact became easier. In fact, it gets stronger everyday. Who is the center of all of this? CREATORS.

The Creator Economy has emerged.

Some people, like Jack Conte, Patreon’s CEO, argues that we are living the “The Second Renaissance”. To refresh our minds, the Renaissance was a period of “rebirth” and progress in several fields. The period cultivated a new change in art, knowledge, and culture. It changed the way the citizens thought, with first the rediscovery of classical philosophy, literature, and art, as well as the new discoveries in travel, invention, and style.
According to him, we are living the “Second Renaissance” because the internet and social media are completely redefining the way we consume art, knowledge, dress, travel. It’s a technology that, for good and bad, is redefining society. And just to let you know, it’s only the beginning:

• There are over 4 billion people online
• Over a billion of them have a smartphone capable of creating high quality media
• Creativity and content creation online is booming
• The cost of creating content has gone down to almost zero
• More than 50 million people in the US alone describe themselves as ‘creators’
• New monetization tools mean that creators are able to make a living from their craft
• Their success is starting to impact culture, as kids aspire to become creators themselves

What is Creator Economy?

Before looking at the actual economy, let’s take a look at the personas as this comes up a lot. Creator, content creator, digital creator, or influencer—what’s the difference? Yes, it is true that these terms can be interchangeable. To be more picky, digital creators or content creators generally refer to those creating digital content – texts, blogs, videos. The broader term “creator” emerged to encompass those who may fall outside the “digital” definition. That is, sculptors, gardeners, or athletes whose primary “content” on the web is not actually created in it – but they are using social media to reach and increase their audiences through digital means and creating digital content on top of what they do offline. 

Believe it or not, the term Influencer preceded the web and its definition has evolved. And, it should not have a negative connotation as some try to put it. Today, it refers to those with larger followings who influence their audiences to engage with the content, make purchases, follow trends, or take another action. A creator may not have reached yet the influencer status, but the opposite is not true. Creator was introduced as a modern umbrella term that includes influencers. Arguably, any online creator could be considered an influencer if they have a significant dedicated audience that is inspired to engage.

There is still some dispute over the preferred words to use to describe creators and the fast-growing creator economy. It is only natural as language evolution lags technology and trends. We may indeed see more terms emerge.

In the digital era, where attention is scarce and distracted – access a public through content is for sure a competitive advantage. The internet made possible that every person or organization can communicate directly with their end consumer. And, it generated the phenomenon descried by Feremski in 2009:

Every company is a media company
Now, in 2023, we rephrased it to: 
Every person is a media company.

Creator Economy: How to monetize? We do hear a lot about this point. The fact is that creators are finding ways to monetize content directly with their fans and with big companies, without the need of a middleman. The ecosystem around these actions is what we call Creator Economy. In a more formal tone: a software-facilitated economy that allows creators and influencers to earn revenue from their creations.

Platforms (Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and others) help creators get discovered and establish an audience by investing heavily in their recommendation and curation algorithms — they solved the distribution problem for creators. The softwares mentioned on the definition above are the common platforms such as Youtube, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and others. According to Linktree “The 2022 Creator Report”, there are currently 207 million content creators worldwide. 66% are part time. However, only 1% of this figure are what we call “experts” – which are considered people that have +100k followers. Like in almost everything in life, the creator economy fits into a “Power Law” mental model. That is, a big chunk of the actual money and income and therefore the engagement is captured by the top ~1% of creators.

The same source shows us that in 2022, we expect the creator economy to generate about $60 billion of revenue with ~9% growth per year through 2024 when it may approach $75 billion of revenue. Around half of the revenues stem from ad-based video platforms, like YouTube.

Economic System of Creators Economy

The creator economy is all about creators getting money from their audience. Therefore, it is of extreme importance to understand who is the creator and who is this audience.

There is an interesting study done by Shopify on the 7 creator archetypes and personalities of creators. If you think a creator needs to be charming and necessarily with good on-camera presence, you are wrong. There are many ways to lean into your specific strengths or interests and build a personal brand around them.

Now, on to the audience of these different people!

The audience of each creator will vary because one of the key aspects is that creators are capable of building a community of like-minded people by sharing highly relevant information. The relationship with the audience happens on different platforms. Each person desires a different level of closeness with the content producer and therefore, the relationship happens on multiple platforms. Our preferred framework for understanding the relationship with the audience is the Audience Funnel shared by Alex Lieberman, founder of Morning Brew.

The concept is simple, but it allows you to:

• Think strategically about building your own audience

• Analyze the relative strength of other companies’ audiences

• Understand the similarities & differences of different audience channels

The Audience Funnel is divided into three tiers, which include:

1) Rented Audience

2) Owned Audience

3) Monetized Audience

Monetization

We have discussed the type of creators and how they deal with their audience. The last point to understand their revenue generation is through the monetization strategy. 

Here we find the first challenge of the creator’s economy: Money is concentrated in the power creators. As we mentioned, this sector follows a power rule mental model, where a small percentage of creators at the top capture the majority of the earnings and attention within the industry. This is often called the “long tail” phenomenon, where a few popular creators dominate the market while most struggle to make a living.

Currently, brand endorsements are the chief way that content creators fund their career. The key characteristics for one to be indeed successful is authenticity, and that these creators reflect genuine love/passion for the products they promote. Authentic brand endorsements come from direct relationships between brands and content creators. This approach stands in direct contrast to the marketplace model where brands and creators are “matched” without either knowing very much about the other. These are the contents that convert and engage big brands.

Source: CB Insights

This also is a reality for Brazilians creators. According to Atlântico’s Latin America Digital Report (2021), The most common monetization source for Latin American creators is still sponsored content. (55%).

Source: Future

Unfortunately, despite being at the forefront of internet and digital media consumption, the creator economy in Latin America remains underdeveloped, making it challenging for independent creators to monetize their skills or continue with their online pursuit. In other words, creators in the region still face significant barriers when it comes to translating their influence into financial gain. The same study surveyed over 5,000 creators, revealed that half of them earned less than $100 per month, and almost a quarter of them did not generate any revenue at all. It proves that it’s still hard for most of the creators to make a living from the dream. This is such a challenge that there are companies such as Brandlovrs trying to empower the longtail of creators or dedicated agencies such as InCast. Brazil is indeed a hub for the theme. If you look at the graphs below, we are in fact the country with more internet users wanting to be influencers and also the ones that purchase most from these influencers.

Discussion with Thought Leaders 

As we did in our previous reports, The Next Big Thing LatAm always invites thought leaders who understand the theme in question to help us go deeper and further. Of course, this deep dive on Creators was no different! 

1) Laura Constantini

Laura is co-founder and General Partner at Astella, a LatAm venture capital firm. She also serves as Board member of Endeavor Brazil. She started investing in 2010 and has been excited about the creators/solopreneurs space since then. She shared several interesting points as follows:

Laura is enthusiastic by nature with the creator’s landscape as she understands that Creators Economy reflects inevitable changes in work relationships. She believes that, in the long term, there is an excellent opportunity for startups to generate and capture value. From every aspect, LatAm has a chance to be one of the hub spots of Creators. Two insights came up in our conversation:

1) The infrastructure. Laura believes that it’s inevitable that the creators economy will need operating systems to facilitate content creation, management, and monetization. This operating system would provide solutions and products for creators to connect with their audience, organize their back office, and monetize their content through various channels. It is a market up for solutions, and there are several opportunities that can help creators be more efficient. 

This concept goes in the same direction as the movement advocated by a16z of As More Workers Go Solo, the Software Stack Is the New Firm.

Several niches could benefit from a creator’s economic operating system. For instance, the needs of influencers, artists, musicians, writers, and podcasters are different, and providing them with the right tools and resources will be a massive opportunity, 

2) Empowering Niches. Laura mentioned that it is of extreme importance to qualify followers and audience of each niche specially in the long tail. This is one of the most important aspects that unlock the potential of monetization for the creator. Only through a scalable way of qualifying this audience, will the monetization the long-tail be easier. The investments in the long tail tend to have a higher ROI, but to capture this, it’s mandatory to have a higher understanding of the interest and the needs of their audience. This implies a more open approach to social media aggregators.

2) Fernanda Lobão

Fernanda is an entrepreneur building her journey into the creator’s world. She is the co-founder and CEO of Final Level, a new media and digital influencer company focused in gaming and Gen-Z. Here are a bunch of insights from our conversation: 

1. Each creator as their own channel: With the rise of the internet, social media, and technological access, creators started to disrupt traditional media. This led to a movement called “new media”, in which the power of influence is getting increasingly relevant for creators, which are their own media channels. This represents a massive change for the ad and media industry. 

2. Monetization is on the edge of transformation: According to YouPix, we have 20 million creators in Brazil. On these, only ~50k monetizes monthly more than USD 500. This represents massive opportunities for the ones trying to create solutions to empower all these creative capacities. 

3. One of the facts everyone must be aware of the creators economy is how fast everything changes. Changes happen fast. Some examples include the rise of short videos, faster cultural changes, or new tools such as AI.

4. According to Fernanda, opportunities are infinite. Players with business experience can thrive in an immature market as creators. Another interesting take is that there are good opportunities for M&As, through acquiring channels for business growth. This value chain is still too fragmented.

What moves the creator’s economy

There are critical changes in this emerging market that needs to be highlighted: 

1. Competition for attention 

Time is limited, and attention is limited. Like Nick theWilde said: Attention is like oxygen for creators. Those that capture it get a chance at life, while those that can’t wither and die.

The creator economy explosion has led to an oversupply of content, with countless creators vying for attention in an increasingly crowded marketplace. As the creator economy continues to grow, this trend of oversupply is likely to become even more pronounced. The rise of social media platforms, such as TikTok and Instagram, has made it easier than ever for individuals to share their creative work with the world. While this has undoubtedly democratized the creative process, it has also led to an overwhelming volume of content. With so many creators producing so much content, it can be difficult for any one individual to stand out from the crowd.

This oversupply of content has created a challenging environment for creators looking to make a living from their work. While there are more opportunities than ever to monetize creative content, the competition for audience attention is fierce. Many creators find themselves struggling to make a sustainable income, despite having considerable talent and dedication. In order to succeed in this crowded marketplace, creators will need to find new ways to differentiate themselves and stand out from the crowd. Of course, quality is what matters the most.

2. Dependence on Social Media Platforms and the Risk to Reach

As the creator economy continues to grow, many individuals have become increasingly dependent on social media platforms for distribution and promotion of their work. While these platforms offer unprecedented access to global audiences, they also present a significant risk to creators’ reach. 

The algorithms that social media platforms use to determine what content to surface to users are constantly changing, and creators may find themselves suddenly losing visibility if they fall out of favor with these algorithms. Furthermore, social media platforms may change their policies and terms of service at any time, potentially leading to the suspension or termination of a creator’s account and resulting in the loss of their entire audience.

In Brazil, almost all YouTube creators lost their revenue per view by half in the past two years given the changes in the algorithm and monetization.

3. The professionalization of Creators 

As the creator economy continues to mature, many creators are becoming more professional in their approach to their work. This trend is driven by an increasing demand for high-quality content and the growing availability of tools and resources for creators to improve their skills. Creators are investing in education, training, and equipment to produce higher-quality work.

As creators become more professional, they are also exploring new monetization strategies, such as licensing and sponsorships, that enable them to generate more revenue from their work. They are also developing their own brands and products, creating additional revenue streams and building deeper connections with their audience. To give an example, we can bring the case of Norton Mello, a fitness influencer who sells private groups of fitness classes to his audience. He monetized his audience through the LastLink subscription platform and generated more than R$ 10M in sales. His inflection point was through his partnership with Juninho Brum from VNove Agency, which takes care of all marketing and operations, so the creator focuses on his craft. That is a sign of professionalization that is happening across the whole industry.

This trend towards professionalization is likely to continue as the creator economy grows and matures. As creators become more established, they will increasingly be seen as professionals in their own right, creating new opportunities for collaboration and innovation in the industry.

Opportunities in Creator Economy

a) Niche Markets

“The internet enables niche in a massively powerful way.” Ben Thompson

The most exciting and beautiful thing about the internet is the empowerment of niches. With the internet’s power to connect people from all corners of the world, it has never been easier to find and connect with like-minded individuals. You can find any tribe you want on the internet. This has led to the creation of niche communities centered around specific interests, hobbies, and passions. These communities have created a demand for products and services that cater to their unique needs, presenting an opportunity for creators to tap into a dedicated audience and build a thriving business. 

For creators, the ability to connect with a specific audience has proven to be incredibly valuable. By creating content that resonates with a niche community, creators can build a loyal following and monetize their content in innovative ways. The rise of platforms like Patreon and OnlyFans has made it easier than ever for creators to monetize their content and build a sustainable career doing what they love. By embracing these platforms and catering to a specific audience, creators can break free from the traditional limitations of the mainstream market and build a thriving business on their own terms. Usually, it’s easier to monetize through a niche audience than a broader one, which explains why it’s easier for niche creators to monetize. 

For businesses, the ability to cater to a specific audience has become essential to standing out in a crowded market. By identifying a niche and catering to their unique needs, businesses can differentiate themselves from their competitors and build a dedicated customer base. This has led to the rise of hyper-targeted marketing campaigns that speak directly to a specific audience, leading to higher engagement and conversion rates.

Overall, the rise of niche markets has transformed the way we consume and create content, presenting significant opportunities for creators and businesses alike. By embracing these niche communities and catering to their unique needs, creators and businesses can build a loyal following and thrive in an increasingly competitive market. The future of the creator economy and business world is bright, and those who embrace the power of niche markets are poised for success.

b) Artificial Intelligence 

AI is changing the game for creators across various industries. From music and video production to graphic design and content writing, AI-powered tools are automating mundane tasks and enabling creators to experiment with new ideas and concepts.

The potential for AI in the world of creativity is limitless. AI tools can help creators analyze audience behavior and preferences, tailor content to target demographics, and even develop content that speaks to the unique interests and tastes of individual consumers. AI-powered editing tools can help creators refine their work, saving time and effort.

Startups and established companies alike are tapping into the power of AI to revolutionize the creator economy. Podcastle’s new feature, Revoice, allows users to “clone” their own voice with the help of AI-powered algorithms. Gumroad’s creators can now ask the ChatGPT chatbot for suggestions on what to do with their earnings. Kajabi’s AI-powered tools automatically generate ideas for course outlines, sales emails, landing pages, and lessons.

As AI becomes more prevalent in the creator economy, creators will need to find ways to stand apart from AI-generated content. However, ignoring the potential of AI would be a missed opportunity for creators looking to push the boundaries of their craft. The possibilities are endless, and the impact of AI on the life of creators is set to be truly transformative.

c) Opportunities for the creators middle class

One of the major challenges in understanding the vision of the creator economy is the empowerment of the middle class of creators. As mentioned before, currently only a small percentage of creators capture the majority of the wealth from platforms. The main forms of monetization privilege large audiences instead of empowering niches.

The “promised land” where creators can make a living from their passions is something that is only available to a minority. The scenario is very similar to an economy where most of the wealth is at the top of a pyramid, concentrated in the hands of a few. For example, artists on Spotify need 3.5 million plays on their songs in a year to earn a minimum wage salary, forcing many artists to seek other sources of income such as merchandise sales and concerts. In addition, only 1.4% of artists (43,000 musicians) receive 90% of the royalties on the platform.

Another platform that is praised for its support of creators, Patreon, has only 2% of creators earning more than a minimum wage. The graph of generated $ vs number of creators resembles a Pareto curve.

The same trend occurs in Brazil. In a survey with more than 5,000 creators in Brazil, only 14% are able to earn more than R$2,500.

Source: Atlântico Latin America Digital Report 2021

Like in a country’s economy, Li Jin thinks that the income distribution model within the platform cannot concentrate most of the wealth in the 1% who are at the top of the pyramid. The middle class has important functions such as creating a solid demand base for products and services.

When talking about platforms, the so-called middle class is also crucial because they produce the most content and are responsible for diversifying the content. Mega-hits, that is, the big creators, are important for bringing demand and generating inspiration, but most of the power of the network comes from the content generated by middle-class creators.

In the platform, the middle class would have a function of decentralizing these revenues and mitigating the risk of these “wealthier” creators migrating to other platforms and taking some of that wealth from their audiences. For example, imagine that the top 1% of the creator population on TikTok moves to a competitor platform. The chance of this change generating a negative impact and threatening the business of TikTok is high.

d) Creators Funds

There’s a new player in the venture capital ecosystem: digital creators or influencers. Examples? The Chainsmokers, the world’s most famous DJ duo, raised their first $35 million fund in 2020. Actor Ashton Kutcher is a co-founder of Sound Ventures, a venture capital fund that has already invested in over 125 startups.

Digital creators and influencers are playing a significant role in the venture capital market, particularly in the follower fund segment. There is no greater pain for a startup than distribution, i.e., finding ways to expose their product to reach the end customer. This is where digital creators come in: when they partner with follower funds, they make them more attractive to startups that see this partnership as an opportunity to significantly improve their distribution.

From the digital creator’s perspective, this partnership can happen in three ways:

• They can become a partner in a venture capital fund or create their own. Their main bargaining power in the partnership will be their existing audience and distribution. This was the path taken by the Chainsmokers, who joined two investors to create the Mantis fund.

• They can become a venture partner. This position refers to a partner who does not work on a day-to-day basis but helps with decision-making and deal prospecting (it is important to emphasize that this role varies from fund to fund). Tiago Leifert, a TV Globo presenter, is a venture partner at BasePar, a Brazilian startup investment fund.

• Finally, they can become an investor in a fund. This is what happened to gamers linked to the American agency Night Media. They became investors, i.e., limited partners, in the venture capital fund created by the agency.

The bottom line is that the presence of creators in venture capital is likely to grow more. This is because they have something that startup founders consider very valuable: a proprietary distribution network that can be used for the benefit of startups. For creators, this can be an excellent opportunity, especially if they decide to invest in sectors related to consumption, the creator economy, or gaming. But it all depends on the level of risk they are willing to take.

e) Creators as founders

In today’s ever-evolving digital landscape, creators have become a driving force in the entertainment and media industries. These individuals have gained immense followings across various platforms, thanks to their unique and engaging content. However, with this growing popularity comes a desire among creators to take things to the next level and become business owners.

According to a recent report from Insider Intelligence, 39% of creators aspire to become business owners. This statistic is a testament to the entrepreneurial spirit and ambition that characterizes today’s creators. 

One of the most significant advantages of owning a business as a creator is the unparalleled creative freedom that it provides. By owning their businesses, creators have complete control over their content, allowing them to bring their unique vision to life without any compromises. This opens new avenues for creative expression and experimentation, leading to even more compelling and innovative content.

Source: Insider Intelligence

Owning a business as a creator provides an opportunity to build a personal brand that resonates with fans and followers. Creators can establish a unique identity and cultivate a loyal audience that is invested in their content and values. By creating their own brands, creators can leverage their popularity and expertise to create new revenue streams and collaborations with like-minded individuals and companies.

The earning potential for creators is also significantly higher when they own their own businesses. Creators can monetize their content through sponsorships, advertising, merchandise sales, and other revenue streams, leading to a sustainable income stream that supports their creative endeavors. This can also lead to opportunities for expansion and diversification, as creators explore new ways to monetize their skills and expertise.

One of the most interesting cases is from Logan Paul’s energy drink, Prime. It made history by becoming the first creator-led brand to have a Super Bowl commercial this year, after generating a staggering $250 million in sales in 2021. This success is likely to inspire other creators to follow suit. However, launching a business requires a distinct mindset from content creation, according to Alessandro Bogliari, founder and CEO of The Influencer Marketing Factory. As a result, not every creator will take this route, and brands will remain a crucial part of creator monetization in the coming year.

In Brazil we have several aspiring examples: 

• Felipe Neto – Felipe Neto is a popular YouTuber and influencer who has built a media empire with his company, Neto’s Group. The company has several divisions, including a talent agency that represents creators, a production company that creates content for brands, and a merchandise store that sells products featuring Neto’s branding and designs.

• Camila Coelho – Camila Coelho is a fashion and beauty influencer who launched her own beauty brand, Elaluz, in 2019. The brand offers a range of high-quality makeup and skincare products that are designed to be inclusive and accessible to all.

• Camila Coutinho – Camila Coutinho is a fashion, lifestyle and beauty influencer who also launched her own businesses. GE Beauty provides hair products and has gained traction among women.

• Gustavo Lima – Gustavo Lima is a music artist who has built a successful career as a singer. He has released several hit albums and singles and has also expanded his brand to include a clothing line and a perfume line.

• Julia Petit – Julia Petit is an creator who launched her own beauty brand, Sallve, in 2019. The brand offers a range of skincare products. Her company, Sallve, has raised investments from VC firms like Astella, Kaszek and Atlântico.

As we look to the future, we can expect to see even more creators taking the plunge into entrepreneurship and creating exciting new businesses that blur the lines between content creation, media, and technology. The rise of creator-owned businesses is a testament to the ingenuity and ambition of these individuals, and it presents a wealth of opportunities for innovation and growth in the entertainment industry.

f) Others 

There are several opportunities out there for creators – we just named a few. As the economy evolves, other revenue streams and businesses emerge. 

Venture Capital investments 

Venture capitalists played a crucial role in supporting the creator economy during the pandemic. In 2021, they invested over $5.07 billion in creator economy companies, as reported by The Information.

However, funding for the creator economy has started to decline – following the trend seen in the tech industry as a whole. The fourth quarter of 2022 saw a drop to $270 million, down from a peak of $1.70 billion in Q2 2021, according to The Information’s “Creator Economy Database.” This funding slowdown may persist into 2023 due to the challenging economic conditions. Nevertheless, it’s worth emphasizing that investment is only one piece of the puzzle in the creator economy.

Brendan Gahan, partner and chief social officer at Mekanism, highlighted that the industry is called the “creator economy” for a reason. He emphasized the importance of creators’ abilities to build and run their businesses successfully, indicating that investment is not the only key to success in this industry. Brands should prepare for the funding chill to continue, but they should also recognize the value of creators’ ingenuity and entrepreneurial skills.

Despite the dip in VC funding, creators are still working with VC money behind the scenes. Startups such as Creative Juice, Spotter, and Jellysmack offer upfront cash to creators in exchange for temporary ownership over their YouTube back catalog. This means that the company gets all the ad revenue from those videos, and the creators have an opportunity to turn that cash infusion into even more money. These companies function similarly to venture capital firms. That is, investing in creators they believe will yield a return on their investment.

Top VCs Actively Investing in the Creator Economy

While some companies are now facing serious layoffs and others struggling to fundraise, others are still holding on. As see on Crunchbase, “Funding into VC-backed creator economy startups has already reached $637 million as of July (excluding crypto and NFT startups).” When comparing that to last year’s $939 million funding total it’s still looking very favorable for the creator space!

Below you can find a table on venture capitals that are key investors in the space:

What comes next?

If you thought Crypto would not come into play, thing again! The next step for creators is through Web3 – which is what people are calling “The New Creator Economy”. 

Tokenization is an alternative of direct monetization between creators and their respective audiences. The Web3 creator economy can enable users to not only hold ownership of the content they make on existing platforms, but also give them a stake in the platform they are distributing their content on. Non-fungible tokens as a case in point offer a way to prove ownership of content and also confirm its credibility. 

Moreover, there is a whole debate that the platforms are gaining too much of the share. In fact, Web2 rewards systems are skewed in favor of big platforms. YouTube, Facebook and Twitch earn billions from content they do not create, and data they do not own. Blockchain technology, in turn, could offer an alternative to Big Tech’s platforms. Currently, the early-stage complexity that deterred many has given way to user-friendly interfaces. Meanwhile, affordable infrastructure is facilitating next-generation, creator-owned experiences – no coding required. 

Proof of ownership, which is core to the system, is baked in, even when many creators collaborate on a project. This ensures equitable profit-sharing in perpetuity even after collaborators have gone their separate ways. Perhaps most importantly, web3 platforms have no central authority with the power to take down or censor creativity. 

Even though not wildly used yet, Web3 has more favorable terms for creators – and should be the next frontier for them (provided that the audience migrates too.)

Creators Economy LatAm Market Map

One of the outputs of this project is to give a spotlight on Latin American companies working with creators. We asked on linkedin, twitter, instagram and talked with our network to find out LatAm companies in this sector. Through the responses, we got 48 companies that are in the sector. It is still work in progress. Missing a startup? Fill out here! 

Conclusion 

Creator Economy is not a something transitory. It is not a buzzword. It is a rapidly growing industry that is changing the way we think about content creation and marketing. By partnering with creators, brands can create authentic content that resonates with their target audience, driving engagement and brand awareness. It offers consumers and brands a unique opportunity to connect in ways never before possible in the history of retail. Brands that see beyond the initial conversion power of influencer campaigns can enhance their authenticity across their entire marketing funnel, thereby lowering their costs and increasing results.

In summary, the creator economy isn’t going away anytime soon, and it will continue to attract more revenue. Marketers need to form long-term, mutually beneficial partnerships with influencers and creators to reach their audience. This will be more and more crucial with time. 

After this paper – if you are not yet convinced, think again. You are reading an example of content done by two creators and shared with you. So, if you liked it, spread the word! The creators appreciate it 😊

Further reading

Originally published on my Substack.

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.