The Creator Economy has allowed many individuals to earn an income through producing a wide variety of content across a plethora of social media platforms. As this sector continues to grow and see prosperous success, it is vital that leading brands and influencers keep up with the demands and trends seen in the influencer marketing sphere.

ConvertKit has recently published its State of the Creator Economy 2022 report, detailing how creators are benefitting from this new market. Netinfluencer has collated a selection of insights and analytics from the report to help broaden our understanding of the Creator Economy as a whole. 

Who conducted the survey?

The State of the Creator Economy 2022 report was devised and published by ConvertKit, a platform that provides creators with an assortment of tools that can help them automate important tasks such as email marketing and build a successful e-commerce platform for their followers to use. 

The report aimed to show how creators build successful businesses and opportunities through their content. It also aims to show the most prevalent aspects of the Creator Economy, helping influencers to build better strategies and upkeep their success.

ConvertKit defines the Creator Economy in their report as ‘A network of creatives, writers, coaches, influencers, and more who want to earn a living online.’ 

Survey Methodology 

At the beginning of 2022, ConvertKit released a survey to its users, asking questions that would help to uncover how content creators balance their everyday lives with their content. A total of 2,704 creators from various countries submitted their responses. These countries are listed below.

• United States (57%)
• Canada (6.2%)
• United Kingdom (5.7%)
• India (3.9%)
• Australia (2.7%)
• Other (24.5%)

From this sample, 64% identified as female, 35% identified as male, and 1% identified as non-binary. 

Out of this recorded sample, 46.7% were full-time creators, 42.7% were part-time creators, and 10.6% were regarded as hobbyists. 

The data was gathered from both quantitative and qualitative sources, using an array of statistics and personal anecdotes from a variety of creators. 

Three Key Takeaways 

The State of the Creator Economy Report delved deep into the world of content creation, gathering information from this large network of individuals. The report highlights the diversity within the Creator Economy but also the flexibility that it offers. Here are just three main findings from the report.

1. Creators prefer creating content for Instagram over other platforms.
2. Content creators are consistently earning revenue, even if they create content part-time.
3. Creator burnout can be seen across a wide selection of creators.

What do these takeaways mean for influencer marketers and creators?

The conclusions gathered from this report help us to examine the existing data and better prepare ourselves for the predicted changes seen within this industry. ConvertKits’ first takeaway highlights that Instagram can offer creators a high level of engagement, helping them to create more attractive content overall. Nearly 60% of full-time creators believed that Instagram helped to grow their audience in 2021. In addition, 22% of these creators also voted Instagram as their favorite channel. This exemplifies how creators enjoy using platforms that offer high engagement rates and long-term growth opportunities. 

The second takeaway explores how profitable the Creator Economy has become over the past few years. 66% of all of the creators in the survey earned revenue in 2021. 44% of this group earned less than $10,000 in that year, whereas 58% of full-time creators made more than $25,000. These statistics highlight that there are income opportunities for every type of creator, with nearly half of the sample stating that revenue was one of the most important metrics for them.

The final takeaway focuses on the phenomenon of creator burnout and the overall struggles that many people face within the Creator Economy. 61% of the creators have experienced some sort of burnout with the full-time creators resonating with it the most. The report states that streamers (76.02%), influencers (74.11%), and photographers (68.42%) were the most likely to have experienced burnout throughout 2021. The data also elucidates the most common causes of burnout. These were: The pressure to post content everywhere, content fatigue, and general pandemic stress. This further highlights how many full-time content creators feel inclined to post an abundance of content on a regular basis, regardless of whether they feel it’s appropriate or necessary. 

Where can I find the State of the Creator Economy 2022 Report?

ConvertKit has released a full copy of the State of the Creator Economy 2022 Report on their website. From here, you can also discover more about their various deliverability reports.