Navigating the Creator Economy

Two platforms. Two completely different outcomes. Over the past year, we’ve run hundreds of KOL posts across Instagram and TikTok — and one thing is now very clear: Creative style matters more than creator size. Instagram rewards polished, cinematic, aesthetically-driven content. TikTok rewards raw, honest, UGC-style content that feels like a friend. When creators tried posting the same video across both platforms, performance dropped almost instantly But when we asked them to tailor the creative for each feed, the results changed dramatically. On Instagram, the strongest performing posts were: • cinematic lifestyle shots • color-graded, mood-driven edits • product integrated into an aspirational moment On TikTok, top performers were: • talking-head explanations • quick product demos • organic, handheld “real life” moments It’s not just a platform difference — it’s a culture difference. Instagram is curated aspiration. TikTok is unfiltered relatability. The brands that win are the ones that don’t copy-paste content, but design creative for each platform’s storytelling format. If you want consistency across IG + TikTok, the answer isn’t more influencers — it’s the right creative format on each. Happy to share more examples of how we structure IG vs TikTok briefs for our campaigns. DM me if you want to compare formats or explore what works best in your market.

Do NOT put all your eggs in one basket. Especially if you are a – Content creator. When I first started creating content, I made the most common mistake –  I had put all my energy into just one platform, Instagram. The craze at that time was all about gaining more followers through a 15-second reel and that’s what influenced me, to be honest. I was so naive that I thought, “If I master this, I’ll grow fast and mint a lot of money.” But soon I realized that if I have to see this from a long-term perspective, I can't focus on just one platform where people swipe your 3 days of hard work in 3 seconds. The truth is this creator industry is highly volatile. Algorithms shift, platforms change, and user behavior evolves faster than we can keep up. This makes having a presence across platforms not just a smart but a necessary move: → Helps tackle shorter attention spans  The average attention span today? Just 8 seconds. If you’re not showing up consistently, across different platforms, you’re likely losing your audience’s attention to the next hook.    → Diversification = Safety If one platform underperforms or shifts its algorithm, you have others to lean on while coping up with the change. → Engagement multiplies Creating and engaging on multiple platforms directly impacts a larger audience resulting in higher audience retention than those who stick to just one. This doesn’t mean you need to be on every screen, everywhere, every minute. Don’t irritate your audience by doing that. But you need to be seen ENOUGH to avoid skipping your audience’s mind and to not get lost in the relevance race. Be honest – are you diversifying enough as a content creator? #drishtiispeaks #contentcreation #socialmedia #diversification

Only 4% of content creators made over $100,000 last year.[Socialmediatoday] Yet venture capital is pouring hundreds of millions into this space. What do they see that most people miss? After years in retail and sourcing, I'm fascinated by this shift in how value is created in the digital economy. The creator economy is transforming from a views-driven popularity contest into a serious business ecosystem with multiple revenue streams: 📍 Professional services now account for 36% of creator income. [WPBeginner] 📍 Digital products generate 18% of revenue. 📍 Traditional brand partnerships contribute just 11%. This explains why we're seeing major investments like Spotter's $200M YouTube creator fund [TechCrunch] and Slow Ventures' $60M bet on creators as entrepreneurs. [Business Insider] These VCs aren't investing in viral dancing videos. They're backing creators who build real businesses with diversified income. Take MrBeast or Vivian Tu - they've built empires not by chasing algorithms but by developing six or more revenue streams that complement each other. The most successful creators now operate like mini-conglomerates: 📍They create content that builds trust. 📍They leverage that trust to sell products and services. 📍They reinvest profits into building lasting assets. This model challenges everything we thought we knew about digital business. The smartest players aren't chasing views - they're building assets. What business lessons have you learned from watching how top creators operate? #CreatorEconomy #Monetization #Investing

Why the surge in interest around LinkedIn influencer marketing? Here's an in-depth look... According to emarketer, US Influencer marketing spend by platform this year is expected to be: • Instagram - $2.2 billion • TikTok - $1.3 billion • YouTube - $1.1 billion • Facebook - $1.0 billion • Snapchat - $41.9 million    Notably, LinkedIn doesn't even make the cut? So, why are we, at Creator Authority, so bullish? And, why the recent hype and interest in this space? We're reaching a tipping point. Here's why... 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵: LinkedIn's strategic investments in the creator ecosystem have paid off. Content creation has surged: • 41% increase in public posts (2021-23) • 24% YOY increase in public posts (2022-23) • 150K newsletters have been launched 𝗤𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝗔𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲: LinkedIn recently hit 1 billion users, with over 200 million in the US. They're highly affluent AND have big impact within B2B: • 80% of B2B marketers use LinkedIn ads • 4 out of 5 people on LinkedIn “drive business decisions” • 1.36 times more affluent than those on Facebook    𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺 𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 Last year LinkedIn launched a number of tools to support creator-brand partnerships, including the brand disclosure tool. This year they expanded the capabilities of Thought Leader Ads (their version of a promoted post tool) so that advertisers "can sponsor content from any member—not just employees". Notably, these are wildly effective performing much better than traditional ads (1.7x lower CPM's and 1.6X higher engagement rates). 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁: LinkedIn has been the #1 most trusted platform by brands for years. Unlike other social media platforms, LinkedIn has avoided major brand safety issues like adpocalypse, boycotts, and controversies. In an era of brand safety concerns this is a huge advantage for the platform. 𝗘𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗰𝘆: LinkedIn places a greater emphasis on deeper/narrower connections. In an era where platforms are chasing the interest based graph (a la TikTok's FYP), LinkedIn is doubling down on the professional graph. It means depth vs breadth. Over the last year, users have seen a 10% increase in people viewing posts from their followers. This is because LinkedIn prioritizes meaningful connections and professional relevance. This plays out in the impact of campaigns - much higher CTR's, engagement, and lead acquisition than other platforms where follower counts, and connections to creators mean far less. With a booming audience, robust community growth, and a powerful new tool set, LinkedIn isn't just joining the influencer game. It's the untapped goldmine of influencer marketing. --- Enjoy this? ♻️ Repost it to your network & follow Brendan Gahan for more. Interested in LinkedIn Influencer Marketing? Reach out to us Creator Authority .

LinkedIn just made its biggest creator move EVER. 30 top B2B creators were invited to their NYC office for a private announcement. Today, the embargo broke... The news: LinkedIn officially launched its Creator Marketplace. Being in that room at the Empire State Building, press release in hand before the news broke to the public, was surreal. And this is coming right after Digiday including me among the 13 B2B creators brands are betting on in 2026. Wild to think this all started with posting consistently and betting on this platform early. This announcement hits close to home: Creator Match 🧩 was an early tester for this marketplace. We've been bullish on LinkedIn creators for 2+ years, back when most brands didn't know B2B creators existed. We were one of the first agencies to pay out over $1,000,000 to LinkedIn creators. So why is this a big deal? Creator discovery has always been the bottleneck on LinkedIn. No API. No infrastructure. Just manual, relationship-driven sourcing. Other platforms like YouTube have their own marketplaces but LinkedIn was behind. Now brands can search creators by topic, view audience demographics by industry, job title, and location, and dig into real engagement data. Creators opt in and stay in control. Because here's the truth about B2B creators: It's not about size of reach. It's about relevance of audience. A creator with 20K followers who speaks directly to CISOs can outperform one with 500K generalist followers every single time. More tools and more data to surface the right creators will only supercharge this part of the creator economy. And this isn't a one-off launch. LinkedIn is getting serious about creator monetization, building out a full suite: → LinkedIn Learning (I'm an instructor with 3 courses totaling 250,000 learners) → BrandLink (trusted brand partnerships) → TopVoice360 (thought leadership at scale) → Advice Sessions (direct engagement) → And so much more I can't share just yet The B2B creator economy isn't coming. It's here. And the infrastructure is finally catching up. 💬 Will you opt in to this marketplace when they release it to the public? *** 🔔 Follow me AJ Eckstein 🧩 for more content on entrepreneurship, creator marketing strategies for tech brands, and tips for creators

Corporate America didn’t take him seriously because of his TikToks. Now he consults for major corporations such as LinkedIn and Google, becoming known as “The Corporate Baddie.” DeAndre Brown was one of the 48% of Gen Z’rs entering the workforce during the pandemic. Like many, he started his career on a screen in isolation with little guidance. To combat this, DeAndre began making TikToks to share his workplace experiences and help other young professionals navigate corporate life. Many judged him, saying his TikToks weren’t serious or made his time in corporate America look like a joke. But DeAndre saw the bigger picture. He leveraged the power of a rising social platform to talk about challenges in the workplace and teach others through humorous and relatable content. This led to 1.1M followers, 75M+ likes, and a thriving community known as “The Elite.” Even after his success, he still received harsh criticism and backlash. Many of us default to producing content that is sanitized and buttoned-up, and by avoiding humor or playfulness, we often see less engagement and weaker recognition. What people often miss is that the best awareness and engagement comes from “having people feel seen.” Nobody remembers how many views you got or how many products you launched, but people remember “how you make them feel.” Millions view DeAndre’s content and feel seen or heard through their daily workplace experiences. When content is engaging and relatable, you earn the green light to educate others on the topics you aim to bring awareness to. DeAndre shares career tips, interview advice, and insights on navigating the workplace. His workplace experiences shaped him into an entrepreneur, strategic content creator, and adviser. He often talks about the importance of practicing good habits, like sending personalized thank you notes to brand partners and recognizing the team behind every great brand. Leading with authenticity and reliability in your content often unlocks doors you didn’t even know were there. DeAndre’s rise in social media and Gen Z work culture is one of the most fascinating stories I’ve seen, and one professionals and brands can learn from. #CreatorEconomy

In the last week alone, I’ve had three separate conversations about creators at the cap table - exchanging fees for equity. The shift is real. Creators aren’t just negotiating cost-per-video anymore - they’re thinking long-term. About being part of a brand’s story, its growth, its success. Not just campaigns. And it makes sense. Creators deserve to build sustainable careers. The current system - jumping from one short-term partnership to the next - doesn’t give them room to grow. They need deeper commitments that make sense both creatively and financially. Brands feel it too. There’s often quiet frustration when they pay big money for a creator, only to see that same creator working with a competitor the following week. But that’s the reality of how the model’s been built. It’s also why we’ve seen ambassador programmes surge over the last 18 to 24 months - brands searching for more continuity, more loyalty, more alignment. But this new approach goes one step further: it gets creators directly invested in a brand’s success. At Billion Dollar Boy, we’re encouraging brands to bring creators further upstream - closer to the head table, not just the marketing brief. To treat them as strategic partners who can help shape ideas, products, and brand direction, not just amplify them. At FiveTwoNine, we’re driving this same momentum- giving creators the tools to negotiate and activate this very thing. The wonderful Ligia Patrocinio raised this in Cannes this year, I spoke to creator Estee Lalonde about this last week, and more recently Jeff Frommer, founder of OWM, a really innovative platform built entirely around this model. I really think it's coming. Creators as shareholders. And I’m here for it!

One thing I’ve been noticing (and testing myself) is just how powerful consistency is on TikTok right now. I'm seeing a huge spike in video performance when creators stick to a daily posting schedule, especially when posting at a similar time every day. It’s not just about showing up, it's about training your audience and the algorithm when to expect your content. As a result; - I have videos consistently hitting 10M+ views - Stronger follower growth - Higher engagement & retention - Better algorithm favorability over time It’s less about chasing trends and more about being strategic and consistent. When you treat your TikTok presence like a well oiled machine, the results follow. If you’re a creator or a brand trying to scale, don’t overlook the power of: 1. Posting daily 2. Time-slot consistency 3. Creating content that aligns with your niche, but still feels fresh 4. Reviewing analytics weekly to double down on what’s working The platform rewards consistency, and your audience does too. #BrookeMonk #TikTok #InfluencerMarketing #Advice

In Malaysia, a mechanical engineer from Kelantan sold RM42 million of sambal in 2024. 70% of those sales came from one channel: TikTok livestreams. Also in Malaysia, a former data scientist reacted to a BBC fried rice video in 2020. He had quit his job to do comedy full-time just months before Covid shut every venue in the world. Five years later he runs six restaurants in Malaysia, one in London, has a cookbook with a Gordon Ramsay foreword, and finished a world tour that sold 115,000 tickets across four continents. In Indonesia, a Le Cordon Bleu chef plays a satirical fictional billionaire called Bobby Saputra. 840 million YouTube views. He turned the character into Bobby's Burgers. Outlets across Jakarta and Surabaya, plus a new store in Kuala Lumpur's TRX this year. In the Philippines, Rosmar Tan built a skincare empire on TikTok live commerce. Twenty-two million followers. At peak, Rosmar International was pulling in PHP5 to 13 million a day. Her net worth is around $25 million. Four creators. Four product categories. One move. Khairul built an audience on cooking videos, then the sambal empire. Uncle Roger built an audience on a viral character, then the restaurants. Bobby built an audience on a fictional billionaire, then the burger chain. Rosmar built an audience on TikTok lives, then the skincare empire. Different stories. Same outcome. An audience that trusts you is the most valuable asset on the internet. Most creators rent it out to advertisers. A few build with it. The few become the richest creators in their countries. #CreatorEconomy #SoutheastAsia #BrandBuilding #DigitalMarketing #MarketingStrategy

I asked David Protein co-founders Peter Rahal and Zach Ranen for their TikTok Shop playbook. Here’s what I learned: They’ve sold over 50K products through TikTok Shop and received over 60M impressions on the platform. They launched nine months ago. TikTok Shop is not just a sales tool, it’s an awareness tool. “Beyond the actual product sold, we believe most of the value from our TikTok presence is the awareness it generates for David.” A big piece of their success has been creating an affiliate flywheel. “Initial creators gain traction when they post videos featuring David, which leads to more creators wanting to copy that success, so on and so forth.” They go live on TikTok twice a week (sometimes more). “TikTok’s algorithm seems to reward creators and brands that supplement traditional video posting with Lives.” They’ve embedded TikTok Lives into their new hire onboarding. “Every employee goes live in their first week on the job.” One insight they’ve discovered is that variety packs and smaller-ticket items consistently perform best. “This reinforces how important TikTok is for us as a discovery channel, not just a sales channel.” There are some data limitations when selling on TikTok Shop. “Email addresses are hashed, so it's harder to build direct relationships with contact like follow-up emails checking in on order satisfaction.” Storytelling and selling don’t have to be opposites. “It’s a hyper-direct and hyper-real form of storytelling. The result of that authenticity is that we sell on the platform.”