Linktree Creator Report Reveals Key Insights on Global Creator Economy

Today, Linktree, the link-in-bio category leader and creator enabler, released its proprietary 2022 Creator Report of key trends and industry insights with data from more than 9,500 creators across the globe. 

Linktree’s ground-breaking research has uncovered one of the industry’s greatest mysteries – just how large is the burgeoning creator economy? According to the data, there are 200 million individuals using their influence, creativity, or skills to aggregate and monetise their audience. 

Five key findings stand out from the survey results:

Despite popular belief, the creator economy has expanded well beyond sponsored Instagram post:

•  70% of creators earn less than 10% of total income from brand partnerships
•  Working with brands is neither a reliable nor a consistent stream of revenue for most creators
• Nearly 70% of creators have not completed any brand partnerships on their social channels
• 53% of creators earn under $100 from a single brand collaboration

Niche creators are seeing unexpected success:

• More creators are realising the value of connecting with an engaged audience united by unique interests – 66% consider themselves niche creators
• 7% of niche creators earn over $100K USD per year vs 5% of non-niche creators
• 37% of niche creators had a brand collaboration vs. 26% of non-niche creators

 

 

 Creators are leaving money on the table with a significant opportunity to monetise:

• 59% of beginner* creators have not monetised yet
• Just 6% of beginner* creators have earned over $10k USD
• 12% of full-time creators make over $50k USD

It’s easier than ever to become a creator:

• 36% of creators have only been creating content for less than a year
• Newbies see TikTok as their largest platform (12%)

Creators are battling burnout, regardless of income level:

•  Full-time creators feel burnout the most with 13% saying they’re extremely/consistently stressed vs 9% of part-time creators
• 39% of creators report consistently taking measures to relieve stress

 

Alex Zaccaria, co-founder and CEO of Linktree, shares: “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. 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, Collab, Inc. who partnered with Linktree on this research, says:”68% 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.”

Creators can use Linktree to streamline their online identity, and to showcase and personalise their profile in the following ways:

• Request links, Support Me links, and Affiliate links, all designed to streamline monetisation.
• Payment integrations with Shopify, Square, Venmo, PayPal, Spring, and GoFundMe.
• Music Links in addition to partnerships with Bandsintown, Audiomack, Soundcloud, and Community partnerships, specifically designed with artists in mind for touring, merchandise, and streaming.
• Podcast links for creators with podcasts and QR codes for reaching audiences offline too.

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.