Creator Economy Scoop: When small creators reign supreme

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

LTK Beauty report

• 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.