By Krystal Scanlon  •  August 18, 2025  •

Ivy Liu

Here’s how the creator economy has shifted so far in the last 12 months.

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Agencies of record
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Agencies for one-off campaigns

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Creative agencies
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Creator agencies

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Creators as strategic partners for marketing campaigns
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Creators as add-ons for marketing campaigns

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Platform diversification
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Platform homogeneity 

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Performance metrics 
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Reach metrics

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Spending on creators’ engagement
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Spending on follower counts

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Creators
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Influencers 

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Working with creators of all sizes, depending on end-goal
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Prioritizing macro creators and celebrities with large followings

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Creators as media brands 
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Creators as influencers 

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Creators prioritizing direct-to-fan monetization, diversifying income streams
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Creators’ over-reliance on platforms for monetization

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Agencies and creators using AI tools to produce high quality content at scale
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Agencies and creators needing photo and video editing tech skills to produce high quality content

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Creators negotiating payments
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Creators taking whatever they’re given as payment

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Creators trying to make it on the big screen (Hollywood, streaming platforms, etc)
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Creators trying to make it on social media platforms

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Creators building a community
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Creators building an audience

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Serialized storytelling for better engagement
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Content churn focused on going viral

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The professionalization of creators (hat tip eMarketer’s Jasmine Enberg) 
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The legitimization of creators (hat tip eMarketer’s Jasmine Enberg)  

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Platforms’ ad revenue share deals
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Platforms’ creator funds

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Paying creators with a salary/money
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Paying creators with freebies/gifting

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Platforms building monetization tools to encourage the flywheel of creator content on their apps 
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Platforms building monetization tools so creators feel appreciated by them

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The creator economy correction 
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The creator economy fragmentation 

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The creator economy bubble
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The creator economy boom

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Brand suitability
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Brand safety

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Accepting TikTok’s uncertainty in the U.S.
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Worrying about TikTok’s uncertainty in the U.S.