The definitive Digiday guide to what’s in and out in the creator economy
By Krystal Scanlon • August 18, 2025 •
Ivy Liu
From an area of the industry that wasn’t really taken seriously, to an area now seen as more mature and a core business function, the creator economy has already expanded bigger and far quicker than anyone thought it would. And this is only the beginning. After all, Goldman Sachs valued the creator economy at around $250 billion in 2024, and have forecast it to double to around $480 billion by 2027.
In other words, there’s a whole bunch of money to be made.
Here’s how the creator economy has shifted so far in the last 12 months.
In
Agencies of record
Out
Agencies for one-off campaigns
In
Creative agencies
Out
Creator agencies
In
Creators as strategic partners for marketing campaigns
Out
Creators as add-ons for marketing campaigns
In
Platform diversification
Out
Platform homogeneity
In
Performance metrics
Out
Reach metrics
In
Spending on creators’ engagement
Out
Spending on follower counts
In
Creators
Out
Influencers
In
Working with creators of all sizes, depending on end-goal
Out
Prioritizing macro creators and celebrities with large followings
In
Creators as media brands
Out
Creators as influencers
In
Creators prioritizing direct-to-fan monetization, diversifying income streams
Out
Creators’ over-reliance on platforms for monetization
In
Agencies and creators using AI tools to produce high quality content at scale
Out
Agencies and creators needing photo and video editing tech skills to produce high quality content
In
Creators negotiating payments
Out
Creators taking whatever they’re given as payment
In
Creators trying to make it on the big screen (Hollywood, streaming platforms, etc)
Out
Creators trying to make it on social media platforms
In
Creators building a community
Out
Creators building an audience
In
Serialized storytelling for better engagement
Out
Content churn focused on going viral
In
The professionalization of creators (hat tip eMarketer’s Jasmine Enberg)
Out
The legitimization of creators (hat tip eMarketer’s Jasmine Enberg)
In
Platforms’ ad revenue share deals
Out
Platforms’ creator funds
In
Paying creators with a salary/money
Out
Paying creators with freebies/gifting
In
Platforms building monetization tools to encourage the flywheel of creator content on their apps
Out
Platforms building monetization tools so creators feel appreciated by them
In
The creator economy correction
Out
The creator economy fragmentation
In
The creator economy bubble
Out
The creator economy boom
In
Brand suitability
Out
Brand safety
In
Accepting TikTok’s uncertainty in the U.S.
Out
Worrying about TikTok’s uncertainty in the U.S.
