5 Trends to Watch in the Creator Economy in 2023 Where is the future of live shopping, and what fields are likely to be eliminated?

1. New entrant creators will further increase

Shannae Ingleton Smith, co-founder of talent management firm Kensington Gray, believes TikTok will see further growth in 2023, and that Gen X and millennial creators will continue to grow on the platform. expected to enter the

“Gen Z will definitely continue to be the star of the show, but there will be some really big rising stars who haven’t yet made their name on Instagram or YouTube who will rise to stardom on TikTok.” (Ingleton Smith)

Ingleton-Smith cites, for example, TikTok trending actress Julia Fox, who talks about “aging beauty.”

YouTube in particular may see a new wave of creators.

“2023 will see the largest number of creators on YouTube ever,” said Lia Haberman, adjunct professor of marketing at UCLA Extension.

“Short videos have lowered the barrier to entry for creators who never thought they would be part of the ecosystem. For professional creators, YouTube is currently the best way to generate sustainable revenue from predictable content delivery,” Haberman said.

Zack Honarvar, founder of talent management firm One Day Entertainment, predicts more creators will hire larger production and business development teams. He also sees a nostalgic return to older YouTube distribution formats like vlogs and more globalization of content, including dubbed videos for foreign markets.

Josh Glodoveza, vice president of talent at merch retailer Fanjoy, said creators outside the US could also be popular next year.

“Creators will become more global in the years to come as technology becomes more widely available,” Grodveza said.

2. Content expands beyond photos and short videos

Darren Lachtman, co-founder of digital production company Brat, predicts creators will continue to make inroads into podcasts as they seek to reach audiences across multiple platforms.

“I think we’re going to evolve from audio-only productions to ‘vodcast’ productions that blend audio and video, because this format allows creators to post the same content on multiple platforms. ”(Lachtman)

2023 may also see more creators try livestreaming, predicts Christen Nino De Guzman, founder of startup Clara.

“When I worked at TikTok, livestreaming was very popular on the Chinese version of TikTok,” Guzman said.

Haberman is also eyeing live streaming. Haberman believes that live streaming will be a learning curve for platforms, retailers, marketers and creators to connect with their audiences and bring more potential customers into the funnel.

Livestreaming “requires different skills and talents than taking the perfect photo or storyboarding a 20-second video,” Haberman said, but those skills can help keep viewers engaged for longer. may be attracted.

Julian Andrew, founder of influencer talent management firm Talentish, said:

“Creators who can live stream for hours are going to be really successful. Content needs to be longer. The trend in 2023 will be how to capture the attention of viewers with live streaming.” will be.”

3. Live shopping finally kicking off in the US

It may have been premature for industry insiders to declare that 2022 will be the year of social and live shopping.

While many social media platforms are launching new shopping features, the likes of Meta and TikTok are reassessing their strategies in this space. A worsening market in 2022 has also forced live-shopping startups like Popshop Live to cut costs.

But 2023 may be different.

Joe Gagliese, co-founder of Viral Nation, believes China will have a $300 billion live shopping market by 2021, Insider Intelligence Investigation), citing the fact that it has reached a scale, it shows the idea that this market will grow.

“Both audiences and brands have come to understand that streaming is more than just entertainment, it’s also about making money,” Gaglies said.

But it may not be so easy when it comes to the US market.

According to Insider Intelligence, live shopping and other forms of social commerce are still relatively new in the US. An October 2022 survey by Insider Intelligence found that 43% of American adults “have never used livestream commerce, nor are they interested in using it.”

But with more and more users buying products through platforms like Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, that broader social commerce could be ripe as well.

Amber Venz Box, co-founder and president of shopping app LTK, said:

“We think more people will like the creator-guided shopping experience because it saves them time and money and is more personalized.”

4. Wealth among creator economy startups

Layoffs have been rampant in the creator economy over the past year, as companies like Patreon and Jellysmack laid off workers in response to the economic slowdown.

Nick Chen, co-founder of Pico, a startup focused on monetizing creators, says the negative impact on startups will not only continue in 2023, but could get worse. .

“2023 will see the end of many creator-focused startups. Venture capitalists believe that now is not the time to bet on the creator economy, so I think the next nine months will be really tough.”

With many startups entering the space at the peak of the pandemic, 2022 in particular will find it harder to raise VC funding than it has in the past two years, with some companies running out of money in the next 3-6 months. thinks Chen. In that case, some startups that have run out of funds may decide to shut down.

Qianna Smith Bruneteau, founder of the American Influencer Council (AIC), believes some creator startups will have a hard time surviving.

“Many of them will fail because they’re offered insane valuations that make the service unsustainable and they struggle to acquire a user base,” Bruneteau said.

One area where some experts say the door could be closed is in the area of ​​LinkinBio (a service that combines multiple URLs into one, such as social networks and blogs). Cynthia Ruff, founder of Hashtag Pay Me, said she wouldn’t be surprised if 10 linked-in bio companies went bankrupt.

But Chen predicts that the economy will pick up in the fourth quarter of 2023, at which point the surviving startups may be able to raise money.

“If the startups hold out until then, I think they will recover by Labor Day,” Chen said.

5. Possibility of active M&A activity

A tough macroeconomic environment, a looming recession, and cash shortages could result in a wave of dealmaking and mergers in the startup market.

Alex Zirin, an associate at consulting firm RockWater Industries, said, “Valuations and declining multiples make most acquisitions effectively ‘bargains.’・We believe that institutional investors such as equity (PE) will acquire medium- and large-sized start-up companies at more favorable prices.”

Industry experts are eyeing saturated niches within the creator economy in 2023, such as linked-in bio companies and fintech solutions for creators.

Avi Gandhi, founder of advisory firm Partner with Creators, said:

“From the creator’s point of view, there are too many choices. Suddenly, the odds of someone choosing your service or someone else’s service are exponentially lower. Sometimes users are overwhelmed, Sometimes I don’t choose a service.”