Business of Creators 💬

Platform round-up

Leverage the latest updates and features across digital platforms to help you get ahead of the game…

📣 Reddit has introduced Lead Gen Ads, allowing marketers to easily collect customer information directly from their in-app promotions with features like auto-filled email fields for a smooth user experience.

🏷️ Threads is introducing a blue label above posts related to trending topics, allowing users to easily tap through and join broader conversations, and adding a "Recent" filter for real-time updates.

Advertising’s creator shake-up

Social influencers may soon become a major driving force in creative advertising, potentially replacing traditional ad agencies. With the creator economy rapidly expanding—projected to be worth $528 billion by 2030, largely from brand deals—brands are increasingly turning to influencers for authentic, tailored content that resonates with audiences. The launch of Lions Creators at the Cannes Lions Festival underscores the growing importance of influencers in marketing strategies, showcasing their ability to produce genuine content at speed, which might signal a shift away from conventional advertising methods.

Influencers, particularly micro-influencers with high engagement rates, offer brands a cost-effective alternative to high-profile endorsements. For example, Gymshark's successful use of Instagram and TikTok influencers helped them build a large, engaged audience and achieve a £1 billion valuation. Brands can benefit from collaborating with influencers who align with their values and consistently producing authentic content. AI also plays a significant role in this shift, streamlining the process of finding and managing influencers, predicting campaign effectiveness, and even creating AI-generated content. While this shift doesn't spell the end for traditional ad agencies, it suggests a growing integration of influencer-driven content across various media channels, reflecting the evolving landscape of advertising.

Protecting creators from AI

Despite the best case studies we might write about, most everyday content creators struggle to make a living from their passion. While technical skills and storytelling are crucial, understanding the business side of the creative industry is equally important. Emerging technologies like AI can replicate human voices without consent or create stunning visuals quickly, making proper attribution and collaboration between creators and marketers essential. Despite legislation like the NO FAKES Act, it's not enough to protect branded content integrity, whether generated by individual creators, marketers' teams, or creative agencies.

To address these challenges, creators and marketers should establish detailed agreements regarding content usage and attribution from the start. This includes setting clear expectations about deliverables, distribution, and licensing requirements. For instance, if a client edits content beyond the agreed scope, it could breach the agreement, and additional compensation might be necessary. Creators should also ensure proper credit is given in social media promotions and consider including clauses for royalties when their work is used in AI training or other derivative forms. Additionally, protecting digital content with metadata and exploring blockchain technology, which tracks content origin and ownership, can enhance security and prevent unauthorized use. Although the NO FAKES Act seeks to protect against unauthorized AI use, it often focuses on high-profile cases, leaving everyday creators at risk due to the slow pace of legal updates compared to rapid technological advances.

As generative AI tools become more sophisticated, they often use creators' work without proper consent. Creators should carefully review the terms of these tools to understand how their content might be used. Despite these risks, AI tools can also streamline creative processes, from generating ideas to enhancing visuals, which can lower barriers and foster greater creative expression. Nonetheless, the human touch remains essential in effectively utilizing these tools to deliver impactful, unique work. To ensure that AI benefits the creative industry, stronger protections for creators' rights are needed, which will help secure proper credit and fair compensation while fostering a positive relationship between human creativity and AI advancements.