ICYMI: Inside the Creator Economy Summit
Plus, will I see you at Social Media Week?
[Adam Rose on stage at the Creator Economy Summit via The Information]
⏰ 1-SECOND SUMMARY
Top takeaways from this week’s Creator Economy Summit
How to make emojis glow in your Instagram Stories and more tips
Instagram launched a Notify sticker for creators, like YouTube’s notification bell
YouTube’s new AI feature lets you skip to the good parts of the video
TikTok’s launching a dedicated feed for STEM content in Europe
I’ll be in NYC next week for Social Media Week with Dash Hudson, co-hosting a meetup for marketers and creators. See you there?
💻 ROADMAP
📲 Meta Updates
The Instagram team published a blog post with 7 tips and tricks for Stories. You probably know a lot of them but did you know emojis can glow?!
Instagram just underwent a brand identity glow up — and they’re sharing the details here.
Instagram added a “Notify” sticker for professional accounts so people can get notifications when their favorite creators post in the app.
Adam Mosseri said followers are less important than Reels views and “Like” counts when judging the relevance of an account.
Instagram is testing a seasonal "Spring Bonus” program, reported Business Insider. The program pays creators for engagement on Reels, photo carousels, and single-image photo posts.
Select Threads creators are also reportedly eligible for bonuses as part of an invite-only program.
Instagram is allegedly testing a new tab called “Mutuals,” which would show shared followers on someone’s profile.
Mark Zuckerberg just announced a new fullscreen video player on Facebook with a consistent design and experience for all video lengths, from Reels to longer videos and Live.
📲 YouTube Updates
Creators in the YouTube Partner Program with Channel Memberships can now create Members-only Shorts.
YouTube’s Neal Mohan announced a new AI feature that allows viewers to skip to key moments in any video.
📲 TikTok Updates
TikTok announced it was launching a dedicated feed for STEM content across Europe.
📲 LinkedIn Updates
LinkedIn is expanding the reach of its ad campaigns with LinkedIn CTV Ads.
🗽🍎 SOCIAL MEDIA WEEK ROLL CALL
Who’s going to be in NYC for Social Media Week?
I'll be in town to co-host a Social Marketer and Creator Meetup with the Dash Hudson team and my co-hosts Haily Moulton, Katie Steckly, and Christopher Cox!
The meetup takes place Tuesday April 9 from 5 to 8pm. You don’t need an event pass but you do need to RSVP. And please note, there is a waitlist at this point.
If we don’t see each other at the meetup, you can find me sitting front and center taking notes during the main stage panels!
🛜 CREATOR SUMMIT RECAP
[Crowd shot mingling at the Creator Economy Summit]
2024 Creator Economy Summit: A New Era
The Information hosted its second annual in-person Creator Economy Summit on April 2nd, bringing together a mix of creators, talent agents, brand reps, investors and entrepreneurs.
If you weren’t able to make it, here’s a recap...
The What: The Information’s Creator Economy newsletter writer Kaya Yurieff and The Information’s CEO Jessica Lessin brought together 300+ smart folks in the Creator Economy space at the Ritz-Carlton in Marina Del Rey for a day of panels and networking sessions.
The Who: A mix of entrepreneurs, investors, brand folks and creators such as multi-hyphenate talent Diplo, actor and creator Adam Rose, Olympian Tobin Heath, Outdoor Voices founder turned TYB CEO Ty Haney, Tezza founder Tezza Barton, Visa’s global head of content Ashley Cole, the NFL’s SVP of Influencer Marketing Ian Trombetta, and executives from Twitch, YouTube, TikTok and Snap.
The Why: It was a business-forward look at the issues creators and tech companies are facing around the convergence of tech, entertainment, culture and commerce — with an emphasis on creator athletes, entertainers and entrepreneurs.
TOP TAKEAWAYS
tl;dr
TikTok’s US troubles didn’t seem like a pressing concern
There’s AI fatigue; creators and consumers are seeking analog experiences
Community was the buzzword of the day
Top quotes from panelists Ty Haney, Adam Rose, Tobin Heath, and more
Did people talk about the potential TikTok ban?
Not really. The general sentiment in the room was it’s going to be months or years before the situation comes to a head.
Onstage, Marni Levine, Head of TikTok Shop US Operations side-stepped the question:” We have wonderful teams of people who actually manage that and I focus on the e-commerce business.”
And Diplo, who has 2M TikTok followers, joked that he was ready to move on to whatever was next: “I'd be happy to go to Neuralink downloads.”
Speaking of TikTok Shop, what’s next there?
You might have read about TikTok Shop opening livestream studios in Los Angeles but don’t hold your breath. It’s still something they’re testing but “we also don't want to lose sight of the authenticity of people [livestreaming] in their home or in their backyard or in their community,” said Levine.
She revealed food and beverage is a growing category on TikTok Shop. Apparel, beauty and personal care, trading cards and collectibles, are all categories that also do well. FYI, one of the platform’s top sellers is an oral care product called GuruNanda Pulling Oil — more than a million units at this point said Levine.
They’re also talking to any and all brands, including Mattel and large publishers who are interested in the #BookTok phenomenon.
And, despite all the discounts and subsidies, TikTok Shop wants to appeal to a multi-price point customer. “All of us can shop at Costco and shop at Gucci, you want a great product at a great price.”
How do people feel about AI’s impact on the creator economy?
For the most part, AI references felt like an afterthought. The most enthusiasm was reserved for the AI-dedicated session: “Artificial Intelligence: Startups and Creators Navigate the New Frontier.” And even there, current AI was compared to “a baseline for shitty first drafts” that creators could and should improve upon.
One of the most interesting takes came from a conversation I had with Do Good Media Creative Director Jonathan Gaurano. He predicted that we’re entering a nostalgia era for analog experiences as a backlash against an overabundance of AI and social media.
Audiences want transparency around the human experience of what is being created by their favorite creators: “For example, KaroCrafts does an excellent job of documenting how she creates her art, all of which is done by hand. Another example is KarenXCheng, who recently made a stop-motion video of an Instagram feed using Polaroid camera prints and cardboard paper.”
They also want direct access to live creator experiences: “For instance, MorganJay excels at this by encouraging attendees at his shows to sing along with him.”
Gaurano also predicts we'll see a rise in sales for Digicams: “showing yet again that consumers are finding a way to create things that feel outside of social media... while still of course experiencing social media.”
What was the buzzword of the day?
“Community.” It was mentioned at least 77 times across the nine panels I sat in on.
But it’s much more than a feel-good, amorphous term. Community is being recognized — and valued — as a business driver.
“The reason we use the term community is because it's actually more valuable,” said Mighty Networks founder Gina Bianchini. “When I can actually bring a group of people together and you are providing value for each other, I'm doing less work. I'm creating more value. And it has a network effect, meaning that it gets more valuable with every new person who walks in the door.”
Ty Haney’s startup also makes her a powerful advocate for community. You might remember Haney as the former head of the athleisure startup she co-founded in college, Outdoor Voices. She’s now the founder and CEO of TYB (Try Your Best), a community rewards platform. (I featured TYB in the newsletter back in January)
“You can prompt engagement through this owned channel, whether it’s posting to social, showing up to events, streaming products, co-creation, or testing opportunities… as you're able to bring all of this data into one view, there's ways to create programs that ultimately increase the frequency of purchase from these superfans or users, lifetime value, and long term revenue.”
Haney said it was her inability to connect the dots around the impact of community that led to her public clash with executives at Outdoor Voices. “I was a young CEO and had a board with a lot of traditional retail experience and, ultimately, myself and the chairman didn't see eye to eye on the right way to grow this.”
TYB is a new chance to prove out her community-driven theory.
“Community listening or community generation is the future… And the best brands are the ones that are tapping right into that, and then essentially allowing them [superfans] to drive product development,” said Ty Haney.
[Entrepreneur Ty Haney on stage]
TOP QUOTES
"I think we're not far off from seeing the first YouTube shows get nominated or win Golden Globes or movies get distributed on digital platforms get nominated for an Oscar."
-Actor and TikToker Adam Rose on removing Hollywood’s gatekeepers and finding new distribution platforms
“The more that you can be building...with your audience so that they are invested in you…as a person and they want to follow you along from project to project, that's becoming table stakes.”
-Stephanie Smith, VP, Head of Talent Strategy at UTA on the trend of co-creation between creator and community
"There's more opportunity in niche communities. There are the tools for their communities to support them and buy things from them. Plus, now you've got advertisers seeing the value and pouring money into those communities."
-Neil Waller, Whalar Co-Founder on the power of niche communities
“We're seeing creators become entrepreneurs. And this has happened for years, but I think it's accelerating in terms of building products that they think are relevant to their audience and using their brands to market those products.”
-Mike Minton, Chief Monetization Officer at Twitch on the rise of the creator entrepreneur
“We all appreciate the metrics… There's 200M creators around the world, 60% of Gen Z wants to be an influencer. The question is, what is the TAM (total addressable market)? How do you monetize? Do you monetize the creator or do you monetize the consumer? And what is the business model?”
-Alekhya Uppalapati, Technology, Media and Telecommunications at Goldman Sachs on responsible investing in the creator economy
“Where traditional media has failed athletes, social media has propelled them… Women are marketable. The reason why they're so good on those platforms is because those are the platforms that allowed them to be seen, to be heard.”
-Tobin Heath, professional soccer player, Olympian, founder Re-Inc on new avenues to elevate female athletes
[Athlete Tobin Heath and Snap’s Racquel Douglas on stage]
👀 IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Social users spend more time on TikTok than any other platform, but the app’s growth is slowing — even among Gen Z -EMarketer
YouTube TV is now the No. 3 provider of traditional subscription TV services in the U.S. -The Information
200 artists signed an open letter to tech platforms accusing them of using AI to -Artists Rights Alliance
AI concerns have creators shifting strategies, with some using it for 'filler tasks' and others pulling back on the tech altogether -Business Insider
The top 5 AI marketing activations to know right now -AdAge
Influencers allege discrimination during Topicals brand trip to the Swiss Alps but it’s not the brand’s fault -The Cut
What it's like to ‘fail’ at being an influencer -Embedded
The Reddit pages that investigate influencers -Columbia Journalism Review
Influencers are now asking to be in our brands ads. And we should listen -The Drum
Thanks for reading! Let me know if there’s anything about the event you’re curious about?