The influencer middle-class struggles, new creator black card, Substack’s IRL plans
Hi there! This is Amanda Perelli, and welcome to our weekly creator-economy newsletter, Business Insider Creators.
Here’s what to expect in this week’s edition:
Influencer marketers are back to working with big stars.
Dan Whateley and Sydney Bradley wrote about a recent survey from Linqia which found that interest in working with creators with fewer than 500,000 followers dropped between 2023 and 2024.
Instead, celebrities and creators with millions of fans were getting more deals, Linqia found.
One micro influencer, Bethany Everett-Ratcliffe , said she'd felt this impact on her business, and that she had been "getting less paid partnerships" than in years prior.
There's a new black card influencers are swiping to redeem products and services.
I wrote about the influencer-focused fintech platform, OTH Network: On The House , which uses AI to match brands and creators.
The platform currently has over 3,000 creators and over 90,000 global creator applications. In the US, it's available to creators in cities including Miami, LA, Chicago, Las Vegas, and New York, with plans to expand.
"We have a serious tech team in-house that is constantly building and upgrading these things. It's not just an agency with an app in front of it,” said cofounder Maximiliaan Van Kuyk .
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Substack is looking to in-person experiences to expand the startup’s reach.
Sydney Bradley wrote that Substack has been hosting jam-packed readings and parties with its newsletter writers.
She spoke with Sophia Efthimiatou and Matt Starr, Substack's duo leading the platform's IRL strategy.
More coverage from this week:
The business of being a creator
Social platforms and creator-economy startups
What’s happening in digital culture
Thanks for reading! Send me your tips, comments, or questions: aperelli@businessinsider.com.
Co-Founder & CEO of Currents Management
1moVery insightful!
CEO of YTJOBS.com | I help creators & companies find top-tier talent to grow their YouTube channels
2moHi Amanda, I saw a post from BI that was about creators hosting local events/communities. I thought you wrote it but can't seem to find it. Can anyone help me locate it?
Integrated Brand Marketing Leader | Speaker | Adjunct Professor
2moThe micro influencers points is so interesting. It honestly just shows the evolution of the industry and how TikTok has effected it all. I'd be interested in seeing their chart split by channels. I also think it's interesting that they just call everyone with 5M+ a "celebrity" when that really isn't the case. There are tons and tons of creators with millions of followers that aren't celebrity status and don't have that cred outside of their niche. That is largely due to how fast a lot of people grew on TT over the years. This is why I'm not a fan of categorizing by sizes and names. Someone with 5M on TT and 5M on IG might be wildly different when it comes to actual influence and performance, same with someone with 100k on each of the platforms. The micro who said she is getting less deals is likely right, the competition is exponentially larger than ever before. Brands are also getting smarter/more targeted about who they choose for partnerships. Same goes for payment, as brands learn how to price instead of paying whatever, creators are going to see decreasing in what they've always asked for and just gotten.