Adweek has recently published that the global creators' economy is estimated to be worth $ 104 bln as of 2022 and more than 50 mln people have contributed to it. This economy is supported online and is made up of millions of content creators and the companies that support their growth and profits — software and tools, financial management, analytics programmes, etc. Creators are self-employed individuals, video bloggers, photographers, musicians, bloggers, influencers, writers and artists. Creators are unique in using their talents and content to create a self-employed business and make a profit directly from their audience. They sell their skills, hobbies and interests in digital.

The internet, social media, altered approaches to content monetisation and new technologies are reinforcing the development of the creators' economy, and collaborations with brands and businesses are opening up new markets and opportunities. Creators play an important role in the content marketing, media and entertainment industries.

They create content that engages audiences, establishes a connection with consumers, and creates value for brands. On the one hand, people are not limited in the choice of content they can consume. On the other hand, they have long been creators themselves, creating their own unique content and making their profit from it. The development of the Internet and digital technologies, which provide creators with monetisation tools and opportunities to make a profit from their content, have also contributed to this trend.

Creative and innovative partnerships are developed, new audiences are attracted and customer bases are expanded, funnel conversions are increased, brand loyalty and trust are enhanced depending on the brands' objectives in their marketing strategies.

Marketers are keeping an eye on the creators' economy to be aware of the latest trends and to take advantage of partnerships with content creators. I found a very interesting research study by Deloitte, the company interviewed 400 creators in the U.S. with audiences ranging from 5,000 subscribers to 1 million+ in the spring of 2022 to learn details of their work and challenges. In 2023, most creators are keen to grow and are looking for partnerships with brands.

The diagram illustrates the key priorities that creators expect from brand partnerships. And we can see that relevant content takes the lead. This result is the one I expected, nativity remains relevant. As media owners, creators also want the brand to fit organically into the content they create. Audiences will trust that kind of communication more. And creators, as co-creators, are involved from the earliest stages of development to the final piece of creative in a long-term collaboration.

Forbes has compiled a Top Creators 2022 ranking of 49 top creators and 1 dog. Forbes ranked each creator in three categories: earnings, clout and entrepreneurship. Their average age is 31 years old. In 2021, they collectively earned $ 570 mln and collected 1.9 bln followers on TikTok, YouTube and Instagram (Instagram is prohibited in Russia; it is owned by Meta Corporation, which is recognised as extremist in Russia).

I’ll tell you about the cool three rankings in this article, and the full list can be found at the Top Creators 2022

Stunts like spending 50 hours buried alive and attempting starvation for 30 days are well worth it when they net $ 54 million a year. The predictably high viewership of antics like these explains why Jimmy Donaldson AKA MrBeast has made most of his money from ads on his YouTube videos. MrBeast earned the No. 1 spot on this list not only because he’s making more than anyone else, but also because his restaurant concept, MrBeast Burger, is a truly entrepreneurial mechanism for the YouTuber to monetize his fame. Rather than invest in cooking equipment or delivery infrastructure, MrBeast created the ghost kitchen operation in December 2020, in which people order a MrBeast Burger online and an affiliated restaurant with extra staff prepares the order for delivery.

In 2021, 18-year-old Charli D’Amelio was the highest-earning TikToker, making $ 17.5 million from her casual clothing brand Social Tourist (a joint venture with Hollister and sister Dixie), Hulu show the D’Amelio Show and deals with brands like Invisalign, Morphe and Dunkin'. While she still posts videos of dances, D’Amelio also devotes much of her content to pushing her own brands and partnerships. A huge part of this is D’Amelio Brands, her family’s consumer product company, which nabbed a $ 100 million valuation as a pre-revenue, pre-employee and pre-product company, as it has publicity rights to the whole family and will make D’Amelio-branded products in areas like skincare and footwear. She and her family also launched $ 25 million venture capital shop 444 Capital to back nascent companies in everything from insurtech to consumer brands.

In a Forbes first, an animal has made a list. This talking sheepadoodle has managed to attract over 1.1 million Instagram (Instagram is prohibited in Russia; it is owned by Meta Corporation, which is recognised as extremist in Russia) followers by telling her owner that she misses her dad, loves her mom and smells weird things. Bunny communicates with her humans by using a soundboard with 92 word buttons like "love," "outside" and "chase," supposedly employing muscle memory to press each with her paw. It may just be a getup, but it's made Bunny a business pooch: she's got a partnership with sustainable pet food brand Open Farm Pet, among others.

American clothing brand Cactus Plant Flea Market is famous for its four-eyed face images. The brand helps consumers tap into their inner child and has collaborated with Nike and Kanye West.

In 2022, brand founder and designer, Cynthia Lu, created several toys for the adult version of McDonald’s Happy Meal — Grimace, Hamburglar, Birdie, and a new character, Cactus Buddy. At the early October, the meals were already being sold in restaurants, at counters, on delivery or in the McDonald’s app. The app was the centre of the marketing campaign. It featured clothing shows, menu selections and live concerts. And customers were also automatically given access to exclusive merchandise each week.

Fifty percent of collectibles were sold in the first four days of the promotion. It drove the highest week of digital transactions ever in the U.S.

"It shows to us, and just as a reminder, we are charged with shepherding and stewarding one of the most fantastic equities in the world, and that we’ve actually got to find ways to continue to keep it fresh," Kempczinski said during the company’s Q3 earnings call. "In terms of evidence of it, it’s the little things. So when you see we’re actually selling out of our adult Happy Meals and it’s happening in days, not weeks, that is a real proof point. When you see that people are posting on social media the fun ways where they got their Boo Buckets and ready to go out and do Halloween, all of those are proof points."

Traffic spiked with the launch of the adult Happy Meal. Through August and September, weekly foot traffic remained between 2.4 percent and 9.7 percent year-over-year, but when the product launched the week of October 3, visits skyrocketed to 37.1 percent.