Keeping Up with the Changing Content Creator Economy

The content creator economy is proliferating and shifting how a lot of people not only work, but how they get paid too. This entire business model has made a new way to generate income. In turn, it has also created a unique industry to pay out from.

MassPay makes it easy to pay out from this or any other industry you can think of—we’ll tell you more about how payout orchestration improves this process later in this article!

The Changing Content Creator Economy

This article will explore the changing creator economy, covering topics like:

• What the role of content creator entails
• How creators make money
• Payout challenges for content creator platforms

Read on to learn a bit more about the rise of a new type of influencer, the content creator, and the unique challenges platforms face in addressing payouts.

What is a Content Creator?

Let's begin by explaining what the term "content creator" means. In short, content creators produce videos, images, text, or other forms of media for the internet.

They often specialize in one platform type, such as YouTube, Instagram, or TikTok—we'll talk more about the top content creator platforms in a moment.

Some expand their reach by maintaining a presence on multiple platforms. They range from professional content creators who make it their full-time careers to the everyday person sharing snippets of their life on social media.

This industry has come a long way in the past decade and continues to evolve. As of 2023, it's estimated that over 15 million content creators are on YouTube alone, with more joining each day!

Top Content Creator Platforms

Now let's talk about some of the best-known content creator platforms, which also happen to be the ones helping content creators generate the most income.

TikTok

As the fastest-growing social media platform in the world, TikTok has become a hub for content creators, with new users flocking to the platform in droves each day.

TikTok content creators use the platform to make all kinds of video content, from tutorials to dances, songs, and more.

Recently, TikTok has also introduced the option to create 10-minute videos, seemingly to compete with platforms like YouTube that offer opportunities for longer-form content.

One way content creators earn money through TikTok is through the TikTok Creator Fund. It launched in 2021 with an impressive initial investment of 200 million USD. As for what the future holds, TikTok has promised this fund will reach $1 billion over the next three years.

YouTube

Next up on our list is YouTube—the OG of content creator platforms. With well over 2.6 billion unique users logged in monthly, YouTube remains one of the most lucrative places for content creators.

Each year, YouTube pays out billions to its top earners, with some famously making millions per video. In fact, this platform offers many ways for content creators to monetize their channels, from Google AdSense to sponsorships and affiliate marketing.

Instagram

We can't talk about content creator platforms without mentioning Instagram. This popular social media platform has brought opportunities to content creators in many different niches—from foodies and fashionistas to fitness fanatics.

In its early stages, Instagram was primarily a photo-sharing app. Today, it has evolved into a robust platform that allows content creators to leverage its broad reach and monetize their work.

Instagram offers popular features such as Stories, Reels, and Shoppable posts to help content creators generate additional income from their followers.

Rising Content Creator Platforms

Along with the well-established content creator platforms that help creators earn money, three are growing and joining the ranks of the top players faster than others: Twitch, Reddit, and Snapchat.

Twitch

Although this platform has been considered more niche than others, Twitch continues to grow tremendously year after year. It's become the place for gamers to live-stream their gameplay. It's also become an effective platform for content creators to showcase their talents through live streams and pre-recorded videos, an aspect of the platform many overlook because of the platform's historic association with gaming.

Reddit

Reddit is an online community with almost 56 million daily users where users post content, discuss topics, and engage with others.

Although it isn't typically where content creators establish an initial online presence, it's a place they can continue to grow theirs.

As such, it has become the go-to platform for content creators hoping to build relationships with their communities, find new collaborators, and get instant feedback on their work.

Snapchat

This photo and video messaging app has been around for years and has a well-established presence. Even though it isn’t one of the first platforms that comes to mind when it comes to earning money with content creation, things are changing.

Now, with its subscription and ad revenue options, Snapchat is becoming an increasingly attractive platform for content creators. That means, along with the people who just send Snaps for fun, content creators are finding new ways to monetize their work and reach more people on the platform.

How Do Content Creators Make Money?

What is it that's so intriguing and appealing about content creation? For most, the answer is the potential to monetize your content!

As we've touched on, content creators make money in many ways, including:

• Advertising
• Product placement and promotion
• Subscription services
• Merchandise

For example, suppose you're a content creator in the home improvement niche. Then, a home decor company might partner with you and pay you to promote its products on your accounts. Or, they’ll send you their products for free in exchange for posting about them.

Subscription services are another path content creators take to earn money online. Their subscribers commit to paying a fixed fee every month in exchange for exclusive access to things like additional content, bonuses, and merch from the content creator.

Some content creators also monetize their online presence by selling branded merchandise.

Finally, you'll notice a lot of content creators partner with brands or companies to make sponsored content. This takes different forms, ranging from creating an advertisement video to teaming up with a company on a project.

Payout Challenges for Creator Platforms

With a unique business model come unique challenges.

Some of the most significant hurdles associated with content creator payouts are:

• Making accurate, timely payments
• Compliance with multiple payment regulations
• Processing multiple payment types and multiple currencies
• Finding a cost-effective payout solution

For starters, creator platforms must ensure their content creators get paid on time and accurately.

However, there is also compliance with payment regulations in different markets with content creators who live and work globally. This can be a complicated and costly endeavor.
Platforms are also often faced with processing multiple payment types and currencies. Different content creators may prefer to use other payment methods, and they need to be able to accommodate this.

Finally, platforms must consider the cost of making payouts. Depending on the payment provider and method, they can incur costly fees. This is especially common when dealing with multiple payment types and currencies. This impacts the profitability of the content platform and the take-home income of the creator. It's a big deal that is too often overlooked.

So, what can content creation platforms do to overcome these challenges?

How Payout Orchestration Can Help

Fortunately, global payout orchestration solutions like MassPay help creator platforms streamline their payments, reduce costs, and meet compliance requirements.
Using a global payout orchestration solution, content creators receive their payments quickly and accurately in the payment method they choose. Platforms can also optimize costs by utilizing MassPay's hybrid model of high-volume and low-cost local/regional payment options.

For example, MassPay allows you to execute payouts in 175+ countries, markets, and 70+ currencies (including crypto). Rather than this taking weeks or even months, our solution helps you get the job done in just days.

Additionally, with MassPay's integrated compliance solutions, platforms can ensure payouts comply with regulations across different geographies. This is a growing concern for many platforms, as the regulatory landscape constantly changes.

Use MassPay for Content Creator Payouts

We've seen that the rapidly growing content creator economy is going in the direction of a more professionalized market.

This has created new opportunities for content creators to monetize their talents and the need for platforms to provide efficient and compliant payouts.

MassPay's payout orchestration solution effectively allows creator platforms to streamline payments, reduce costs, and stay compliant with regulations across different markets. We also take the complexity out of cross-border and multi-currency payouts so you can focus on growing your business.

Schedule a demo to learn how MassPay can help you with your content creator payouts.