How to Attract & Retain Partners in the Creator Economy

In August 2021, The New York Times migrated the creative economy category away from its culture section and into the business section. Even though the creator economy is entering its initial stages, it has already reached high-velocity growth.

With nicknames like “passion economy” and “enthusiasm” economy, influencers dominate the creative economy on platforms like TikTok and Instagram. Their high demand enables them to get paid on their terms. 

But what happens when your obsolete finance processes are too slow for these creators?

They’ll shift to a competitor with a modernized tech stack. Businesses that pay quickly and efficiently—and offer a seamless onboarding process—have higher retention of their creative partners. 

Creative Economy + Gig Economy—What’s the difference? 

When you ask a seven-year-old kid what they want to be when they grow up, the answer is not “a pro basketball player” or “movie star,” but a famous YouTube influencer. Everyone is trying to be an influencer.

We’re living in a world in which we already have a lot of virtual experiences—the pandemic accelerated much of them. According to the New Yorker, the Creator Economy resembles the gig economy, but with digital content. As of 2021, Influencers are worth $8 billion, and two million global creators rake in six figures. Due to the success of this hybrid industry, people worldwide are joining platforms in hopes of being the next macro-influencer, sparking the infinite need for global partner payments and easy partner onboarding processes.

This breakout industry is similar to the gig economy in concept. Influencers are still workers—they rely on companies for their financial wellbeing. Like workers from the gig economy, the creator has to market themselves, get paid, and ensure they’re tax compliant. 

Disruption in the Creator Economy

The “creative economy” is relatively young—John Howkins coined the term in 2001. As people are cleaning the shelves with virtual consumerism, investors and suppliers are hurrying to groom the next generation of creators.

The creative economy is celebrated across the globe. No matter where your company is, nurturing the creative initiative is vital in scaling with this evolving industry. 

The pandemic positively disrupted the creative economy—inviting higher engagement and amplifying creative opportunities. COVID caused an increase in consumers watching and playing video games, television viewing and streaming, and more people consuming various forms of digital content. 

The Creative Future is Meta

The creative marketplace will soon premier the metaverse. Neal Stephenson created the term “metaverse” in the 1992 novel Snow Crash. The metaverse of the digital era is going to be an imaginary landscape with virtual reality. Even Mark Zuckerberg is joining the interactive trend— he recently announced that Facebook is going “meta.” 

For creators, this opens the floodgates of endless possibilities in the virtual world. Cyber connections will take place in the metaverse, from designing new worlds—such as interactive haunted houses to riding through space on a unicorn. This new space will see a flood of new creators and influencers. 

As the creative economy carves its way through society, schools are building a curriculum around that world. They actively implement Edtech software to prepare students for the booming industry. The pandemic catapulted children into a digital classroom, which required an abundance of critical and creative thinking. Teachers are using platforms like Adobe Education to cover all essential bases of thinking and problem-solving.

Financially Nurturing Your Creatives 

As we witness new worlds within the creative economy, finance leaders know that implementing the right technology will empower creators to work with them. 

A holistic technology platform streamlined into one central hub enables you to shift your attention to partner engagement. A solution with a self-onboarding feature puts the ball in the creator’s court. This self-service portal provides creators with a positive payment experience, plus visibility and transparency. You’ll ensure partners—such as that YouTube influencer, or a 3D piñata gaming app, or that knitted voodoo doll shop—will continue to work with your business.

Continued growth across an entire business is a clear indicator that high-velocity companies prioritize digitizing their finance operations. In this ever-changing ecosystem, finance team members know that creators are the main priority of their business. And businesses need to nurture their creators by offering simple, easy payment processes and workflows. After all, they are creating the world around us.