Jim Louderback: Get Paid for Views, Not Ads; Meta’s Surprising New Strategy; and Influence Beats Work for Young Adults

BY JIM LOUDERBACK

You can read from Jim Louderback here.

Meta innovates, creators quit, Google flips and much more. It’s the third week of May 2023 and here’s what you need to know. Also, if you like this newsletter, I’d appreciate it if you would nominate me to be part of The Insider’s new list of creator economy experts. Thanks in advance!

I’m a Creator and I Quit! The latest IZEA influencer study is out – fielded in December 2022 via 1,200 U.S.-based consumers. It found that 61% of 18-29 year-olds in the U.S. would quit their job if they could make a living as an influencer. The study also found that more than 1 in 5 (of that 18-29 group) already consider themselves an influencer. Almost half of those influencers have less than 1000 followers, while 56% are employed full-time.  

40% of Users Tip Creators and Most Creators Make Over $50k a Year (say Wut?): IZEA competitor “The Influencer Marketing Factory” released an omnibus overview of the creator economy and research too. Their study talked to 1,000 U.S. users and 660 U.S. creators, and found that more than 40% of users tip, and more than 60% of content creators make over $50k a year. Clearly not a random sample. In addition, their data shows that a whopping 94% of creators have adopted AI into their workflow. There’s a lack of transparency about methodology in both Izea and TIMF’s study – and some of TIMF’s data seem way off base. Given Izea’s track record I find more veracity in their data – but take both as directional, not projectable.

Get Views and Get Paid: Meta is taking an interesting approach to paying creators in a new Facebook Reels test. Rather than sharing revenue – as it did with prior tests, it plans on paying for views instead. Meta will transition some creators into this new model and invite more creators to participate. Instagram will be added in select markets too. Somewhat like Spotter and Jellysmack’s model – where creators get paid today for expected future earnings regardless of platform sales or economic environment – the program aligns even better with a creator’s efforts. Creators don’t sell ads, but they do drive views.  

As with most programs like this, success will hinge on revenue per view (RPV), what views are included and how many creators are part of the program. Hopefully it won’t mirror what creators have seen in TikTok’s pulse program, where CPVs range from $3-$20 CPV, but the number of revenue-generating views was abysmal – via Insider ($). I can imagine different RPVs by content type – perhaps beauty and cute animals are more highly valued by advertisers than pranks or DIY. A higher CPV in some categories might drive more creators into that space. 

Drive views and get paid – perhaps THIS is the future of creator monetization.

QUIBIS:

• Twitter hires a new CEO – I unpack what it means here.
• YouTube targets ad-blockers in push for more revenue.
• Meta brings AI tools to select advertisers – with a broader roll out due later this year
• Useful new study shows you the best times to post on FB, IG, YT, LI, TT, TW and PI.
• Structural or cyclical? Podcast ad revenue growth slows dramatically in 2022.
• Pluto co-founder is building a “free” ad-supported TV that includes a second screen for persistent marketing messages.
• Cosmetics company Tarte still doesn’t get it – and seems incapable of learning from past transgressions.
• Stop treating creators like ad units, argues Zach Blume from PortalA.
• TikTok Shop soars in Indonesia, but may be delayed in the U.S.
• How Mr. Beast hacked Instagram – good story from Night’s CEO Reed Duchscher.
• Interesting look at a handful of non-traditional media monetization schemes.
• LinkedIn removes inactive accounts from follower totals.
• It’s the Pinterest grand unification theory of Pins (likely positive for creators)!
• How TikTok and GenZ are fueling a nostalgia obsession.
• Twitch rolls out clipping tool to facilitate posting top moments to TikTok, Shorts and Reels.
• Jellysmack invests in Fourthwall, presumably to add to its suite of tools for creators. 
• Quel dommage: France cracks down on influencers.
• More creator deals: Electrify invests in Veritasium.

CRYPTIS & GENIES:

• Google gave a bear hug to AI at its annual developer conference – good stuff for creators there. They’re brining TikTok, Reddit and (more) YouTube to search results too.
• Google also begins opening up access to its AI music-generation service.  
• Spotify kicks thousands of AI songs off its platform – what are they afraid of?
• EU tightens up the regulatory requirements for GenAI.
• I think there’s a great opportunity to build a “NALLM” – or Network Attached Large Language Model – that sits in your home or office and only includes your personal/corporate data and is protected from the broader internet. PrivateGPT gets us closer to my vision.

Tips of the Week:

• Tim Schmoyer and Video Creators share tips on how to break through when you run out of content ideas.
• Great tips for creators and managers on how to optimize brand deal agreements – from Creators Legal founder (and rockstar entertainment lawyer) Eric Farber.
• Why you shouldn’t be obsessed by your LinkedIn analytics (from me!)
• Related from Phil Ranta – get people to like you.

What I’m Watching: The funniest corporate speech ever – from Google’s CEO at IO last week.

Thanks for reading and see you around the internet. Send me a note with your feedback, or post in the comments! Feel free to share this with anyone you think might be interested, and if someone forwarded this to you, you can sign up and subscribe on LinkedIn for free here!  

If you’re interested in working together as a sponsor to reach the leaders in the creator economy, check out Inside the Creator’s sponsorship packages and/or email me at jim@louderback.com.

And don’t forget to listen to The Creator Feed – the weekly podcast Renee Teeley and I produce – get it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Stitcher!

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