A Goldman Sachs analysis projects the global creator economy could reach $480 billion by 2027. Signaling a strong potential for the creator economy.
What is an influencer? In brief, someone who can shape how others think by building an audience on platforms like TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram. Companies often pay them to recommend their products.
The classification for influencers varies in the amount of following they have:
Nano- influencers: profiles with 1k - 10k followers
Micro-influencers: profiles with 10k-100k followers
Macro-influencers: profiles with 100k-1million followers
Mega-influencers: profiles with 1 million plus followers
“What people underestimate is the strategy,” said Carlos Monteon, a Yuma-area wrestling influencer with about 600,000 followers. He posts bilingual videos about his athletic journey and training tips. “Understanding metrics, understanding the psychology that keeps viewers engaged for a full minute” is as important as the content.
Monteon said community and engagement matter more than raw follower counts. But he also acknowledged inequities in the market. Research published by Business Insider found creators of color earn roughly 30% to 35% less than white counterparts. Monteon, who grew up between San Luis Río Colorado, Sonora, and San Luis, Arizona, said he’s learned he had been undervaluing his services.
“I went to a content house where guys with lower followings and engagement than I had were boasting minimum $3,000 per deal, whereas for me I’ve been doing the hundreds.”
To address pay transparency, Christen Niño de Guzman launched Clara for Creators, a free mobile and web platform where creators anonymously share brand-deal rates, review sponsor experiences and learn to price their work.
Adrian Peru, a FedEx driver by day who posts comedy and has more than 384,000 followers on Instagram and over 800,000 on TikTok, said he has earned as much as $38,000 in a year on TikTok alone and hopes to go full time after securing sustained partnerships.
“Sometimes I don’t believe what I’m doing … te la tienes que creer,” Peru said, borrowing a Spanish phrase meaning “you have to believe it.” He said early on he accepted low rates — “I said, OK, I’ll do it for $600. They accepted right away. I could have asked for more.”
Not every creator seeks viral stardom. Lindsay Martin, known as “Coach Linds,” uses social media to build a women-only personal training clientele out of a home gym. With just under 10,000 Instagram followers, she said social posts helped her gain more than 50 clients and build community-focused offerings that include Zumba, yoga and running.
“My audience is definitely mainly women,” Martin said. “Everything I do is to make women feel comfortable.” She estimates she spends about two hours to record, edit and post content and credits consistency with her growth. “People quit before it gets good — you got to be consistent,” she said.
The creator economy’s rise has prompted educational shifts. This fall, Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication launches a bachelor’s degree in content creation, designed to teach performance, analytics and brand building and culminating in a capstone semester where students grow real audiences on platforms.
The program reflects broader interest: about one in four members of Generation Z say they aspire to be content creators.
Industry observers warn the work can be unstable and unevenly compensated, and creators of color face persistent pay gaps.
“For me, it’s not just about money,” Martin said. “It’s about building something for my community.”
