New Forms of Marketing and Brand Promotion in America: The Creator Economy

Update from September 29, 2023

New Trends in the Creator Economy in the USA

The Creator Economy offers brands unprecedented opportunities to connect with millions of potential customers: social media users. The communities on Instagram and TikTok rely on these platforms for inspiration and to purchase products recommended by their favorite influencers.

Collaborating with Content Creators in the United States is Essential for Building Brand Awareness and Converting American Leads into Valuable Buyers

To fully leverage the potential of the Creator Economy in America, it's important to outline a strategy for managing your online presence and to understand the new trends happening on social networks:

• Authenticity: The American audience rewards content they can identify with, while they view overly aggressive marketing tactics with suspicion. Traditional advertisements are also easily recognizable on social platforms, and users often skip them without even watching;
• Influencers: Increasingly, influencers and content creators are becoming true entrepreneurs in a variety of industries, showcasing their expertise far beyond the channels that made them famous. Many have started brands, written books, launched podcasts, or begun careers in marketing and management;
• De-influencing: With over 880 million views on TikTok, de-influencing is a growing phenomenon in the USA. This trend involves influencers telling their followers what not to buy, opposing excessive consumption and misleading ads from big companies;
• Mental Health: The relationship between mental health and social media use is becoming increasingly evident, leading many American schools to sue Big Tech for creating addiction and damaging young people's self-esteem. Consequently, companies are also adapting to growing government restrictions by creating ad campaigns that promote self-acceptance and diversity.

What Strategies Can Italian Companies Adopt to Leverage the Content Economy in the United States?

• Micro-Influencers: While major social personalities can achieve greater resonance and reach a wider audience, small and medium-sized enterprises should turn to micro-influencers, who focus on specific interests and can create deep and authentic connections with followers;
• Focus on Values: Today, American consumers are increasingly attentive to values like transparency and sustainability. Creating marketing campaigns aligned with these ideals helps build a trusting relationship with the audience;
• New Technologies: Companies must stay updated on new digital resources, especially AI, to simplify the work of the creators they collaborate with. Online tools also help monitor campaign analytics, manage collaborations, and gauge sentiment around their brand;
• Local Consultancy: Engaging communication agencies specialized in the USA is crucial for identifying influencers aligned with the brand and helping companies successfully navigate the world of social networks. Social media is a strategic access point to the American market.

With low entry barriers and the ability to reach a vast audience, Italian companies that invest in the Creator Economy can guide users through the marketing funnel, starting from brand awareness, building a strong and lasting relationship with leads, and finally reaching conversion and monetization.

Article originally published on December 8, 2021

The Creator Economy Influences Sales: New Online Consumption Trends from the USA

Also known as the creative or passion economy, this evolution of online marketing represents a valuable tool for Italian companies wanting to start selling in the United States

In the Internet era, we've entered the so-called knowledge economy. In practice, goods and services are sold to American consumers not in traditional ways but through the mediation of people who have learned to monetize skills, hobbies, and interests online.

At the same time, younger generations have made social media the ideal places for shopping and expanding their knowledge on various topics, boosting the development of the Creator Economy in the United States. Much of the growth of the creative economy is indeed supported by changes in media consumption in America and, subsequently, the rest of the world.

The Role of the “Creator” in the US Economy: A Social Media Professional So Skilled They Convince Consumers to Pay for New Content

Brands selling in the United States have realized that American consumers want to reward creators whose work they appreciate. This means people are discovering the potential of the Internet: from the consumption side, content today represents tangible but also intellectual resources, while from the creation side, what is shared serves both to sell in America and to build a more loyal and devoted following of users than ever.

In short, with the Creator Economy, it's possible to transform the audience into a true asset, a community to interact with, and many companies have structured their marketing strategy for the American market based on how they can relate to consumers. For example, many companies active in the United States choose to create partnerships with content creators to share their brand message with hard-to-reach audiences. After all, collaborating with a content creator in America offers the following advantages:

• Creators boast strong relationships with their fans that they can use to promote the brands in the USA they believe in; and
• Creators are agile, and working with them can be a quick and cost-effective way to complement the work of a creative agency.

The Differences Between Influencers and Content Creators: What Does Your Company Need in the USA?

The boundary between influencers and content creators is often blurred: an influencer can also be a content creator, a creator can become an influencer, and so on. Yet, there are elements that differentiate these two professional figures in the USA.

The fundamental difference between influencers and creators is that an influencer promotes brands and launches new trends using their image without creating original content; the content creator, on the other hand, produces creative content in many formats and on various platforms. In short, the influencer is one of the means used for a marketing strategy while the creator conceives the strategies themselves, remaining somewhat more in the background.

For example, Francesco Costa is a content creator: his project "Da Costa A Costa" consists of a series of journalistic-style content shared via Instagram, podcast, and newsletter. Khabi Lame is a content creator on TikTok who became famous worldwide for his funny videos. A contestant from the TV show Uomini e Donne like Giulia De Lellis is an influencer because she doesn't develop content but uses her image to influence her followers' purchasing decisions on Instagram.

To Make a Space in Competitive Markets Like the American One, It's Essential to Invest in Relationships with the Community [formerly known as Target Audience]..

There Are Many Ways to Collaborate with an American Content Creator, and the Marketing Strategy Varies Based on What the Company in the USA Wants to Achieve from the Partnership

Below are some strategies for which a company selling in the American market might want a partnership with a content creator in the United States:

1. Product Placement: The creator places a company's product in the United States in a video they would make anyway. It's a light approach that subtly invites American consumers to search for the brand, plus it's cost-effective and doesn't require much creativity or oversight from the commissioning company.
    
2. Custom Inserts: A segment or an entire video dedicated to a product distributed by the creator on their channel. It's a more expensive approach, ideal for companies looking for solid storytelling opportunities in America.
    
3. Video Ads: Brand-owned videos produced by or with a creator designed to appear as ads on YouTube. These videos allow for more creative control and can be targeted to a specific audience in the USA.
    
4. Social Media Amplification: Promotion on social media by the content creator is often included in the partnership. This strategy helps drive traffic to the actual video content and engage American consumers.
    
5. 360-Degree Partnership: A combination of the previous goals that can have a longer duration and include appearances, licensing agreements, etc.

Brands in the United States Need to Build Relationships with Their Target Consumers to Be Relevant in the American Market

The Creator Market Offers Great Opportunities for Niche Businesses Looking for a Tool to Stand Out from Competitors in the USA

It is estimated that the Creator Economy market, along with the lucrative influencer marketing sector and hundreds of new startups, is worth 104 billion dollars and is expected to grow.

In short, to generate a large enough following of loyal customers for your business in the United States, collaborating with a content creator can be a perfectly viable idea. The beauty is that to have a successful business in America using the Creator Economy, you don't need millions, neither to spend nor in terms of fans or customers: a true supporter will buy everything the content creator produces or proposes, so managing to create a following of even just 1,000 loyal customers will bring undeniable economic results.

Winning Over American Consumers: Italian Brands in the United States Need to Start with a Few But Good Customers

We often speak with Italian companies that fear being overwhelmed by the competition from more popular brands in America simply because they have a much larger following. The truth is that the number of followers doesn't matter because it all depends on how many are willing to spend on a product or service.

In conclusion, the Creator Economy can simplify the client acquisition process for Italian companies in the United States that have not yet established themselves. American creators now have the necessary tools to produce high-quality content, and consumers truly need to find brands not only worthy of their trust but also (and most importantly) with a human face.