#SMLive Season 6: The future of the Creator Economy

In a panel session, experts discuss the future of the creator economy at #SMLive 2022, Social Samosa’s marquee annual conference, organized on World Social Media Day.

Social media platforms are evolving and are becoming more and more versatile. They are trying to build the community and nurture it. Rohit Raj, Arushi Sethi, Vinay Pillai, and Karan Sonawane shed light on how creating content that entertains the audience and adapting to diversification is the key to sustaining the creator economy. 

Rohit Raj, Co-Founder & CEO at BB Ki Vines Productions, expressed his views on what the future of the creator economy looks like and the power they have to shape the future and the industry. Rohit said, "We are all in the first decade of the internet of content creation in India. We have seen changes in the last two years, and most of these are very dynamic. So, I would say that today, we can not envision what the future will look like, but it is definitely green and prosperous as all these platforms are coming up with different tools to empower talent. We will have to keep adapting and getting used to whatever the platforms offer and keep up with the new platforms that are coming up.”

“The question is rhetorical. The creator economy is the future more than the future of the creator economy. That’s my thought about the economy. The future is bright!” added Aarushi Sethi, Business Head at Pollen - Zoo Media.

Also Read: Diving into the OTT Marketing Pool at #SMLive 2022

What are the key factors to building a sustainable career path or business for themselves?

Discussing how to date, a huge bunch of creators are heavily dependent on branded collabs and what should creators do to move ahead of relying on these collabs and build a sustainable career path or business for themselves. Rohit Raj mentioned, "The first goal is to create content that suits the self, entertains the audience, and keeps them engaged. To sustain, you have to keep adapting."

“In India, content has rarely been monetized in any other way but ads. All of it is still ad-supported, brand supported in some way. People did not pay for content, but now OTT is changing that. Even when it comes to advertising digitally, brand monetization fits when you have a large audience. You can reach out to them in a message. At some point in time, we would love to see more consumer monetization.”, added Vinay Pillai, Head, Clout, Pocket Aces.

“We need to stay true to what we want. Bhuvan always wanted to act and tell different stories. Now with every stage or quarter, he will get multiple platforms to tell that story, but he will have to stay true to the fact that he will have to act and figure out and find new stories to tell. Dhindora is an example of what he has created around his characters for about seven years in around 170 videos.”, expressed Rohit Raj.

Karan Sonawane expressed his thoughts on how creators can attain fame, sustain it and move ahead of brand collaborations to create a brand for themselves. Karan said, “I made myself a brand, and the brands started approaching me. I am now working with a lot of great brands. Now I get to choose whoever I can work with, and for that, you have to be a brand first. From a creative perspective, the audience is really smart now, and you can't sell them crap. You have to be authentic to your content, art, and audience. People should get addicted to you. You should be their first dose of entertainment.” 

What is the role of creator-led IPs, and how does it unlock the effect on the creator?

Individual identities of individual characters are what it started as, and then it moved to full-fledged IP shows. It allows the creator to get complete freedom because only with a creator-led IP can they show their actual content and are in control of the narrative of the creative. Creator-led IP is very different from brand-led IP. It also helps them build an identity and break the clutter.

“It is an off-screen on-screen mix. It is the small TV for the big screens. Creator-led IPs help you address different audiences. You can create multiple IPs and serve various objectives and reach out to different audiences. Behensplaining is one of the most popular examples. The purpose of creating something like that was to build a female audience. One of the biggest takeaways of the creator-led IPs is that the IP has a loyal community. They follow, have an opinion on everything you do, and are always waiting for the next episode. They are your biggest critics, but they are also your biggest supporters.”, expressed Arushi.

Sharing closing remarks, Karan states, “The main rule to be in this game is that hunger shouldn’t end. Hunger should be there for the money and also for the art that you are doing. Once you lose that hunger, your growth stops.”

Rohit Raj, Arushi Sethi, Vinay Pillai, and Karan Sonawane shared their thoughts at the 6th edition of #SMLive, Social Samosa’s marquee annual conference, organized on World Social Media Day.

You can watch SMLive Sessions here!