Earning money online by producing content on social media and building your community of fans is one thing. Living it fully is another! The economic model is far from profitable for creators and a recent report published by the Kajabi platform shows this.
Concretely, 96% of content creators today earn less than $100,000 per year. Nothing really surprising, but we mainly remember that for most it is more about pocket money than a real salary. Only a tiny fraction manages to make a living from it and many do not earn money directly from their content.
In a market expected to reach $480 billion by 2027, there are more than 50 million creators trying to make a living. However, only two thirds manage to earn income, not through monetization via the platforms on which they publish, but through brand agreements. But, this is reserved for accounts with millions of followers…
We are quite far from simply waiting for your videos to go viral and generate money. Ultimately, it’s diversification that pays off the most! Kajabi’s study highlights that the most successful content creators leverage several different revenue streams. First of all, there are digital products: training, advice, coaching… Once put in place, all the content can generate big returns! Then there are agreements with brands for product placement or tied selling. Then come the platforms, including the main one: YouTube. The social network remains the one that distributes the most income. Moreover, 42% of creators say that the absence of YouTube would represent a loss of $50,000 per year for them.
There is no miracle. Social networks are used above all to develop an audience, which must then be promoted and exploited commercially wisely. On YouTube, 90% of clips never reach 1000 views, so it is important, to reach as many people as possible, to build your community and the strategy that goes with it. Contracts and monetization come next!
Today, platforms also face fierce competition. YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat… By highlighting their remuneration system for creators, these networks want above all to keep users active on their application rather than on their neighbor’s. But be careful of shortcuts: the general public easily tends to summarize the fact that creators make their living through the monetization of their content.
On the contrary, it is a long process of research, creation and effort before you start to earn an interesting income. If the passion, commitment and a little talent are there, there are always opportunities to be seized!