The Business Models of Content Monetization by
Content Creators
The past few years have seen fundamental changes in the commercial
activity of content creators, who are beginning to be seen as a more
mature category of social media stakeholders, who are opening new
horizons for brands, platforms, and users.19 Content creators now come in
many different sizes, pertaining to a wide variety of industries, and
splitting their activity across a number of social media platforms.20 Their
business models can be generally divided into four categories. While
business models may change at a fast pace, this taxonomy reflects the
most relevant and up-to-date categorization of revenue streams in the
creator economy:21
1) revenue from brands; 2) revenue from platforms;
3) (unmediated) revenue from peers; and 4) direct selling.
Revenue from brands entails a type of revenue resulting from
advertising agreements made off-platform between creators and brands,
often referred to as the influencer marketing phenomenon discussed in the
earlier section. Such revenue can be generated through various practices,
such as endorsements, affiliate marketing, and barter.
Revenue from platforms has been traditionally prevalent on specific
platforms (e.g., YouTube), but is now gaining broader popularity through
additional models. Other practices have gained traction as well, such as
subscriptions (e.g., Twitch), crowdfunding services (e.g., GoFundMe or
Patreon), tokenization (allowing users to buy tokens to facilitate ad-hoc
micropayments to reward activities such as streaming), or creator funds
(e.g., TikTok).22
An important aspect about revenue from platforms is that such
revenue is always mediated by platforms, and creators thus become
dependent on platforms for it. This shows a clear shift in social media
strategies. Earlier on, platforms attempted to capture the attention of
individual users. Nowadays, creators have become honeypots attracting
their own followers, which has changed the nature of their interaction
with platforms. Most recently, this business model also includes an
attempt by platforms to reign in influencer marketing. For instance,
TikTok’s Branded Missions reflect an influencer marketplace aimed at
mediating brand deals between brands and influencers willing to engage
in native advertising. As part of the payment, TikTok also offers free
views to the influencers who are selected for payment upon the brand’s
agreement.23
Unmediated revenue from peers reflects transactions which are
supported via decentralized payment architectures, such as the Web
Monetization protocol or the Brave Rewards program of the Brave
browser.24 These payments generally also entail micropayments and are
supposed to help normalize the notion of paying for content on the
internet to support creators.
Lastly, direct selling is a model whereby influencers develop their
own products or services which they sell to their followers. The difference
between direct selling and influencer marketing is that when creators
advertise their own products, they become sellers in contracts with
consumers (and thus have additional obligations as contracting parties,
whereas in the latter situation they are mere advertisers).
The relevance of mapping business models should not be
underestimated. The latest Forbes list of top content creators for 2022
shows a consistent trend that creators are increasingly relying on a
combination of the business models enumerated above.25 In doing so,
creators build complex labor portfolios which allow them to spread the
risk of platform volatility and discretionary moderation.26
Charli D’Amelio, one of TikTok’s most popular stars, engages in
influencer marketing, receives tokens from fans during live streams, sells clothing, and even owns an early-stage VC fund.27 Mr. Beast, currently
YouTube’s most popular creator, monetizes his activity—amongst
others—using the platform’s advertising system (AdSense), engages in
influencer marketing, and even opened a “virtual restaurant” called Mr.
Beast Burger.28 These are some landmark illustrations of the commercial
work of content creators.
However, creator work extends well beyond advertising,
entertainment, and product development. Research has shown that
socially disruptive conspiracy theories are also monetizable,
29 often to the
detriment of the already vulnerable audiences who believe that the Earth
is flat or that Hillary Clinton is an alien. The success of content
monetization is thus affecting other corners of social media which we
would be more prone to associate with freedom of expression, such as
when creators express political views or support electoral candidates.
Another creator featured in the Forbes list is Elliot Tebele, known for his
popular Instagram meme curation account under the name of
“FuckJerry.”30 Tebele was the mastermind behind Mike Bloomberg’s
U.S. presidential campaign,31 encouraging particularly the younger,
meme-savvy electorate to vote for Bloomberg. This campaign is basically
an example of political influencer marketing,32 which is becoming so
popular that now marketing agencies are specializing in this type of
advertising, and governments around the world employ influencers as
public policy persuasion vehicles.33
