The 3 biggest challenges that creators are facing in 2022 (Results from 900+ creator surveys) |
The journeys of creators are not identical. To find out more about the challenges of running a creator business in 2022, we conducted a survey of over 900 creators. Here's what we found.
"Creators earn their first online dollar with the help of millions of people, and joining one of the fastest-growing ecosystems of the planet, the economy of creators."
An estimated 50 million people think of themselves as creators. There's now more information available than ever before on how to become an all-time creator. The word "digital creator" is entered into the search engines 2.5K times every month, while "how to become a creator of content" is the subject of 1.3K search results.
Creators are those who is creative. Yes, influencers, YouTubers bloggers, podcasters, and influencers are all creators - but so are artists, craft-makers, musicians and educators, worldbuilders, writers, and everybody that is in between.
The wide range of creativity work ensures that no two creator journeys will be the same.
What types of goods do creators make and sell? What are their most difficult challenges? Who do they go to for assistance? What channels have the most success?
For more details on the challenges of running the business of a creator in 2022, we conducted a survey of over 900 creators regarding their businesses. They were asked about their challenges, advice sources as well as creative channels and the content they create.
We found this:
At all levels of experience the biggest hurdle for creators is growing an audience (32.9 percent), followed by having enough time to do everything (21.6%) and knowing how to monetize (14.4%).
In seeking help to overcome the problems, they mainly learn from each other. YouTube (22.6 percent) as well as personal mastermind group (22.5%) are the top two sources that creators go to for help.
Social media is a way for creators for connecting with their fans as well, with Instagram as the top platform (29.1%) however, that means they have to rely on algorithms to get their content in front of the right people.
Stay tuned for more details on the information.
What will be the most difficult for creators' challenges in 2022?
We asked "What's your biggest challenge or struggle as a creator right this moment?"
32.9% Growing an audience
21.6 percent Finding the time for everything
14.4 Percent Knowing How to monetize
8.86 Percent of creation
3.35 Percent of users are engaging with their followers on social media
2.27 percent Keeping pace with changes and trends
In all levels of experience and kinds, creators have consistently mentioned the three biggest challenges they face: Growing an number of viewers, finding time for everything, and knowing how to monetize their efforts.
Challenge #1: Growing an audience
and search engine marketing.
7.68 768 percent of people would invest the money building or improving their site by using
5.66 percentage would engage graphic designers, and 4.16 percent would put their money into an investment in
Getting your content and brand in front of the right individuals can be time-consuming and expensive, especially if you're new to running an online company.
"While you're still trying to build your email list it's not enough to just send emails to folks," Jessica explained. "I should also be very present and very noticeable through Facebook and other social platforms."
As Jessica has grown more active and established on social media, she's been successful in identifying the best platforms and create content that fits her brand and narrative. "If you're looking to grow an audience, they need be able to visit you frequently," she shared.
It's important to be consistent. key -- but that doesn't mean your posts need to follow a formulaic format. "You can do your post with images, do [Instagram] Reels and have fun and be serious, or you could perform Reels and also be seriously ... whatever you want to try to diversify how folks can potentially locate them."
Social media can be effective in reaching many more people. However, it is also a requirement for creators depend on algorithm of the platforms for their content to be displayed in the feeds of their followers. In the next article, we'll discuss how creators canand are able to get away from algorithms at a later date.
Email is yet another of the most effective and adaptable marketing methods for creators. Sending out a regular email newsletters helps you stay in touch with your audience.
If you're a creator who wants to increase your email subscriber list and create with an email newsletter, be sure to go through these tools:
Challenge #2: Finding enough time for everything
When we asked respondents what they'd spend $2,022 on spending money on external assistance was, by far, the most popular option.
We also found that 5.2% of creators would make use of the funds to cover personal expenses, such as rent, utilities, internet expenses, as well as for their own income to be able to work more in their work.
3.42 percent of creatives use the funds to pay for time-restoring expenditures such as childcare, household help, time off from regular jobs and less hours at side jobs.
Choosing the right tools and programs helps creators get the most of their valuable time.
For a look at what makes it easier to run a successful creator business, get started for absolutely no cost or sign up to our daily demo.
Challenge #3: Understanding the best way to make money
14.4% of creators say that figuring out how to earn income from their efforts is their biggest challenge. You've produced valuable content and created an audience that is engaged- now, how do convert that into money?
At , we've watched thousands of creators earn their first online dollar by selling digital products, like digital downloads, online classes, webinars, and memberships. The sale of digital goods lets creators earn money, without having to rely on advertisers or sponsors.
For instance, take entrepreneur, web developer, and creative director John D. Saunders to give an illustration. The day he announced his online class on the 14th of September , John earned $10,000 on launch day and $100,000 overall through his website.
Once you've created your online class, the majority of the task is taken done and you'll be able to earn ongoing earnings. "While I'm in bed I'm earning money. When I'm at playing in the parks with my family I'm making sales" John explained.
Find out more about the monetization options for creators in these articles:
With so many monetization options that are available to creators, they are looking to one another for ideas, examples as well as guidance in their own personal journey. That brings us to our main takeaways from our survey: where creators look for advice.
Where do creators go for advice?
We asked "What's the top resource you can turn to for help for tackling your most difficult problem?"
22.6 percent YouTube
22.5 Percent A personal mastermind group
15.4% Google
8.86% Facebook group
7.89 percent Podcasts
5.95% Non-Facebook community
4.11% Blogs
1.41% Public forums (ex: Reddit)
While no two creative journeys are identical, we know that creators of all categories, types of products and levels of experience face similar challenges.
This makes sense to find solutions and guidance on the issues they face by talking to each other.
Creators can learn from the work of other creators. Between YouTube videos, mastermind groups, Facebook groups, communities, forums, podcasts, and blogs, 73.3% of creators have surveyed turn to others who are creators to get advice.
Google is the only advice source that doesn't necessarily fit this category, though it's a safe bet that creators produced a big chunk of the content in the search results, too.
A staggering seven-in-ten Internet users are part of some kind of virtual group, and 66% of users are able to say that they participate in groups on the internet to connect with others with similar interests.
For artists, these communities are a vital resource. Creators join in order to grow and learn We've observed the most successful creators to be extremely generous with their insights and expertise to help new creators.
What are the ways other creators manage their business? What are they selling? Where does most of their revenues originate? How do they build their audience?
We are sure that creatives ask many questions, and frequently seek each other out to find answers and ideas.
We created the Creator Community to:
Create an opportunity to meet and connect with one another
Make the creator journey less lonely
Make creators feel part of a community that is accessible just to them
Create unique content exclusively for community members, including classes, interviews with creators, and community contests
Within the first 2 weeks after we opened the forum to creators of all kinds, we saw over 1600 users and hundreds of posts with questions, ideas and suggestions.
Highly experienced creators like Emily Mills contributed useful posts such as this:
Emily's hacks are the perfect illustration of how the members gain knowledge from each other's experience, one of the biggest benefits of joining a creator community.
What types of content creators create? Where do they share that material?
We asked "What is the most important type of content you create?"
33.6% courses
13.8% coaching
13.4% social media
16.54% video (9.19% short-form, 7.35 percent long-form)
6.38% blog posts
4.76% downloads
4.43% email newsletters
2.81% webinars
Over one-third of people that took part in the poll create online courses as the primary type of content. After the courses, coaching social media, and video were the most widely-used types of media.
Below are some helpful resources for creators who want to create and sell an online course:
Also, we learned that authors have an average sales of 10.95 items.
We then asked "What's the primary channel you use for your business?"
29.1% on Instagram
22.4%
17.4 17% Facebook
8.97 percent YouTube
5.41 percent Blog
5.08% Zoom
2.49 percent TikTok
0.865 0.65 % of Shopify
0.541% Etsy
Creators are using social media for interaction with their followers, with Instagram as the most popular social media channel (29.1 percentage), being followed by Facebook (17.4 percent) and YouTube (8.97 percent).
We've already mentioned that social media could be an excellent way for creatives to connect with new audiences and to establish themselves in their communities and niches. However, there's a major drawback to relying on social media the algorithm.
Social media platforms use algorithms to determine what content appears on feeds for users.
Creators are subject to the whims of these algorithms . Your natural content may show up in your followers' feeds however it could not. These algorithms are subject to change with no prior notice. Social media firms aren't being transparent with regards to how they operate.
As an example, the changes made to the Facebook algorithm over the past several years have caused an reduction on organic traffic and consequently, fewer people see creators' social posts on their feeds of news.
Below are additional reasons creators dislike using Facebook:
"I think FB is too distracting, and users either don't see my post or will not stick there."
"FB groups are not trustworthy as well as a bit clumsy, and many people are running from FB right now, so it's tough to get an environment of engagement."
"I truly hate having my family members go to Facebook or similarly shady tech companies who collect information and use it to hook us on distraction."
"I need to hire a full-time VA for admission to members to the club, accept them as members moderate, and so on. We're using Google Sheets and separate Facebook Messenger software that costs $30/month as well as being slaves to Facebook's algorithm and distracting features. It's such a mess."
Creatives often create communities of sorts using social media platforms due to the lack of an alternative. Facebook Groups allow users to sign in, however this is where the majority of benefits end.
In contrast, an all-in-one creator platform such as this one gives you total control over which content you serve up to your audience and how you engage with your audience.
The members of the Community have the ability to:
Get your goods
Get access to your contents
Post and join discussions between one another
...all all in one place.
As they're already registered to buy your items or access your content, you don't need to sign them into a separate platform or rely on Facebook. It's better for both you and your customers.
Overall, social media can be an excellent marketing tool for creators- but it's best used as part of the larger plan and toolset. Creators succeed in the event that they control how and to whom they make their content available.
Who filled out the survey?
To apply for the fellowship, applicants must be active creators as well as members in the Creator Community. They had to fill out an application in which they explained how they planned to use the money they won and also provide details about their company, products, challenges, and objectives.
The majority of the information in this article comes from questions where authors were required to select between a range of options. For the question "If you won the $2,022 grant, what do you plan to spend the money on?" we included an open-ended question field.
In response to questions about their experience degree:
30.85% identified as beginners With an average of 2.40 years of experience
8.11 percent of respondents were classified as beginners with an average 2.77 years of experience
40.98 percent of respondents were classified as middle-level with an average 4.98 years of experience
15.80% identified as advanced. This is based on an average 7.69 years of experience. 7.69 years of expertise
4.27 Percent of them are considered experts, with an average of 15.3 years of experience
We also inquired if they're a full-time creator, part-time creator or in between.
39.13 percent of respondents are classified as full-time creator
18.81% identified as a creator who has a full-time work
18.59% identified as a creator and freelancer
14.70 Percentage identified as part-time creator
8.76 percent of them identified as creator who has a second part-time job
Thanks to everyone who submitted an application for this fellowship, and who gave us an insight into their thoughts, ideas and experiences.
The most important lessons to take away
The creator economy is growing with each passing year, and no two journeys are the same. We surveyed over 900 creators to learn more about the challenges running a business run by creators in 2022.
The most significant conclusions from their answers:
Creators from all niches and experience different levels face the same 3 main challenges: Growing their audiences (32.9 percentage), finding enough time to get everything done (21.6 percentage), and being able to make money from the work they do (14.4%).
If creators seek advice to overcome these challenges, they turn to other creators. The community is an essential element of the journey for creators. The more experienced creators have been in younger creators' shoes. As such, they have plenty of valuable tips to offer.
Social media is a popular way for creators for sharing their content to their audience which is why they have Instagram as the most popular channel (29.1%). Using social media implies that the creators are at the mercy of algorithms, which gives them less control over their content as well as the audience they reach.
From the more than 900 responses we used to calculate this information, none of them were identical. Each creator's journey is unique We're here to support you at any stage.