The top 3 challenges creators are facing in 2022 (Results from more than 900 creators surveys) |
No two creator journeys are similar. To learn more about the challenges of running the business of a creator in 2022, we surveyed 900+ creators. This is what we learned.
"Creators have earned their first 'online dollar' by the millions, and joining one of the fastest-growing ecosystems on our planet: the creator economy."
A total of fifty million people think of themselves as creators. And there's greater information than ever before on how to become an all-time creator. The phrase "digital creator" is searched by search engines 2.5K times every month. The phrase "how to become a content creator" receives 1.3K searches.
A creator is anyone who is creative. Yes, influencers, YouTubers, bloggers, and podcasters are all creators -- however, so are artists makers, musicians teachers, worldbuilders and educators writers, and everybody in between.
The wide range of creativity work ensures that no two creator journeys will be the same.
What kind of items can creators create and offer? What are the biggest issues they face? Who do they go to for advice? Which channels are most successful?
For more details on how to manage the business of a creator by 2022, we polled over 900 creators regarding their own businesses. They were asked about their challenges, advice sources along with creative channels, as well as content.
Here's what we found:
Across experience levels, creators' biggest challenge is gaining an audience (32.9%) and then making time (21.6%) and being able to realize monetization (14.4%).
For advice on how to tackle the problems, they mainly benefit from one another. YouTube (22.6%) as well as personal mastermind group (22.5 percent) are the top two sources that creators go to for help.
Social media is a way for creators to reach out to their audience and their followers, which is why Instagram as the top channel (29.1 percent) However, this means that they need to rely on algorithms in order to get their content in front of the appropriate people.
Continue reading to take a deeper dive into the details.
What are creators' biggest challenges in 2022?
We asked "What's your greatest challenge or struggle as a creator right today?"
32.9% Growing an audience
21.6 Percent Finding time for everything
14.4 Percent Knowing How to make money
8.86% Product creation
3.35 Percent of users are engaging with their followers on social media
2.27 percent Keeping pace with the latest trends and developments
In all levels of experience and types, creators reported the same three main challenges growing an following, having enough time for everything, and knowing how to monetize their content.
Challenge #1: Growing an audience
and search engine marketing.
7.68% would spend the funds to build or improve their website by hiring
5.66% would hire graphic designers, and 4.16% would invest in a
The process of getting your content and your company's brand to the most relevant individuals can be time-consuming and expensive, especially if you're not experienced in running your own online business.
"While you're trying to grow your email list it's not enough to just send emails to people," Jessica explained. "I should also be present and visible through Facebook and other social platforms."
As Jessica has become more involved and well-known on social media platforms, she's able to find the right platforms and produce posts that are in keeping with her style and her message. "If you're looking to grow your following, people need frequent visits to your page," she shared.
It's important to be consistent. crucial, but it doesn't mean your posts need to be formulaic. "You can create your own image posts, you can make [Instagram] Reels and also be humorous and be serious, or you could perform Reels as well as be serious ... whatever you want to try to diversify how users can possibly locate your posts."
Social media may be effective in reaching larger audiences, but it also means that creators have depend on algorithm of the platforms for their content to show up on their audience's feeds. The discussion will focus on how creators canas well as how they can get away from algorithms later on.
Email is another one of the most effective and efficient marketing channels available to 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 your own email newsletter, you should go through these tools:
Challenge #2: Finding enough time to accomplish everything
If we asked people how they would spend $2,022 spending money on external assistance was the most common option.
Additionally, we discovered that 5.2% of creators would use the money to cover personal expenses, such as utility bills, rent, internet charges, as well as their personal salary to spend more time working on their businesses.
3.42 percent of the creators use the funds to pay for time-restoring costs like childcare, household assistance and time off from their work full time, or working less hours at side jobs.
Choosing the right tools and programs can help creators make more of their time.
If you want to see what can make it simpler to manage a successful creator business, get started for free or sign up for our weekly demonstration.
Challenge #3: Understanding the best way to make money
14.4 percent of creators believe they are unsure of how to earn profits from their work is their biggest challenge. Your content is valuable and you've gained an enthusiastic audienceNow, how do you turn that into income?
At , we've watched thousands of creators earn their first dollars online through selling digital items, including online courses, digital downloads webinars, memberships, and other. The sale of digital goods lets creators earn money, without having to rely on advertisers or sponsors.
Take entrepreneur, web designer as well as creative director John D. Saunders as an example. When he launched his online training course , John earned $10,000 on launch day and $100,000 overall through his website.
When you've made your online course, the bulk of the work is out of the way, and you can earn an ongoing stream of revenue. "While I'm in bed I'm earning income. If I'm in playing in the parks with my family, I'm getting sales," John explained.
Learn more about monetization options for creators by reading these articles:
With the many options for monetization available, many creators look to each other for examples, inspiration, and guidance on their own journeys. Which brings us to our main takeaways from our survey: where creators seek out guidance.
Where do creators go for advice?
We inquired "What's the first place you go for advice to tackle your greatest challenge?"
22.6 percent YouTube
22.5 Percent A personal mastermind group
15.4% Google
8.86% Facebook group
7.89 789 % of Podcasts
5.95 percent of the non-Facebook community
4.11 41% Blogs
1.41% Public forums (ex: Reddit)
Though no two creator journeys can be identical, we are aware that creators of all specialties, products types, and experience levels face similar challenges.
It makes sense, then it makes sense that they can find solution and suggestions to these issues by asking one other.
Creators learn from other creators. Between YouTube videos, mastermind groups, Facebook groups communities, forums podcasts, blogs, and forums, 73.3% of creators are surveyed to look up others who are creators to get advice.
Google is the sole advice source that doesn't necessarily fit the category. However, you can be sure that its creators wrote a significant chunk of the content in the search results, too.
An incredible 76% of internet users are part of some kind of virtual group, and 66% of people are able to say that they participate in online communities to meet others that share the same interests.
These communities for creators are a vital resource. Creators join in order to grow and learn We've observed creative professionals who are successful be open with their knowledge and knowledge to assist the new generation of creators.
What are the ways other creators manage their companies? What do they sell? What is their primary source of income originate? What is their method of building their audience?
We know that creators have many questions, and frequently turn to one another to find answers and ideas.
The Creator Community was created by us to: Creator Community in order:
Provide entrepreneurs and creators with an opportunity to meet and collaborate
Create a journey that is more enjoyable and less lonely
Create a community for creators that is open just to them
Create unique content exclusively for members of the community, such as courses, creator interviews, and community-driven contests
In the initial two weeks of opening the forum to creators of all kinds We saw more than 1500 members as well as hundreds of posts with suggestions, questions, and advice.
Highly experienced creators like Emily Mills contributed helpful posts like this one:
Emily's hacks are the perfect example of how members can gain knowledge from each other's experience, one of the biggest advantages of joining a Creator community.
What types of content do creators produce? What is the best place to share their content?
We asked "What is the main form of content that you develop?"
33.6% courses
13.8 percent of coaching
13.4% social media
16.54% video (9.19 percent for short-form and 7.35 percent long-form)
6.38% blog posts
4.76% downloads
4.43% email newsletters
2.81 percent of webinars
More than a third of those who took the survey make online courses the primary type of content. Following courses, coaching, social media, and video were the most widely-used types of media.
Here are some resources for creators who want to create and sell online courses:
It was also discovered that creators have an average sales of 10.95 items.
Then we asked "What's your primary method of communication you use to market your business?"
29.1 percent on Instagram
22.4%
17.4% Facebook
8.97 Percent YouTube
5.41 54% Blog
5.08% Zoom
2.49 29% TikTok
0.865 percent Shopify
0.541% Etsy
Social media is a popular way for creators to connect with their audiences With Instagram as the top social platform (29.1 percent) which is followed by Facebook (17.4 percent) as well as YouTube (8.97%).
As we mentioned earlier, social media can be an excellent way for creatives to connect with new audiences and to establish themselves in their niches and communities. But there's one major downside when it comes to using social media the algorithm.
Social media platforms make use of algorithms to decide the content that appears in the feeds of users.
Creators are subject to the whims of the algorithms. Your organic content might show up in your followers' feeds however it could not. These algorithms are subject to change with no warning, and social media companies aren't being transparent with regards to how they operate.
As an example, the changes made in the Facebook algorithm over the past few years have led to the decline of organic engagement and consequently, fewer people get to see posts from creators on their feeds of news.
Here are a few more reasons why creators don't like using Facebook:
"I believe that FB is too distracting, and people won't be able to find my post or will not stick around."
"FB group is not reliable and gimmicky, and people are fleeing from FB at the moment, which is why it's hard to create an environment of engagement."
"I truly hate the idea of directing my friends to Facebook or similar shady tech companies who collect information and then use it to entice users to distract us."
"I need to hire the full-time VA to allow members in and welcome them and moderate them. We're using Google Sheets and separate Facebook Messenger software that costs $30/month as well as being bound by Facebook's algorithm as well as interruptions. This is a complete mess."
Creatives often create communities of sorts on social media platforms for the lack of an alternative. Facebook Groups are easy to join, but this is where the majority of benefits end.
On the other hand the all-in-one creator platform such as this one gives you total control over the type of content you serve up to your viewers and the way you interact with them.
Members of the community have the ability to:
Purchase your items
You can access your Content
Post and join discussions amongst each other
...all in the same place.
Because they're already logged in to shop for your goods or access your content, it's not necessary to sign onto a different website or rely on Facebook. That's a better experience for you and your members.
In the end, social media can be an excellent marketing tool for creators -however, it should be used in conjunction with a larger strategy and toolset. Creatives are successful by having control over how and to whom they distribute their work.
The survey was completed by who?
To apply for this fellowship, the applicants must be active creators and part in the Creator Community. The application was completed by applicants in which they explained how they planned to use the money they won and also provide details about their company and products, as well as their current challenges and objectives.
Most of the data included in this report comes from questions where creators were asked to select from several answers. In the case of "If you won the $2,022 fellowship, which would you use it for?" we included an open-ended answer field.
When asked about their experience degree:
30.85% identified as beginners With an average of 2.40 years of work 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 mid-level, with an average 4.98 years of expertise
15.80 percent of them classified as advanced. The annual 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 expertise
We also wanted to know if they're a full-time creator, part-time creator or between.
39.13% identified as a full-time creator
18.81% identified as a creator, who also has a full-time job
18.59% identified as a creator or freelancer
14.70% identified as a part-time creator
8.76 percent of them identified as creator who has a second part-time job
Thanks to everyone who applied for the fellowship. We appreciate every one of them for giving us a glimpse into their ideas, challenges and experiences.
The most important takeaways
The market for creators is growing with each passing year, and no two experiences are alike. We conducted a survey of nearly 900 creators to discover more about what it's like to run a creator business in 2022.
The most significant takeaways from their responses:
Creators across niches and experience levels run into the same challenges increasing their reach (32.9 percentage), finding enough time to finish their work (21.6 percentage), and understanding how to make money out of their work (14.4 14%).
For advice from creators in order to conquer these obstacles and obstacles, they seek advice from other creators. Community is a crucial element of the journey for creators. More experienced creators have walked in the shoes of younger creators' shoes. As such, they're armed with valuable insights to share.
Social media is a popular way for creators to communicate their work with their audience which is why they have Instagram being the most well-liked channel (29.1 percent). Utilizing social media can mean that creators are at the mercy of algorithms, which gives them less control over their content as well as the audience they reach.
Out of the 900+ replies we used to calculate this number, there was no one the same. Each creator's journey is unique -- and we're ready to assist you at any stage.