By Jamie Searle

For years, ‘creators’ or influencer marketing was treated like an add-on for marketers. Working with vloggers, YouTubers or Instagrammers was something you bolted onto a plan when you needed relevance or reach or as an experimental channel. This is now well and truly out of date. In Australia, creators are not a niche cohort. The ‘Future of Creativity‘ report from Adobe found that there were six million creators in Australia as of 2023, which is roughly 23 percent of the population.

The number of people creating content poses questions around what we are buying as marketers, and how we plan and measure effectiveness in media planning and brand strategy. Creators are establishing themselves as brands and entrepreneurs in their own right. And they are shaping the culture in which we operate.

The creator era is what happens when creators, culture and commerce stop being separate conversations and instead become the intersection between them. 

Without a universal definition, a creator is simply a person or group who creates content online for a social media audience that can be monetised, and the usage of the term ‘creator’ or ‘influencer’ is interchangeable. The key is the economic value it generates from creators building a community and loyal audience through the content they make.  

This shifts the mindset from creators as being someone who ‘posts a lot’ or even a nuisance, to professionals who are the face of an important economic segment and are driving economic impact. For example, at this year’s Australian Open, frustration at the number of creators in attendance was reported; however, not only were record crowds seen at this year’s event, but the marketing strategy shifted, transforming it into an event that was not just the place to be, but the place to be seen at. Creators played a key role in that. 

That said, most creators are not making a full-time living online. For many, it’s still a part-time gig, and the salary data is sobering. In 2025, for example, more than half of creators were earning less than $22,000 per year. 

The creator economy is bigger than the people on camera who underpin it. It includes advertising and media agencies that cater to the ever-increasing demand and to its proven effectiveness, as well as tools, management, legal, finance and brand-side roles that support the ecosystem.

As a content marketer, you are not hiring influencers or creators; you are buying into a whole system, and many brands are seeing the benefit of that. 

Culture: fandom and community building are the goals for creators and brands 

Many brands are seeing growth from building community and fandom behaviours on social media, and increasingly see social and creators as part of its core brand strategy. It’s integrated into ongoing communications, rather than chasing spikes through one-off influencer blasts or campaigns.

In social media, where culture is at its most visible, over-produced content and TVC-style ads are not optimising their impact, compared with creator content that is driving audiences and capturing active attention. Brands also have traditionally not produced content anywhere near the volume that creators do, but now they realise they need to be part of the cultural conversation and stay front of mind.

How do they do that? The brands are thinking like creators on social, and guess what? Many of those part-time creators I mentioned earlier have day jobs at brands and agencies, so they are bringing the creator mindset to the brands’ socials and helping them better engage with their customers on those channels. They are keeping the brand in culture rather than just reacting to or renting it. 

Fandom is now mainstream for creators and brands alike, and it shapes consumer identity across generations and categories.

Commerce: creators are becoming mini media businesses

Creators who have built audiences over the years are diversifying revenue streams and treating their output like a portfolio across brand deals, sponsorships and subscriptions. Often, for those doing it full-time, they are broadening into ‘entertainment’ in general. They’re hosting, directing and writing. The AFR reported in 2023 that Aussie creators were driving a $9 billion export boom.

Creator-led brands and commerce models are common not just globally, but closer to home too, with Better Beer from The Inspired Unemployed and Kalade Skincare from Kat Clark seeing huge success.

For content marketers, the commercial upside is not just from one-off integrations. It’s in building repeatable formats, recurring series and long-term trust. It’s about working with creators over time and applying a creator mindset to always-on social.

Why industry learning spaces are emerging

Creator education is growing with many universities now offering content creation qualifications, as well as courses from industry bodies and platforms. Given all of the above, it’s no surprise that events like the Australian Influencer Marketing Council (AiMCO) Summit are launching as spaces for learning and for formalising what has become a serious, growing industry. Creators, unsurprisingly, want to have their say in the industry, brands and platforms because that is where standards, deal structures, IP, brand guidelines and shared expectations are established. They also want their contribution to marketing recognised, because it has moved from ‘nice-to-have’ to core infrastructure.

The untapped potential the creator era presents in Australia is huge. We have world-class creators with international fanbases, and the industry is building mature, scalable operating models around culture and commerce.

The creator era is no longer optional. It’s a central part of how culture, commerce and marketing intersect. For brands, creators are both partners and guides, shaping conversations, building communities and driving economic impact. The opportunity is immense and those who embrace it thoughtfully will not only reach audiences, but also help define the cultural and commercial landscape of the future.  

Jamie Searle is the CEO and founder of Snack Drawer and Australian Influencer Marketing Council (AiMCO) Industry Advisory Council member