The creator economy is booming. And as creators have become a marketing necessity, creators are increasingly demanding reasonable payment terms, asking for upfront payments, charging late fees, and other tactics to get their fair share of the boom. states that it is hiring.
Both agency clients and brands reported investing more in influencer marketing last year than they did in 2022, according to a Digiday survey. Goldman Sachs estimates that the influencer/creator economy is currently worth $250 billion and is expected to nearly double to $480 billion by 2027.
The creator economy and influencer marketing are still considered to some extent the Wild West of marketing, especially when it comes to performance metrics and pay standards. But as it becomes a more common item in marketing budgets, creators and influencers say they are campaigning for brands, agency partners and influencer marketing platforms to reconsider their payment terms.
Digiday recently spoke to five creators about negotiating payment terms in a crowded creator economy.
“What I want to say is this is across the board because this industry is so unregulated,” said Tom, a full-time lifestyle and wellness content creator with over 24,000 followers across TikTok and Instagram. says Stephen Sharp, follower and founder of Nobius Creative Studios. Creative Shops and Talent Agencies: “We, the creators, have to set boundaries.”
Payment terms typically occur 30 to 90 days after the creator or influencer's work is completed, and an invoice is sent to the brand, its agency partner, or influencer marketing platform. But sometimes those payments are delayed, and creators have to track them for weeks or even months. Jazmine Griffiths, a social analyst and full-time creator with more than 300,000 followers on TikTok and Instagram, said frequent late payments leave a sour taste in her mouth.
Last summer, Griffiths said she won a campaign through an influencer marketing platform, but it took more than six months to get paid. “They expect us to deliver content within a certain time frame,” she said, referring to brand and campaign agreements. “But when you get paid, you have to wait until $60 net or $90 net.” [days]. After that, you still have to chase them for money, so you end up waiting another net 30 hours. ”
Ms Griffiths said she has since chosen to work directly with the brands themselves or with mainstream influencer marketing agencies, giving her more control over the negotiation process. They also now require upfront payments for campaigns with particularly high prices.
For Jade Powell, a freelance content marketer and creator with over 10,000 followers on TikTok and Instagram, and over 17,000 followers on Since the conditions were not met, the creator's payment discrepancy meant a delay in mortgage payments. . In response, Powell began asking brands if they were willing to shorten payment terms from the usual 30 to 60 days to 10 to 15 days during contract negotiations, she said.
Last year, she introduced a 10% non-compounding late fee that increases each time a payment is late. That's not to say she hasn't already received late payments from brands, but “it's written on invoices and contracts, so it's an incentive for brands to pay on time.” “I feel like there is,” Powell said. she said.
Joy Ofodu, a full-time creator and voice actor, said earlier this year that instead of late fees, she is asking the brands she works with to begin processing payments as soon as their content is published. Across TikTok and Instagram, Ofodu has over 290,000 followers of his.
“Ideally, you would be able to get paid $30 net for sponsored content. I would say it probably happens 50% of the time. More commonly, you would be offered $60 net. ,” she said, referring to the 60-day payment schedule. “We try to keep it between 30 and 60 as much as possible.”
Earlier this month, 56% of creators surveyed by global financial automation platform Tipalti said they had faced payment delays. Meanwhile, 74% of those surveyed reportedly stopped working with a brand because they felt their work was undervalued.
This tension between creators and brands is not a new phenomenon, but there are more and more creators on the market. Victoria Buchan, president of Whalar Talent, the global in-house talent management arm of creator company Whalar, said this influx is forcing the industry to reconsider what standardized payment terms will look like.
But the problem goes both ways, Buchan added. With so many young new entrants trying to break into an already saturated market, there is a disconnect in how influencer marketing works.
When working with creators and influencers, Bachan says he often has to explain bank holidays, W-9 forms, and invoices when explaining why a creator wasn't paid. I did. (Some creators find taxes difficult. Read how they get through it here.) Meanwhile, as brands juggle various influencer campaigns, paying may end up being postponed.
Buchan said Hollar is experimenting internally with paying interest on late invoices. This is important not only to support their creative talent, but also to ensure that the Whalar Talent team collects their commissions once the work is completed. Interest clauses don't always make it into the final contract, but it's worth a try. “Maybe one in five times it actually happens, but you're putting people's feet in the fire,” she says.
That said, there are several resources available to creators facing an uphill battle for fair compensation in a rapidly changing social media landscape. Last August, Creators Guild of America (CGA) was launched as a nonprofit creator advocacy organization. According to CGA's website, the move is to strengthen the collective voice “for fair compensation, content ownership, royalties, and recognition for awards.” There is also the Freelance Is Not Free Act, which aims to protect freelancers and ensure timely payment with state-level support. It was signed in New York last November.
Advocating for payment standardization is a frustrating process, but one creator seems hopeful, especially as influencer marketing and the creator economy become more mainstream.
“As the economy evolves, we must constantly rethink the way we work,” Ofodu said. “Brands should be able to attract creators with their reputation and promise of fair and timely compensation.”
