Creator and Audience Data to Help You in 2023
Pop a squat on Daddy's knee, champ. Let's give you some data to help you do your job.
Just a heads up that there are a lot of numbers in this week’s newsletter, so grab a coffee or a stiff drink before you get started.
Look, understanding your target audience and the impact that creators have on them are key to creating concrete strategies. Without it you are often left pissing in the wind hoping that whatever brief response an agency provides you is trustworthy enough to run with. Are they hitting the right demographic? Are they targeting the right platforms? All these questions and more can nibble away at your confidence in a campaign, unless you have steel gut or some meaty insights to back you up. Setting aside the time to finding that data though can be… a bit shit, let’s be honest. We’re often inundated with study after study, so no wonder it’s people’s literal job to sort and extract the wheat from the chaff. Hell, I subscribe to Substacks whose literal existence is predicated on collating and sharing interesting studies. It’s exciting to find that nugget of data that validates an insight you’re relying on that allows a strategy to make sense, but god can it take time. SO THAT’S WHY I WROTE THIS NEWSLETTER.
WELCOME TO MY USEFUL-ISH DATA DUMP TO HELP YOUR DECKS IN 2023
Below is a snapshot of some key statistics that I’ve accrued last year. They cover the ongoing value of creators, audience platform preferences, and developing data on gen z audience. I’ve also included some key data on the ongoing toxicity in gaming and the public pay gaps within the creator industry with a few comments from myself. In order to preserve the health of the creator industry, I believe that creator marketers need to recognise the impact of their work in the space and how their contributions can lead to safer, more equitable work environments for creators. I hope that the data laid out shows you that there are still steps that brands can take to better the industry and create positive change.
First. Yes, creators drive purchases & impact
70% of consumers are more likely to buy products from brands if they work with an influencer they know and trust
59% of consumers are at least somewhat likely to purchase a product because it was recommended by an influencer
54% of marketers strongly agree that influencer marketing has successfully increased brand awareness
A bunch of data on gen z
78% of people agree that they use YouTube because it serves them with content that’s personally relevant to them
65% of Gen Z agree that content that’s personally relevant to them is more important than the content that lots of other people talk about
83% of Gen Z have used YouTube to watch soothing content that helps them relax, an increase from when we ran our survey a year ago.
55% of Gen Z agree that they watch content that no one they know personally is interested in
61% of Gen Z agree that they would describe themselves as a really big or super fan of someone or something. This had created niche communities/discussions led by key opinion leaders
63% of Gen Z followed one or more meme accounts in the past 12 months
57% of Gen Z agree that they like it when brands participate in memes
59% of Gen Z agree that they use short-form video apps to discover things that they then watch longer versions of. This has helped ‘hybrid’ creators grow across multiple platforms, leading communities from one to the other.
90% of Gen Z have watched a video that helped them feel like they were in a different place
83% of Gen Z have used YouTube to watch soothing content that helps them relax
69% of Gen Z agree that they often find themselves returning to creators or content that feels comforting to them
82% of Gen Z have used YouTube to watch content in order to feel nostalgic
53% of Gen Z agree that online Horror content appeals to them
TikTok creators are, in fact, influential
71% of TikTok users said Creator authenticity motivated them to buy a product/brand
Ads on TikTok that feature a Creator drive a 24% uplift in brand favourability and a 27% higher ad recall
57% of respondents agreed that on TikTok, they would trust the opinion of someone they follow more than a review from a big company
Ads created for TikTok with Creators showed a 91% higher 6s view-through-rate when compared to ads without Creators
83% higher engagement rate for ads in collaboration with Creators.
YouTube is still the top used platform by millennials and gen z
YouTube || 78% millennial ~ 69% gen z
Instagram || 64% millennial ~ 67% gen z
Facebook || 81% millennial ~ 48% gen z
TikTok || 52% millennial ~ 60% gen z
Snapchat || 38% millennial ~ 55% gen z
Teen social media and tech usage is changing
95% of teens say they use YouTube (1 in 5 say they visit YouTube almost constantly)
67% of teens say they use TikTok (1 in 4 users say they visit TikTok almost constantly)
Instagram and Snapchat usage has grown from 52%/41% to 62%/59%
Facebook usage has dramatically dropped from 71% to 32%
Twitter usage has dropped from 33% to 23%
20% of teens say they use Twitch
Teen boys are more likely to use YouTube, Twitch, and Reddit
Teen girls are more likely to use TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat
Black/Hispanic teens are more likely to use TikTok, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Twitter, compared to White teens.
95% of teens have smartphones | 90% a desktop/laptop | 80% a gaming console
Girls are 21 points less likely to own a gaming console compared to Boys
Hispanic teens are 8-9 points less like to own a gaming console compared to Black/White teens
Lower-income household are 10-12 points less likely to own a gaming console
46% of teens say they use the Internet almost constantly
The games industry continues to be toxic
[trigger warnings for bigotry and sexual assault]
Sexist language was used in 37.7% of segments, with “bitch” being the most common gender slur used by streamers (28.9% of gameplay segments)
Streamers used sexually degrading language in one-in-four (24.4%) gameplay segments
Streamers used racist language in 5.6% of gameplay segments, with 2.2% of segments featuring gamers speaking in stereotypically foreign accents for comedic effect
Streamers used homophobic or transphobic language in 10.1% of segments
Nearly half of gameplay segments had streamers using ableist language
Some variation of the ableist language “crazy” was used in one-in-five gameplay segments
Streamers used aggressive or controlling language in 42.3% of segments
Streamers promoted violence in one-in-three segments
In one-in-ten (9.4%) segments, streamers used homophobia to prove their “manhood”
Where streamers use sexist, racist, homophobic, sizeist, ableist, or ageist language, we see a significant increase in this language use from viewers in the chat
At least 40% of respondents in both age groups say they regularly witness sexism, ableism, ageism, and sizeism in online gaming spaces
A separate study on female gamers in online gaming spaces finds that 57% experienced some type of harassment, 54% were asked for a sexual favor, and 22.4% were told rape jokes while gaming.
The creator pay gap is real
BIPOC creators are on average being paid 29% less than white creators.
Black creators are on average being paid 35% less than white creators.
Influencers aged 30-45 reported earning 154% less than those between 18-30
Influencers who define themselves as living with a long-term mental or physical condition were found to earn 23% less per post.
35% of creators feel like there was a direct correlation about speaking out on issues of discrimination and brands not approaching them.
When negotiating salaries, white creators are nearly 3x more likely to generate a positive outcome vs Black creators
Take what you want. Use what you need. Be smart about your curation in 2023.
Hopefully this helps 🍄
JDodd
For all the fancy legal reasons, this work is my own and not representative of EA ✌🏼
Thank you to Christie for playing the role of editor, and the provider of my favourite insight: that I am loved.
curious what the pay gap and toxicity stats look like in 2-3 years with the consumption threads gen z are infusing into these spaces