Creator Capitalism

Providing social media influencers with tech tools and services is a hot industry. Can it survive the cooling economy?

- ALEXANDRA STERNLICHT

WHILE WORKING at the mall to save up for graduate school, Xenia Adonts saw her fashion photos going viral on Instagram. Eventually, brands noticed and started offering her up to 400 to post photos on social media that trumpeted their clothes. Realizing she could earn more in a day as an influencer than in a week as a store greeter, she eventually quit her retail job.

Today, with 2.1 million Instagram followers, the 31-year-old continues to hawk products on social media for luxury brands like Fendi and Elemis. She also started her own sustainable fashion company, Attire, which has 14 employees. Influencers work much more than people on the outside think,” says Adonts in her New York studio, a day after meeting remotely with the brand’s team in Paris and various business consultants.

To post photos on social media and otherwise run her mini empire, Adonts uses online services like project management platform Notion, video editor InShot, and marketing manager Unum. They are part of a booming cottage industry that caters to creators, the catchall term for the influencers and small businesses that make a living by posting photos and videos on social media such as Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok.

In recent years, legions of companies have sprung up to sell creators the tech tools they need or help them land sponsorship deals with brands. Meanwhile, more established businesses like software maker Adobe, which caters to all kinds of customers, are increasingly being adopted by influencers.

The reason is obvious: The creator economy, with its 450,000 full-time creators, huge ad budgets, and growing appetite for tools that make the jobs of everyone involved easier, is valued at a combined 100 billion, according to career search platform Zippia.