Author: Franz Malten Buemann

As the creator economy continues to expand, so do the needs of content creators. Whether it’s crowdfunding, financial guidance, or new ways to connect — there are many moving parts content creators must consider to be successful. Fortunately, new creator economy startups are providing the tools, resources, and platforms needed to make the business side of content creation easier for digital creatives.

From marketplaces to website building tools to fresh opportunities to connect with followers — let’s explore several of the creator economy startups that are game-changers for content creators.

10 Startups Contributing to the Creator Economy

Huddles
Ko-fi
Fanhouse
Beacons
Pearpop
Buy Me a Coffee
Cameo
Passionfroot
Karat
Bildr

Top Creator Economy Startups
Here are 10 of the top creator economy startups boosting the creator economy:

1. Huddles
Originally called “Clash,” this video-hosting app was initially released in January 2020 as a successor to Vine. Like Vine, Clash allowed users to upload short-form videos between 2–16 seconds long. Clash rebranded to Huddles in August 2022 when the company decided it wanted to move away from “infinite scroll” feeds and avoid competition with TikTok.
Instead, Huddles allows content creators to upload short-form videos directly to their profiles or their Huddles group chats. Creators can also monetize their content on the platform by having fans pay monthly subscriptions to paywalled content or private conversations. The Huddles app is available on both iPhones and Androids.
Best for: Building a tight-knit community with followers and monetizing exclusive content.

2. Ko-fi
Ko-fi is a platform that allows people to make donations to its users, many of whom are creators. Creators often use the platform to supplement their income and fund upcoming projects. Ko-fi also features commissions and storefront options, which are popular features among artists looking to connect with their audience.
Speaking of connecting, Ko-fi can also function as a personal blog for creators to share updates with their fans and receive words of encouragement with donations. Also, creators aren’t required to post content regularly to get paid, allowing them to work and connect at their own pace.
Ko-fi doesn’t require subscription options, meaning it can act as a one-time digital tip jar. But perhaps the most popular aspect of Ko-fi is that it doesn’t charge fees, meaning the app doesn’t take a percentage of users’ donations.
Best for: Crowdfunding for projects, supplementing income, and keeping followers updated on the latest happenings involving their favorite creators.
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3. Fanhouse
Fanhouse is a subscription-based platform where content creators can monetize their social media presence. Creators can post content like videos, photos, and status updates to followers subscribed to their Fanhouse account. The app was founded by social media personality Jasmine Rice and her Twitter mutuals Khoi Le and Jerry Meng as an alternative to OnlyFans.
OnlyFans is also a subscription-based platform, but it’s often associated with creators in the adult entertainment industry — though other kinds of creators like celebrities and fitness influencers also use it. Rice was uncomfortable with the adult content on Onlyfans, so she decided to create Fanhouse, which prohibits nudity and sexual content.
Instead, Fanhouse operates pretty much the same as Twitter or Instagram if those apps were to become solely subscription-based. Furthermore, creators keep 90% of every paid transaction on the platform. Fanhouse only takes 10% to cover the cost of operating the platform.
Best for: Monetizing your social media content and building community. If you tend to go viral on Twitter or people genuinely enjoy your online personality, this platform can be a great way to generate income.
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4. Beacons
Beacons is a “link-in-bio” platform — like Linktree — creators can use to point their followers to a landing page with all their relevant links, such as their social media accounts, online shops, and website. Like other link-in-bio platforms, Beacons allows users to build their profile and customize its appearance to their liking.
However, what separates Beacons from other similar platforms is its donations and e-commerce features. These features allow creators to raise money via donations or sell digital products like ebooks, artwork, and videos.
Best for: Keeping all of your online accounts in one place for your followers to access, and it’s a great place to raise money or sell digital items.
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5. Pearpop
Pearpop is an online marketplace that connects brands and creators for projects like campaigns and brand deals. Its most notable feature is Pearpop Challenges, allowing brands to instantly launch creator campaigns on demand. Famous faces on Pearpop include Tony Hawk, Heidi Klum, and Snoop Dogg.
Best for: Content creators and brands looking for collaborators for campaigns and deals.
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6. Buy Me a Coffee
Buy Me a Coffee is a crowdfunding company that allows creators to collect donations from supporters. Similar to Ko-fi, donators can also send encouraging messages along with donations. The company charges no monthly fees; however, it charges a transaction fee of 5 percent of any support a content creator receives.
Best for: Crowdfunding for projects and getting feedback from supporters.
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7. Cameo
Cameo is a unique app where content creators, influencers, and celebrities record personalized messages for fans upon request. Users can pay as little as $20 to have their requests accepted. The most popular requests are birthday shout-outs, catchphrases, and congratulations.
Best for: Connecting with fans and supplementing income.
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8. Passionfroot
Passionfroot is a digital workspace where creators can keep track of projects and clients and manage their finances. The platform is browser-based and a no-code tool. Passionfroot charges creators based on a three-tiered pricing structure for its software.
Creators can also open a digital storefront to field requests and manage operations like invoicing. Creators should note that the platform also takes a small percentage of every transaction.
Best for: Keeping organized and expanding your business.
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9. Karat
Karat is a financial service for content creators. According to its website, “Karat provides customized financing, rewards, and support for creators so you can access more money as you grow.”
Karat offers bookkeeping services, tax preparation, business expense cards, and more geared toward the unique financial needs of content creators.
Best for: Managing finances and filing tax returns correctly because many content creators do not have the resources to file their income as an entrepreneur properly.
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10. Bildr
Bildr is a no-code website and app builder with many tools creators can use to create their own digital space. Creators can use Bilder to make web apps, Saas products, and Chrome extensions.
Best for: Building and customizing your website and apps, especially if you don’t know how to code.

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Now that you know the tools and resources available to creators via the above creator economy startups, you can find new ways to expand your business and reach your goals. Which of the above startups do you want to try out?

 

 

Increasing Customer Lifetime Value is one of the most efficient ways to boost revenue. After all, the customer we already have costs us much less than the one yet to be converted. In this article, we will show you four scenarios in which you can intelligently utilize a Customer Engagement Platform to provide customers with more value and make more money in the process.

 

Is There a Problem With CLV in eCommerce?

 

CLV is undoubtedly one of the essential metrics for an eCommerce business. Putting proper care into CLV more than pays off by revealing the full potential of the customer. This means that eCommerce marketing teams should have mastered growing this metric by now. 

In reality, CLV proves to be a very difficult metric to grow in this day and age. And we know this from the best possible source—our customers. Having heard so much about the problems our customers encounter while honing this metric, we decided to share a couple of scenarios that could be very useful for growing CLV in various situations.

 

Four Scenarios to Boost CLV

 

After purchase

 

Make hay while the sun shines. Right after the purchasing decision, satisfied with the smooth checkout process, the customer may be keen to leave their wallet open for a bit longer. How long after the purchase? This should not be a matter of guessing. 

How specifically?

In the time after purchase, specified based on data from predictive analytics, specifically the average time between customer purchases, the customer receives an e-mail with product recommendations matched 1-to-1 to his profile 360. For contacts unsubscribed from the newsletter, you can send a web push or SMS. In automation, we distribute communication between users who subscribe to the loyalty program.

Customers who have decided to participate in the program can be rewarded with a discount on purchases in the online store.

On the other hand, customers who have decided not to participate in the program are segmented in a funnel, so you can periodically stimulate them to join the program and make a purchase.

 

In the process of educating a customer

 

People tend to invest more in relationships when they understand their partner and share values. Most top brands share their stories with customers. However, this type of communication should be kept two-way. The customer data you will gather in the process will enable you to accurately personalize content and offers.

How specifically?

After adding a contact to the subscriber base—registration/subscription to the newsletter—the user will receive a series of e-mails. They will consist of a welcome e-mail, and in the next stages, you will provide information about the history of the brand. In the welcome campaign, users will also receive an invitation to the loyalty program and the Customer Preference Center (CPC). 

The mere entry into the program or leaving the data in the CPC involves the acquisition of valuable zero-and first-party data that will allow us to accurately personalize the content and recommendations sent to customers.

You can segment the contacts on each of them in a funnel. A good solution would be to send an e-mail with a discount code for contacts who have not made their first purchase.

 

When you survey customers

 

Conducting a satisfaction survey provides you with great opportunities to know your customers better, convert happy customers into active promotors, and collaborate with critics to make a product or service better. A promotor and a critic are engaged people. Engaged people care for the brand, each in their own right, and when they see that their opinion makes a difference, they will not only buy more from a brand, but they will also trust such a brand more when they have to decide about a more costly, riskier purchase. 

How specifically?

A few days after their purchase, the user receives an e-mail with the NPS survey. As a result, you can select promoters and critics of the services or products provided. You offer promoters an opportunity to participate in a loyalty program and get feedback from critics about what went wrong with their purchases.

Promoters who have decided to participate in the program receive bonuses for purchases in an online store. Promoters who have decided not to participate in the program are assigned to the funnel, cyclically stimulating them to make further purchases.

You can collect feedback from critics in the form of predefined surveys and start repairing the future user experience from the defects and weaknesses that tend to appear most often. Criticisms from whom we did not receive feedback are assigned to a churn funnel in which the user experience repair scenario is implemented. 

 

When you activate inactive users

 

There is no growth more spectacular than growth from zero. Inactive customers are actually the best candidates with whom to work on CLV. These customers are already in your database; you don’t have to spend money to acquire them. And there is probably a reason why they stay dormant. Such a reason may be, well … that somebody else is right now actively appealing to their needs with great accuracy and effect. 

How specifically?

You send your message via the preferred channel—e-mail, mobile, or web push—to contacts who have not visited the website for several days. In the case of e-mail communication, we advise the use of a mechanism for downloading products that the user has recently been interested in, as well as similar product recommendations.

Contacts that reacted to such communication and returned to the site are then segmented in the funnel. For inactive contacts, we repeat the communication. A good incentive would be to send a discount code.

 

The Utmost Importance of a Proactive Attitude Toward CLV in Times of Recession

 

Customer acquisition costs are now extremely high, and with the competition getting more and more aggressive and desperate, they will only get higher. Although people are still spending, we already see a forecast of negative growth. Customers are not only switching brands and retailers more often but are now keener to mix eCommerce with stationary stores. 

Honing CLV in this situation helps eCommerce revenue in two ways.

First, this lifespan may now be considerably shorter than it was before the 2020–2022 turmoil. It is imperative to unveil the full potential of customers while they are still with us.

A second, less cynical, and, in the long run, more constructive reason is that CLV walks hand in hand with trust and engagement in the brand. Trust is the main factor in keeping customers with you in times of recession, thus increasing their loyalty. Loyalty, in turn, makes customer lifetime more robust. 

Turning your customer base into a community will help you endure together. Just remember the Customer Intimacy principle.

 

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