Creator economy splits into media buys and mega partnerships

Key points

• Top creators such as Alix Earle, Druski and Mr. Beast are partnered as creative collaborators in longer brand campaigns.
• Nano and micro creators are increasingly bought like media, through scaled programmatic buys across many creators.
• Zach Blume of Portal A says brands buy creators like traditional channels, with media mixes tied to past spending.
• Blume says the market is growing fast enough that both tiers see brand investment rising, so it is not either-or.

Why it matters for marketers: Content teams should plan separate budgets and briefs for top-tier creative partnerships versus scaled, programmatic micro and nano creator buys.