The Creator Compensation Conundrum

What Marketers Can Learn from the Hollywood Strike

If you've been following the news, you're likely familiar with the recent strike between the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) and the Writers Guild of America (WGA). While this may seem like a problem unique to Hollywood, there are lessons to be learned by anyone charged with creating content these days.

As marketers, we know the importance of content creation. Social media and smartphone technology provides an enormous opportunity for brands to engage with and make content with audiences in a creative and meaningful way. But as we do so, it's important to remember that the people producing this content — whether they call themselves “creators” or not — are creative professionals, and they deserve to be treated as such. Compensating creators should be at the forefront of our minds as we build our brands.

In this blog post, we will offer some advice for marketers who want to connect with their audiences in ways that will build a strong foundation for continued success in the future, including how to compensate creators fairly.

What Is the Hollywood Strike About?

Movie theater ticket sales were tanking before the pandemic. When the pandemic hit, they went to zero and still haven’t fully recovered. Meanwhile, cable and satellite TV providers have continued to lose subscribers to streaming services like Disney+, Max, Hulu, Paramount+ & Peacock. These new services have disrupted the industry, but fractured audiences, evolving business models and strong competition have made profitability a challenge for them. So Hollywood has been slashing costs, eliminating jobs and resisting union equity demands. This has led to 160,000 unionized actors (SAG/AFTRA) and 11,500 screenwriters (WGA) going on strike due to concerns over pay and their share of the streaming revenue.

Barry Diller has suggested a Sept. 1 strike settlement deadline, warning that “next year, there’s not going to be many programs for anybody to watch." We suppose Barry doesn’t spend a lot of time on TikTok, where there are plenty of creators making content that people are watching. In fact, TikTok is being watched more than Netflix these days. We don’t agree that this will mean the end of entertainment. But we do agree that this could mean the collapse of an entire industry as we know it.

Power to the people who post for your brand.

What does this all have to do with marketers? After all, doesn’t this mean that actors will be more available and more willing to do commercial work for brands? Yes, but what about the social media creators who are posting about your brands on their feeds? Whether it's through Instagram posts, tweets, TikToks, or Youtube videos, creators are essential in promoting our products and services to their followers. Marketers should definitely be asking themselves if they’re treating those creators with the respect and compensation they deserve. Are you simply offering “exposure” and free samples? That may not be enough for much longer.

Influencers vs. Influence

It’s important to note that we’re not just talking about professional “Influencers” here. Sure, leveraging creators with large social followings can have an incredible impact on your brand’s awareness and ultimate marketing success. But as many marketing professionals know, smaller creators can have an outsized influence on certain audiences. Creators with smaller followings tend to know their followers more intimately. Their followers consider them as friends. And 92% of people globally said recommendations from family and friends were far more trustworthy than advertising, according to Nielsen. In fact, family and friend recommendations rank only behind personal experience as the most valued source of information when making a purchase.

Smaller creators may or may not even consider themselves influencers, but they can have a huge impact on your brand’s reputation. So, of course, they should be compensated.

How to Keep Creators Happy

So how can brands ensure they’re compensating creators properly and keeping them happy? Here’s three tips for marketers who value creators:

1. Respect: Not only should we be compensating creators for their content, but we should also be treating them well. This includes clear communication, timely payment, and respecting their creative vision. Take the time to show appreciation for the work they do, and they will be more likely to go above and beyond for you in the future leading to long-term partnerships and even greater success. This means commenting on their other posts too. And making them feel like part of the team.
2. Credit: When brands repost creators' content, they should tag the creator and include their handle in the caption. This not only gives the creators the recognition they deserve but also helps them gain more followers and potentially attract new business opportunities. Plus, who doesn't love a shoutout?
3. Licensing: Did you know you can license organic content just like stock? All you need to do is reach out to the creator and agree on terms and have them sign a licensing agreement. It's a win-win situation - creators get paid, and brands get access to safe, high-quality, authentic content that resonates with their target audience. Don’t have time to reach out? Hire a licensing partner like Catch+Release to handle all that for you.
   

A Community of Creators

It's no secret that creators play a crucial role in today's digital landscape. They have the power to make or break a brand's reputation and influence their followers' purchasing habits. Therefore, it's only right that they receive fair compensation for the content they create. The SAG-AFTRA/WGA strike serves as a stark reminder that creative professionals have long been undervalued, and we must do better.

At Catch+Release, we are building a licensing engine that allows marketers to license content directly from the creators themselves, wherever they post their work. To that end, we have also built a thriving creator community on our platform, where you’ll find creators that have already self-selected themselves as licensees.

We hope this blog post gave you some insights into the importance of treating creators as partners wherever you find them. We can’t wait to see what you create together.