The Creator Economy Is No Longer One Market
For years, the creator economy has been treated as a single, fast-growing channel, with one playbook guiding how brands partner, measure and scale. That framing is starting to break down in a meaningful way.
A new analysis from Billo App, based on more than 22,000 brand collaborations, suggests the market is fragmenting into three distinct layers, emerging, scaling and mature, each operating with its own dynamics and expectations. For communications professionals, that shift is not just structural, it is strategic, because it changes how messaging needs to be developed and delivered.
According to Donatas Smailys, CEO of Billo App, some of the most prominent emerging sectors right now include AI and GLP-1, both of which are driving a shift toward education-led content. These categories are evolving quickly, often faster than public understanding, which creates a gap between product complexity and audience familiarity.
That gap is where creators are increasingly expected to operate.
“What we’re seeing is the creator economy reacting in real time to new categories forming almost overnight,” Smailys explains. “GLP-1 didn’t exist last year, and now, together with AI, these sectors are growing fast, while consumer understanding is still catching up. That creates a clear role for creators, not just to promote, but to explain and educate.”
In AI, that often means demonstrating tools and showing how they fit into real workflows. In GLP-1, the storytelling becomes more layered, combining medical context, personal experience and long-term behavioral change. In both cases, credibility becomes central, not just visibility, which raises the stakes for how communicators think about voice, expertise and risk.
As these categories begin to scale, the role of creators shifts again. In sectors like SaaS and broader technology, partnerships are becoming more performance-driven, with a growing emphasis on measurable outcomes.
Data tied to Meta Platforms partnership ads highlights this evolution, showing a 13 percent increase in click-through rates, a 19 percent decrease in cost per acquisition and a 71 percent increase in brand lift when both the creator and brand are visible within the same ad unit.
Smailys notes that the effectiveness of these partnerships is less about reach and more about alignment.
“Partnership ads work because of relatability and credibility,” he says. “In categories like GLP-1 or AI, the creator often has to have direct experience or professional expertise. That relevance is what drives results. It’s not about the amount of followers anymore.”
This shift is also changing how brands approach creator selection, moving toward more deliberate matchmaking, particularly in high-trust or complex categories where credibility directly impacts performance.
At the same time, the supply side of the creator economy is accelerating. Billo’s data shows creator applications grew by approximately 160 percent quarter-on-quarter in Q1, signaling a sharp increase in participation. While that growth expands the pool of available talent, it also introduces more noise, making it harder for brands to identify the right partners and maintain consistency.
At the more mature end of the spectrum, beauty continues to operate under a very different model. Here, creator marketing is fully embedded into brand strategy, with long-term relationships replacing one-off campaigns and repeat collaborations becoming standard practice.
“Creator marketing here is embedded. Brands run always-on strategies, with repeat collaborations replacing one-off campaigns. Beauty has moved beyond testing,” Smailys says. “We’re seeing long-term creator relationships become the default.”
Even within this mature category, there are signs of continued evolution. Subcategories such as haircare and scalp care are gaining traction, creating new opportunities for emerging creators, while established brands double down on consistency and sustained engagement.
Taken together, these patterns point to a more nuanced and segmented creator economy than many marketers have assumed. Different categories are operating on different timelines, with different audience expectations and different definitions of success.
For communicators, the takeaway is clear. A single, uniform approach to creator strategy no longer works. Emerging sectors require education and clarity. Scaling sectors demand performance and measurable impact. Mature sectors rely on consistency and long-term trust.
As Smailys puts it, “Different categories now operate in fundamentally different ways. Emerging sectors primarily need education-based content, scaling sectors need performance-driven solutions, while mature markets ask for consistency.”
What this ultimately underscores is that creator strategy is becoming more specialized and more closely tied to category dynamics. For communications professionals, that means playing a more active role in shaping not just the message, but the match between brand, creator and audience, ensuring that each aligns with where the market actually is, not where it used to be.
