The Web3 Creator Economy (The Next Big Wave in 2024)

Web3 is being increasingly recognized for its wide-ranging utility as world-renowned museums embrace NFTs, leading online distributors to support crypto gaming, and applications for Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs to gain traction, signaling substantial institutional demand for cryptocurrencies.

While a number of Web3 sectors have enjoyed their moment in the sun, including DePIN (Decentralized Physical Infrastructure), RWAs (Real-World Assets), and AI, one popular trend has emerged as a leader, garnering significant attention in and outside of the industry: the Web3 creator economy.

Content Creation Meets Web3

Content creation platforms give anyone the ability to find and connect with audiences through video, music, spoken word, and writing.

The creator economy is vast and ubiquitous, encompassing popular media platforms YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok, as well as social platforms, like Twitter (X) and Facebook, and alternative media models, such as podcasts, live streaming, and subscription models.

It is also highly lucrative: Goldman Sachs values the creator economy at around $250 billion.

Now, the creator economy is on the precipice of a dramatic Web3 transformation as blockchain technology offers the means for creators to monetize their creative efforts in new ways and maintain greater control over their own data and digital assets.

In particular, Web3 influencer marketing is an essential sector that remains largely unexplored. While traditional influencer marketing has witnessed explosive growth in recent years, from trend-setting fashionistas on Instagram to live-streaming gamers on YouTube or Twitch, the Web3 influencer market remains in a state of relative chaos and has not yet achieved mainstream adoption.

Marketplaces are a necessary component of the influencer ecosystem as they allow businesses to easily connect with Web3 influencers. Projects such as Lever.io are filling the gap in this multi-billion dollar market, bringing transparency and innovation to the industry.

The Rise of Friend.tech

Friend.tech was one of the first Web3 creator economy projects to develop significant traction. A tokenized platform on Coinbase’s Base network (a new Ethereum layer-2 network), Friend.tech seamlessly integrates with Twitter (X) to provide new monetization streams for both influencers and their followers.

Friend.tech allows influencers to leverage their knowledge and popularity by selling membership to their exclusive chat rooms. Influencers sell “keys”, digital tokens that grant their holders access.

Friend.tech users can freely buy or sell keys, opening the doors to trading and speculating on influencer value. Social networks have explosive growth potential: in the first month, Friend.tech produced $220 million in volume.

Limitless Potential in Web3 Content Creation

Every VC, Web3 conference, and community event is now heavily engaged with this emerging sector, on the lookout for “the next Friend.tech”, or the next big trend within the Web3 creator economy.

While Friend.tech is the pioneer and first-mover in the creator space, many other promising projects have been steadily building during the bear market. These include Web3 alternative social media platforms, such as Catalyze, a Web3 alternative to Discord, and Web2-adjacent projects like Royalty, built on Polygon.

Royalty is a project that brings tokenization to YouTube content creators, allowing creators to fundraise by sharing real ad revenue with followers, bringing them along on the creator journey.

Web3 technology has the potential to improve and revitalize content creation in a myriad of ways: crowdfunding, digital ownership, and censorship-resistant platforms. The coming bull market will see incredible growth in the Web3 content creator economy.

Crypto Influencers: The Key to Web3 Community Building

Web3 influencers on Youtube, TikTok, and Twitter (X) are a critical component of any marketing campaign, as they speak directly to members of specific Web3 ecosystems, for instance: Cosmos, Solana, Chainlink, and Ethereum.

Influencers offer companies targeted and scalable audience reach, unobtainable through PR campaigns or conference work. Web3 influencers come with the trust of thousands, or tens of thousands, of followers, and play an outsized role by bringing their community members to Web3 projects.

Web3 influencer marketplace Lever.io is a company that is currently solving the influencer reach and connectivity problem; in fact, it has already gained some notice among popular crypto YouTubers.

“The current Web3 influencer space is full of scams, inefficiencies, and a lack of transparency. Many influencers have difficulty getting paid or don’t get paid at all.

“As creators, we need an easy-to-use, all-in-one platform that makes booking influencers safe, quick, and easy for brands and creators alike. That’s what Lever.io is.”

- Chase, Founder of BitcoinExpress

In the crypto space, companies have the budgets to launch multiple influencer campaigns simultaneously, a key to top-notch marketing efforts; yet, it is practically impossible to find enough creators within the timeframe of Web3 campaign goals.

Furthermore, once a company has finally identified promising crypto influencers to work with, it often lacks the data and tracking analytics to make an informed decision.

These problems still persist to this day ... yet, change is coming.

Lever.io: Web3 Marketing’s Missing Puzzle Piece

Web3 marketing’s first missing piece is trust between parties. Right now, Web3 companies and influencers are unaccountable to one another, as there is no mechanism to uphold each end of the bargain, be it a timeline for content release, a method of payment, or agreed-upon expectations for content deliverables.

Communities need up-to-date news and analyses, and creators are their delivery method of choice. Creators are therefore an indispensable ingredient for any Web3 project aiming to build and scale a community, to reach the next level.

One such company, Lever.io, solves the issues of trust and complexity by providing a vetted marketplace. Lever allows companies to easily filter and hire Web3 creators on YouTube and other popular platforms for targeted marketing campaigns.

Lever addresses an ongoing problem that has only gotten worse since I first began writing about the blockchain space in 2017 for The Huffington Post. What's incredible is that this issue hasn't been solved yet.

To me, Lever is taking the next fundamental step in crypto marketing infrastructure development, allowing not only experienced marketing teams to benefit from crypto KOLs, but any team, with or without marketing knowledge.

My research has shown that Web3 influencer promotion is a $22 billion market that has yet to be disrupted: a blue ocean, ripe for exploration.

Analytics: The Other Side of The Story

Analytics is still close to non-existent in Web3 marketing. Knowledge of customer behavior and actions is invaluable for any marketing campaign.

When it comes to data in Web3, Kazm is tackling the issue by tracking community loyalty for creators. Kazm integrates NFTs across multiple social media platforms - a valuable feature in today’s multi-platform world - to connect creators and fans in a gamified environment.

Projects like these contribute to the infrastructure of the Web3 creator economy, allowing Web3 projects and Web3 influencers to easily connect, using cutting-edge tools to reach and build audiences.

Trust needs to be fused with data and accountability for the next wave of Web3 projects to thrive in the new creator economy.

Web3 Will Transform the Creator Economy

Web2 platforms such as Twitter and YouTube are in no danger of being supplanted by Web3 overnight. In the near-term, the most successful Web3 projects will be those that integrate with and augment existing social media platforms.

Innovative blockchain projects bring benefits to individual creators, fans, and Web3 projects by utilizing cutting-edge analytics, elevating personal autonomy and digital ownership rights, and introducing new ways to monetize content.

2024 promises to be a year of tremendous growth for the Web3 content creator space. Keep your eyes out for new ideas and fresh entrants to the space.