The creator economy is facing intensified competition, as almost 45 lakh influencers are trying their luck to go viral, even as only 6 lakh creators manage to monetise their income. Approximately 47% of these influencers rely on sponsored content, while only 15% earn income through ad revenue. These insights are a part of a report by the Nikhil Kamat-backed Konfluence, an Ad-Tech platform.
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“With India crossing 900 million internet users, the creator economy is poised for continued expansion, fueled by government initiatives as well as significant technological advancements. Looking ahead, I believe we are moving towards the phase of integrated influence in which advertising mediums will increasingly converge together.” Ritesh Ujjwal, Co-Founder of Kofluence said.
Even though becoming an influencer is now as glamorous as becoming an actor, the reality is that most influencers earn between 50-75% of their incomes through social media, essentially making their content creation a side hustle.
Almost one in three creators struggle to land brand deals, while another 11% find constant algorithm changes confusing. Many leading influencers have also faced problems with constantly updating algorithm changes, even as each one of them tries to offer a unique perspective for any story.
“I was hitting a creative burnout during an algorithm dip—views dropped despite consistent effort. Also, many times our content was also removed due to the guidelines”,
Ashutosh Singh, whose handle @technical_sapien recently reached a million followers, explained the pressures that come with such developments.
“I refocused my efforts to bring value over virality, building a content system that supported consistency without draining me. Eventually, virality can fade, but trust builds longevity,” he adds.
Though AI offers influencers a faster option to brainstorm ideas, there is no guarantee that every reel or short video will go viral. Many influencers resort to desperate measures to retain their followers, as competition heats up for collab posts. Maintaining consistently engaging posts remains a challenge, and even established creators are feeling the heat.
After all, building trust through a social media handle isn’t easy, as earnings from content creation can take about 5-7 years to become sustainable.
“For Rs 2 lakh per month an influencer’s content should be able to hit 500,000 kind of views. Before that it’s very difficult for content creation to replace full time gigs.” adds Ujjwal.
