The creator economy is bursting at the seams as brands tap into social media stars, both big and small, hoping to recreate word of mouth-style marketing online.In fact, agency clients and brands invested more in influencer marketing in 2023 than they did in 2022, according to Digiday+ research. In Q1 of 2022, 69% of agency professionals said their clients spent at least a very small portion of their marketing budgets on influencers. By Q1 of 2023, that figure jumped to 76%. Goldman Sachs predicts that the creator economy could approach half of a trillion dollars by 2027.As more money flows into the creator economy, creators are looking for two things: their fair share of that money and more sovereignty over their online presences. And Linktree, a link-in-bio tool, is positioning itself to be an intermediary, facilitating the growth, per Lara Cohen, vp of partners and business development at Linktree.“There's a shift happening right now and I think the financial shift has really yet to catch up directionally [with] where the market is right now, in some ways,” Cohen said on the most recent episode of the Digiday Podcast. “The real shift that we haven't seen yet that we're really advocating for on the front lines of Linktree is that these creators should be paid more.”On this episode, we caught up with Cohen to talk about the growing creator economy, monetization at Linktree and what maturation looks like in this space.

Prebiotic soda brand Olipop is in growth mode, coming off $200 million in annual sales and its first national campaign with pop star Camila Cabello last year.A lot of the six-year-old brand’s initial popularity tracks back to TikTok. However, the last year has been transformational for Olipop, positioning itself as a true competitor to the likes of legacy brands like Pepsi or Coca Cola.“We’re such a different company today than we were 12 months ago largely because of that growth,” said Chad Wilson, head of marketing for Olipop, on a recent episode of the Digiday Podcast. “From a marketing perspective, we have seen huge success in social and influencers. We jumped on social early on in the company’s growth and it was like rocket fuel almost.”On this episode of the Digiday Podcast, we caught up with Wilson to talk about maintain Olipop’s momentum, its in-house agency and what testing and learning looks like on TikTok.

Earlier this year, Janice Min, CEO of The Ankler, said that she’s expecting to hit $10 million in annual revenue in 2025. During a podcast recording with Digiday, Min revised that statement to say, “We have a shot of getting to that number this year.”To do that, Min’s team is taking a three-pronged, straightforward approach: Make good content to attract audiences, quality audiences that are attractive to advertisers, and combine those things in-person through events.“I wish we had some AI-generated something that was going to be the thing that rains down millions of dollars on us, but it's really boring,” said Min.“Boring” — or not, it's notable that a media company that launched in January 2022 and covers Hollywood is charting revenue growth at all amid two major film industry strikes as well as a tumultuous period for advertising revenue.On the latest episode of the Digiday Podcast, Min shares how “tune-in” advertising and “for your consideration” advertising have persisted despite the strikes and how The Ankler, born on Substack, has expanded across platforms to become a full-fledged digital media outlet.Get more from Digiday with the daily newsletter, sent out each weekday morning. Visit digiday.com/newsletters to sign up. 

Vox Media's CRO, Geoff Schiller, discusses ad sales strategies focusing on talent and tent poles. They emphasize niche over scale plays and vertical expertise to differentiate in the market. Schiller showcases insights on roadshows and industry events to attract clients.

Marketing director Liz Mella shares non-traditional tactics for Farmer's Fridge's diverse locations. They buy media at the exact point of purchase, focusing on small actions to amplify their marketing efforts. The podcast discusses challenges in measurement, media, and unique marketing strategies in the current advertising landscape.

Zola CMO discusses expanding into baby registry, using word-of-mouth over ads, and leveraging TikTok for brand awareness. Topics include personalized weddings, influencer strategies, TikTok content creation challenges, and evolving influencer marketing in the wedding industry.

My Code's CEO discusses the shift in advertiser budgets towards multicultural marketing as a minimum standard. The podcast explores My Code's focus on Latinx media, research strategies, and utilizing first-party data. It also delves into adapting to changes in ad spend, strategic growth plans, and the importance of diverse marketing approaches.

Following an on-stage conversation at the Digiday Programmatic Marketing Summit in December, Kerel Cooper, president of advertising at Group Black, joined Digiday once again on the latest episode of the Digiday Podcast to dive further into his continued efforts to shed light on the legacy programmatic media buying practices that often disadvantage Black-owned media companies.Working with ad verification firm Double Verify, Group Black pulled together research that illustrates just how much ad inventory on Black-owned media companies is cut from media budgets when rudimentary tools like keyword blocklists and domain-level categorization are implemented in media buys.Now, Cooper is working with his partners at DV to raise awareness of these findings to educate the buy-side as well as work with trade organizations to create standards for not eliminating large swaths of Black-owned media from programmatic spending.In this conversation, Cooper talks about the results of the research with DV as well as how the deprecation of the third-party cookie is changing the way advertisers are up-ending their programmatic buying practices this year.Get more from Digiday with the daily newsletter, sent out each weekday morning. Visit digiday.com/newsletters to sign up. 

Magic Spoon, a DTC cereal brand, discusses expanding to 16,000 retailers, changing ad strategies to include in-store displays, and tackling measurement challenges. They explore social media growth, nostalgic marketing tactics, and navigating the evolving social media landscape. The podcast also touches on online sales challenges, traditional marketing channels in the digital age, and the brand's unique positioning in a competitive market.

PepsiCo Beverages discusses challenges of marketing in a fragmented media landscape, focusing on streaming platforms, influencers, and ad measurement. They also explore data utilization, fragmentation challenges, the crumbling cookie, investments in digital platforms, and the use of AI in media and marketing.