The creator economy is really all about internet influencers and personalities and their power. Love them or hate them, social media stars are big business. Leading personalities like Mr. Beast have shown just how lucrative the business can be.
The entire industry is currently valued at somewhere near $250 billion but is expected to rise to a value of $480 billion by 2027. The current day leading platforms are expected to continue to dominate the industry and that’s where I would place my money. Investment in the creator economy has come and gone but, current signs suggest it has yet to mature. That means that investment today is still as worthwhile as ever.
Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL)
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG, NASDAQ:GOOGL) is arguably the best diversified and best positioned of all the tech stocks. The company is, of course, propelled forward primarily by Google search and ad revenues. There continues to be reason to invest in the company and its stock, based on the ongoing rebound thereof.
That’s all good and well, along with artificial intelligence (AI). Both factors strongly suggest alphabet stock is still a great investment. However, the company’s diversification extends beyond ad revenues alone. Google is the holding company’s “Alpha” bet, but it maintains a strong investment in other areas.
YouTube is part of Google and gives the company strong, leading exposure to the continued growth of the creator economy. In fact, there are more than 61 million creators on YouTube currently. The average revenue-enabled creator makes 1.8 cents per view. While that might not seem like a lot of money, it can very quickly add up for those capable of generating substantial views through the platform. The re-emergence of the creator economy as a focal point of investment bodes well for GOOG shares.
Meta Platforms (META)
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META), like Alphabet, continues to rebound strongly in 2023. That’s the primary reason investors should consider investing in its stock.
Everyone is aware the company formerly known as Facebook has rebranded to tap into the potential of the metaverse. It now reports in two segments; Reality Labs and Family of Apps. Like Alphabet, Meta Platforms is driven primarily by ad revenue. That revenue comes from the Family of Apps, primarily Facebook, but includes others too — like Instagram.
Instagram influencers have also created a large and lucrative business. It’s all about how many followers you have and the sponsorship potential for those audiences. Influencers with more than 500,000 followers can command as much as $10,000 or more per sponsored post.
Meta Platforms will primarily thrive on things like the federal funds rate, AI and macroeconomic factors. At the same time, it remains an important contributor to the continued growth of the creator economy.
Adobe (ADBE)
Participants in the creator economy increasingly rely on AI to help them create. That’s where Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) and its stock come into the picture.
The generative AI boom has made it much easier to leverage AI to generate scripts and other written text, as well as images and video. Firms like Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Google have gotten a lot more attention because the text generation side of generative AI has higher potential.
However, for the purposes of content creation, image generation is arguably just as important. For example, creators working on both YouTube and Instagram need to generate images. Adobe has invested a lot of money into its Firefly suite of products. Of course, Adobe is particularly well known for its photo and illustration prowess. It already has a large captive audience for products like Photoshop and Illustrator, making it easy for the company to sell its AI-enabled products as well. In short, Adobe is another leading tech firm to consider concerning the creator economy and its future growth.
On the date of publication, Alex Sirois did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
