For the second time ever, Forbes released the “Top Creators List” for 2023. While there were many recurring faces, a couple of creators had their first debut on the list with impressive numbers.
People new to the Forbes Top Creator List may ask, “How do you make the list and what defines a creator?” According to Forbes, the creator list consists of social media personalities with a large following, high engagement rates and impressive estimated earnings from brand deals or entrepreneurial endeavors. Familiar faces from last year’s creator list are YouTube veteran Jimmy Donaldson, a.k.a Mr.Beast who possesses 312 million followers, Tik Tok’s second most followed person with 213 million followers, Charli Damelio, and Disney Star – turned into Youtuber – turned into a boxer, Jake Paul who has 66 million followers.
However, with the rise in TikTok usage, a few names snuck their way onto the list with only a year’s worth of experience in the limelight. Internet sensation, Alix Earle has been taking the TikTok world by storm with 8.5 million followers. Earle is known for her “Get ready with me videos” where she spills about her lavish life in Miami. After being quickly thrown into fame, Earle has made the lucrative decisions to work with notable brands such as Tarte, Rare Beauty, and Forever 21 and most recently she joined Alix Cooper’s (also another creator on the Forbes list) new “Unwell” Network, where Earle hosts a weekly podcast on top of posting to her TikTok account daily. Now, Forbes recorded that Earle is estimated to be worth $5 million dollars after only one year as a creator. Another honorable mention on the creator list that shared a similar rise in stardom this year are TikTok personality, Monet McMichael who has 5 million followers and is estimated to be worth $4 million dollars.
These people and their impressive numbers go to show how many people are invested in social media personalities. Forbes calculated, “In 2023 brands will spend an estimated $21 billion on creator marketing, up from just $1.6 billion seven years ago, according to the social media research firm, Influencer Marketing Hub.” These numbers prove that social media influencers are the smartest and most lucrative way to connect to an audience and sell products. As normal TV advertisements die out and Influencers continue to accept sponsorships, the old format of advertising products on commercial TV will die out.
Looking forward to the new year, how will you put yourself in the right position to hopefully be featured in the 2024 edition of Forbes Creator List?
After looking at these charts, it is clear there is a lack of diversity in race and gender which play a large role in the people that Forbes chose to highlight this year. This is not to say that Forbes maliciously chose to be less inclusive, rather, this list highlights the types of races and genders that are gaining more attention in the media.
While everyone has the ability to gain fame overnight like some of the creators on Forbe’s list, not everyone will have an equal playing field. However, some patterns that I noticed in the group of creators listed (besides race and gender) are:
- Creators gain fame from being authentically themselves on camera
People like Alix Cooper, Emma Chamberlain, Monet McMichael, and Alix Cooper all rose in popularity mainly because audiences felt like they could relate to them. Showing the consumers your unique personality allows the audience to feel less disconnected from the creator or what the creator is selling, thus will spike sales because the consumer trusts you.
- Consistency is Key
Consumers are constantly hungry for new content. As soon as you skip a week or two on content creation your followers might have already forgot about you or found their new favorite creator who posts two to three times a week. Posting constantly also helps with algorithms and allows you to grow a larger audience.
- Engage with your Audience
Captions with engaging questions or polls on your story are easy ways for your audience to feel acknowledged and further grow their relationship and trust with you. These interactive tactics are a great way to post consistently without having to think of an elaborate post every week. Listening to the consumers will also allow you to hear what is doing well on your platforms and what you should maybe switch up.
So long as people continue to use social media, the Forbes Creators list will continue. In years to come it will be interesting to see who will continue to stay high on the list and what new influencers will join the list as well. One can only hope that the list becomes more diverse; however, that issue lies in the hands of social media consumers.
Sidney Wu 
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