Haaaaaaaaappy Wednesday, creator peeps!

An obligatory “how we feelin’?!” is in place this week, especially as the weather is starting to warm up and creep closer towards summer (you got this, East Coasters, you’re almost out of the limbo (Hell) that we call winter.)!

On my end of things, there are only a few more weeks away until it’s corgi time, and as the puppy planning becomes more tangible, the reality begins to set in. I mean just look at this dude… Are you kidding me?!

Ok ok, I digress (for now 😈), but the vibes are great going into the spring. We’ve had tons of new folks create their pages on the all-new CreatorPad and we’re getting close to being able to turn on our matching algorithm. So if you’re excited to meet other creators in your niche, area, and beyond, sign up and tell your friends about CreatorPad, every page built gets us closer to those matches starting up!

Anyways, onwards and upwards! Let’s get fired up to create with these stories below! 🔥 

Prime Takes Center Stage 🤼 

In a first of its kind collab, the WWE has teamed up with Prime Hydration to make the creator-led beverage brand the official hydration drink of the WWE. But this partnership isn’t the end of the news here. This is the largest deal that WWE has ever struck with a sponsor, and it has even more exclusive strings attached.

• Within this deal, Prime will also become the first-ever brand with a logo in the center of the WWE ring. As WWE has been around since the early 80s, this is a massive, massive deal for the multi-billion dollar wrestling corp.

• This deal will last for two years, and has no disclosure in terms of the financial aspects of the partnership.

• This will be a major win for both brands. With both Prime and the WWE being insanely popular amongst young kids (primarily boys), this will bring in more Prime customers, and more WWE viewers. I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again. COLLABS ARE THE BEST WIN-WIN TO GROW ON SOCIALS. DO IT ON CREATORPAD! ❤️ 

• With this move with Prime and the recent signing of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson to the board (for $30M in stock 🤯), it’s no secret that the WWE is starting to get the new wave of partnering with the right influencers and celebs.

Prime continues to command the space and take over as the leading hydration/sports drink in the game. Who knows, maybe one day we’ll see Prime being dumped on the heads of coaches at major games. Could this spell a slow death for Gatorade? Let me know your thoughts by replying to this email!

Wednesday morning update: I just got wind that Prime is now also the Official Sports Drink of the LA Lakers… Absolutely insane.

Significant Engagement Drop on TikTok 📉 

Recently relished as the go-to place for growth and engagement, new reports are beginning to show significant declines in engagement on TikTok for both brands and creators alike. So why the cuts in engagement? I have my own opinions that I’ll drop at the end, but let’s explore the facts first.

To provide some context before we dive in, my insight was pulled from this article/report, which focuses primarily on brands. Although this piece focuses on brands, I am seeing the same issues coming from the creator (non-brand) side of TikTok. Enough yappin’ from me, let’s get into it:

• Why is the king of engagement platforms losing steam?

  • More Creators and Brands: Eeeeeeeveryone is fighting for their spot in audience attention on the “For You Page.” With more TikTok users and millions of videos going out daily, both brand and creator content is becoming harder to discover.

  • Is it just me, or have I seen this before?: With more creators and brands, the content that’s being pushed out is becoming more saturated. With so many creators and brands joining the platform daily, content saturation might be pushing organic reach down. I believe that this saturation and lack of engagement may be due to trends that are so popular as well, if every creator and brand is doing the same challenge, what’s the point in watching others continue to do the same?

• Divin’ into data:

  • Emplifi data shows a 26% drop in TikTok post interactions from its peak in early 2022. This is most definitely in part to COVID keeping everyone at home on their phones, but still, 26% is a significant drop.

  • SocialInsider reports a 35% decrease in the average engagement rate for TikTok clips over the past year along with a 20% decrease in engagement by views. Now that’s a drop.

  • While many other platforms have seen drops in growth, TikTok seems to have seen the most significant drops in engagement.

• My two cents:

  • I’ve said it once (ok maybe a lot more than once, you got me there), but I believe TikTok continues to focus on the wrong things and that’s why user base and engagement have been dropping over the last few years, with significant drops in the last few months.

  • As TikTok TikTok is focusing on pretty much everything except their bread and butter, users who are on the platform for just that are becoming sick of new initiatives like live streams, constant pushing of TikTok shop, and ads.

  • With minimal payouts for creators, a lack of engagement from viewers, and more competition but fewer ways to break through the noise, I think the exodus from TikTok is beginning, and we’ll (unfortunately, but likely,) see engagement continue to drop.

As mentioned, while the article I covered is more geared toward the brand side of TikTok, the more creators and consumers that I talk to about the app, the more frustration I hear. Do you readers believe that we’re beginning to see the beginning of the end with TikTok, or is this just a hiccup as they continue taking over? Let me know your thoughts by responding to this email!

Cinematography Made Simple ✅ 

Well, it’s not simple at all, but oh man does today’s spotlight create gorgeous edits with ease.

Meet Bupek, a dynamic creator who can teach you editing tips, how to efficiently use the tools at your disposal, and how to emulate some of the greatest tricks in cinematography in your content.

Bupek’s content is a showcase of his masterful skills. Whether it be taking insane edits from music videos and breaking them down so you can use them in your content, teaching us how to shoot in certain situations, or even what gear to shoot on, Bupek’s videos are a masterclass in cinematography and filmmaking.

As I’m a massive fan of music videos (specifically hip-hop music videos), diving into Bupek’s content was like pulling back the curtains on the tricks of the trade that some of these music video producers utilize, and I was immediately hooked.

If you’re looking for creative inspiration and want to learn the tricks that some of the greatest editors in the game are utilizing, definitely go give Bupek a sub and check out some of his content.

Bupek’s work continues to inspire me, and I already know his videos will do the same for you. Keep up the killer work, Bupek!

Check out Bupek’s content

🤔 What Are Your Thoughts?

What is your take on TikTok’s engagement rate falling? Do you think this is the beginning of an exodus to other platforms? Maybe numbers were inflated and now they’re returning to “normal”?

Let me know your thoughts by responding to this email!

 🗞️ In Other News

• Listen, I’m not a conspiracy theorist, but oh god do I love the storytelling aspects of alternate history, weird stories, cryptids, and things of that nature. With that in mind, one of my favorite channels to dive into the bizarre is called The Why Files. Well, The Why Files crew just dropped a shoe, and it actually doesn’t look all too bad!

• Musk is doubling down on video by creating a TV app dedicated for video on smart TVs. This will apparently roll out sometime this week and reportedly looks exactly like YouTube’s TV app. This one should be interesting. 🥴 

• Rooster Teeth, one of the creator space’s longest-running MCNs, is shutting its doors. I used to watch Rooster Teeth back when I was a legitimate child, binging their Halo 3 YouTube content like Red vs Blue and beyond. You’ll be missed, king. RIP to an OG YouTube great. ❤️ 

🚀 Up Your Career as a Creator

Hope you enjoyed this week’s post. See you next week ✌️