“There is almost no middle class,” said Paul Desisto, owner of PD Talent, a talent management company. “It goes to creators really on demand. The brands, if they will spend, take advantage of it. ”

The creators’ economy is booming. More than 1.5 million Americans have worked full -time as digital creators – a growth rate of 7.5x since 2020, according to recent research of the Advertising Bureau (IAB). But with growth, competition comes, and this is where the level of level lifestyle creators feel, explains Desisto.

At the same time, brands require incredibly and specific niche influencers in the countryside. For example, the customer asks like young male cultists who speak to the camera during their process of creating content in the gymnasium, the sports fans of Portsmouth, NH, and the entrepreneurs specialized in the CVC, all met the office of Danielle Wiley, founder of the group of workshop influence.

And it’s not just Wiley customers. Marketing specialists are becoming more and more selective on the influencers with which they associate – while looking for a clear return on investment. (More about it here.)

In addition, there is endless demand for marketing specialists to make more marketing with fewer budgets, in which expenses go to everything that can provide the brand’s notoriety and a measurable sales elevator. This has become too obvious when opposite winds and economic winds came into play earlier this year. Currently, the answer is nano and micro-influencers and not the creators of the mid-range, according to Gregory Curtis Jr., director of influencer strategy at Empower Media.

Steven Sharpe Jr., creative director and content strategist, has nearly 25,000 subscribers on Instagram and Tiktok, but said that brand offers and ambassador opportunities were increasingly difficult to find. During the first half of this year, the creator of lifestyle and well-being had about eight or nine brand partnerships, a significant decrease in the 15 to 20 estimated that he had during the same period in 2024. While the second half of 2025 begins, he aligned two contracts when there was normally four to five.

“This middle class of creators is starting to see partnerships disappear or locate little,” said Sharpe. “I will join an agency and I will get a coherent income, so I don’t have to insist on the moment when my next partnership will pass.”

Sharpe is not alone. Earlier this year, in the middle of the start of the Tiktok Ban constantly evolving, Digiday reported that some creators delighted traditional workforce in the hope of making a coherent salary. Meanwhile, others double the channels possessed and exploited, in particular substantive places, newsletters, personal websites, blogs and other mediums.

It is clear that the creators’ economy is changing. Advertisers require more niche targeting, a measurable return on investment while browsing tighter budgets. This has put the creators – in particular, the creators of the level of level – on the offensive, blurring the path of the success of the creators of the level of level.

This does not mean that advertisers have closed the book on intermediate level creators and influencers. According to Curtis Jr. of Empower Media, these influencers are used when there is a need for expertise in matters or niche, “but they are no longer our defect,” he said. “Our goal has moved to precision on the scale – to find creators whose voice, the public and the creative style are aligned closely with the objectives of the campaign.”