Media Briefing: Why Older Creators Are Becoming More Valuable to Brands

Digiday brought in Lauren Lyster, VP and Head of Social Media at Go Fish Digital, for its look at how creator marketing is changing as creators and their audiences get older. Brands are increasingly working with creators who talk openly about experiences like parenting, fertility, caregiving, health, and career changes, giving them a way to reach established audiences through subjects that are already part of their lives.

The story comes as consumers are showing more skepticism toward content that feels manufactured. A WordPress VIP survey cited by Digiday found that 60% of U.S. consumers consider AI use in brand messaging a turnoff. For brands, creators with established communities and years of lived experience can provide the credibility audiences are looking for.

Key Takeaways

Creators are bringing their audiences into new stages of life. Creators who built followings around dating, travel, beauty, or lifestyle are now talking about parenting, fertility, health, caregiving, and aging. Their audiences have often grown up alongside them, creating established communities around experiences that extend well beyond a single campaign.

Brand partnerships are becoming longer-term. Lauren told Digiday that subjects like fertility, caregiving, and aging aren’t one-post topics. They generate ongoing conversations and sustained engagement, which is leading brands to build longer relationships with creators rather than approaching each partnership as a standalone campaign.

Older creators can reach valuable social commerce audiences. Digiday points to Edison Research showing that 47% of TikTok users ages 25 to 44 buy products they’ve heard about on the platform. At the same time, eMarketer reports that 34% of social users are more likely to purchase based on an authentic creator review.

The Go Fish Perspective

As creators get older, the subjects they cover change with them. Parenting, fertility, caregiving, health, and aging can become part of their content because they’re part of their lives. For brands, that can open up partnerships around topics that audiences are already following closely.

Lauren pointed out that these subjects develop over months or years. Audiences follow along because they’re invested in the creator and their experience. Brands that have a relevant place in those experiences can show up more than once and become part of an ongoing conversation.

Brands should look closely at what a creator talks about, why people follow them, and where a product naturally fits. A creator with a smaller audience but years of trust around a particular subject may be a better partner than someone with greater reach but little connection to the category.

Longer-term partnerships can work particularly well here. Creators have more time to introduce a product through content they would already be making, while brands get repeated exposure to an audience that knows and trusts the creator.

Read the Full Story

Read the full Digiday piece for more on how creators are evolving their content as they get older, why brands are pursuing longer-term partnerships, and what older creators can offer brands trying to reach established audiences.

Originally Published by Digiday: Why brands are turning to older creators for authenticity AI can’t fake