In 2016, Karron Dhinggra was working a regular 9-5 job as a corporate lawyer when he posed for a few photos and made his Instagram profile public. This was his favour to a journalist friend who wanted to test some photos. Surprisingly, his pictures went viral, encouraging him to juggle his day job with content creation on the weekends. Dhinggra was one of the early entrants to the creator economy, a space that’s expected to be worth $480 billion by 2027, according to a Goldman Sachs research report.
Soon, brands started getting in touch. “I realised that you can also make this your profession and earn money from it. When you love what you do, it is also fun,” says Dhinggra, who quit his day job as a lawyer to became a full-time content creator in 2019. Today, he has over 6.3 million subscribers on YouTube and 102,000+ followers on Instagram.
Even influencers need constant learning and upskilling
Given that the creator economy is evolving at a fast pace, learning from peers and experts is important even for individuals who have had a head start in this space. Every influencer needs to consistently upskill and stay relevant with changing trends and social media algorithms. That’s why events such as the Amazon Creator Summit in Las Vegas in September (where Dhinggra and other Indian Influencers such as Sejal Kumar and Bhavna Jain rubbed shoulders with Khloe Kardashian and Tan France) are valuable for upskilling and staying ahead of the curve.
What is Amazon’s Creator Summit?
Amazon’s Creator Summit is an annual event conducted by the Amazon worldwide creators’ team as part of community building efforts for the global Amazon Influencer Program. This year, it brought together 300+ best-in-class creators from across 15+ countries to create, learn and connect. The event consisted of two full days of programming, including panel discussions with Amazon executives, sit-down interviews with celebrities and top creators, hands-on demonstrations from 24+ brand sponsors, and evening moments to celebrate the creators’ success. Amazon Creator Summit is part of Amazon’s larger Creator Connect program, a series of in-person events designed to foster connections, learning, and growth for creators within the Amazon ecosystem. “Working with Amazon definitely adds a lot for me as a creator in terms of just working with a good company and bringing credibility,” says Sejal Kumar, a seasoned fashion and music content creator with over 1.47M subscribers on YouTube and 822K followers on Instagram.
Amazon’s Creator Summit fostered a sense of collaboration and peer learning. “From Brazil to the US to Korea, influencers from everywhere were at the table discussing tactical details such as how links can work better, what mistakes we were making,” says Dhinggra. Kumar says, “When you meet people from different countries and learn how they do what they do, that helps the most. It was great fun to meet all these people from all over the world, see their content strategies, how they make their content, and learn from them.”
Bhavna Jain, who started as a fashion Influencer and has since moved on to the beauty segment with 179K followers on Instagram and 37.7K subscribers on YouTube, was surprised to find that all content creators face similar challenges when growing their channels or working with brands. This holds true even for social heavyweights such as Khloe Kardashian or Tan France, who also attended Amazon’s Creator Summit.
Here are the other key learnings Dhinggra, Jain and Kumar took away from the Amazon Creator Summit
Be consistent…
“Making lists on your storefront and creating a separate broadcast channel on your Instagram just for links, is something we've started to do,” says Kumar. “Also, posting links consistently, whatever that consistency can be for you, whether it's once a week, twice a week, is important.”
…but don’t spam your audience
“There have been many learnings that I have applied, like using a broadcast channel on Instagram to share links, rather than spamming my audience,” says Dhinggra.
The broadcast channel feature on Instagram allows content creators to share messages like announcements, behind-the-scenes content and event details, or upcoming collaborations with others on Instagram. With millions of products and programs available on Amazon, content creator can use easy link-building tools to direct their audience to their recommendations, and earn from qualifying purchases and programs.
Gen Z attention spans are a minuscule 8 seconds
The other takeaway for Dhinggra was the importance of a catchy intro to reels, given short attention spans. Studies show that people’s attention span has significantly decreased in the last 15 years. While millennials have an attention span of 12 seconds, Gen Z taps out in just 8 seconds.
Don’t be a ‘jack of all’
For Jain, the Summit drove home the importance of not spreading oneself too thin. “One important thing I learned from the creators who have grown exponentially over the past few years is to have one niche. If you are creating content in a specific genre, like beauty or fashion, just stick to that because your audience comes back to see it,” says Jain. “I hope to use all that learning I got from the creator summit about future trends and use the tips and tricks shared to make stories more engaging,” Jain adds.
What is the Amazon Influencer Program?
The Amazon Influencer Program is a resource for content creators to monetise their content. It gives them access to tools that enable them to select and recommend Amazon's products and services to their followers while earning commissions on qualifying purchases. Influencers can share their storefront URL or affiliate links, expand their reach and attract new customers with their content.
More ways in which Amazon supports content creators
Amazon has also introduced other programs for content creators such as Amazon Live, a unique live shopping program on Amazon.in where customers can directly interact with content creators who showcase products. Amazon also has Creator Central, a one-stop hub for content creation, analytics, personalised product recommendations and improved monetisation.
Creators can sign up for the initiatives that interest them, and the company will provide them the tools needed to succeed in the Amazon creator ecosystem.
“The Amazon affiliate program offers a lot of potential from an earning point of view. The audience has reacted pretty well too, since the links allow them to purchase whatever we use. It’s helpful both ways and I’m excited to see where it goes,” says Kumar. “Finding space in your current content to create affiliate-friendly content is important.”
“I want to do more affiliate marketing next year, grow my channel, grow my audience,” shares Jain. “I hope to use all that learning I got from the creator summit about future trends and use the tips and tricks shared to make stories more engaging.”
Advice for aspiring or new creators
“Just start your journey as a content creator, even if you share the rawest version of yourself,” says Jain. “People don't like made-up content that's highly edited, or if you're just speaking on a superficial level. You have to be consistent, you have to be real, you have to be your authentic self and not copy from other creators.”
Dhinggra emphasises the need to build content that resonates with your target audience. He says, “The products and tonality have to be different for each segment. You can't create content for the masses one day and try to be very classy the next day. You have to decide first and then start.”
Above all, patience is key. “You have to give it time because it's not an overnight success journey. Yes, it has happened for some people, but it does not happen for all of us,” says Jain.
“If you want to start, just start it, because this can literally change your life. It's not a nine-to-five job,” she signs off.
