The money has scaled; the back office hasn’t
Creator and celebrity advertising is now a serious line item. US celebrity ad payments are projected to hit $2.06 billion in 2026, up nearly 70% over five or six years, according to XR Extreme Reach data. Social creators are also moving into roles once reserved for Hollywood talent, appearing across more campaigns and categories.
But the payment layer behind that growth has not kept pace. Frank DeVito, president and COO of XR Pay, identifies the next challenge as operational rather than creative: “The creator economy’s next challenge isn’t finding new talent or making more content. It’s simplifying the business of paying creators.”
Many brands and agencies still run creator payments through spreadsheets, manual processes and consumer apps such as Venmo and Cash App. A single campaign can sprawl across four or five platforms, making it harder to track payments, paperwork and compliance.
Where the friction shows up
Creator platforms tend to be strong at talent discovery, but most were not built to handle onboarding, tax verification, payment processing or rights tracking. That leaves accounts payable teams managing a patchwork of vendors and handoffs.
For creators, the consequences are practical. Unclear payment terms create confusion, and late payments can damage relationships with the exact talent a campaign depends on.
Four questions brands and agencies should ask
A faster fix starts with a payment operations audit. DeVito suggests four simple questions:
- How many platforms does it take to pay one creator? If a spreadsheet is needed to track the platforms, that is a red flag.
- Who is handling compliance? Finding talent is easier than handling taxes, identity verification and correct payment terms.
- Are payments and usage rights connected? As creator content runs across more markets, teams need to know what has been paid for and where it can be used.
- Would your own team accept this payment experience? Endless forms and unclear status create a poor experience.
Why this matters for marketing operations
The opportunity is not just fewer late payments. A unified system for onboarding, tax verification, payments and rights tracking reduces handoffs and errors, and it speeds up creator pay. Creators can set up a profile once and reuse it across campaigns, which is better for retention.
The creator economy has reached a scale where back-office discipline is a brand risk. As DeVito puts it, the future of creator marketing “deserves better than spreadsheets and ad hoc payments.” Marketing leaders can start with the four questions above.
Source: Digiday
