Corporate Natalie's New Agency + Issa Rae x TikTok + Creator Economy Report Drop

May 2026

Author

Alessandro Bogliari
May 05, 2026

SPREADING THE INFLUENCE

Welcome back to another edition of Spreading The Influence.

This month, unpack the latest trends in creator-led agencies, holding companies, microdramas, and more.

Let’s dive in.

SOCIAL MEDIA
Your Social Round-up

  • Instagram launched “Instants,” a disappearing-posts app inspired by Snapchat, now live in Spain and Italy.

  • Instagram now lets users customize topics shown on their Explore page.

  • Instagram is rolling out an updated Insights UI with metrics like skip, share, and repost rates.

  • YouTube is discontinuing Clips as it expands YouTube Studio.

  • YouTube is updating livestream ads to reduce interruptions during peak engagement and fan interactions.

  • YouTube drives 29% of social media citations in Google AI Overviews, per a recent survey.

NEWS
Corporate Natalie Launches Expand Co-Lab Creator Agency

Photo by: Expand Co-Lab

Natalie Marshall, aka Corporate Natalie, launched Expand Co-Lab, a creator-led agency bringing brands into the process earlier, joining top influencers like Caspar Lee and Dhar Mann, building agency-style businesses.

Beyond agencies, creators are also restructuring into more sophisticated business entities. YouTube sports creator Jesser recently launched JesserCo., a holding company designed to separate and scale his media business and apparel brand independently. Read more here.

CREATOR ECONOMY REPORT
📊 The creator middle class is here - and it's growing

Source: The Influencer Marketing Factory — 2026 Creator Economy Report

A viable creator middle class is emerging. While 48.7% of creators still earn under $10K, 45.5% now bring in between $10K and $100K - a signal that sustained monetization is becoming the norm, not the exception. Short-form video is driving the shift: Reels volume grew by 3.8% from 2024 to 2025 as static content lost ground. Meanwhile, the largest audience segment across every major platform is now 25–34, making creators a prime-time media channel for brands targeting millennials.

“The clearest patterns across the strongest social work this year, from brands and creators alike, revealed a shift away from ‘campaign thinking’ and toward programming thinking.

The best brands no longer aim to win a single moment; they architect content systems that are serialized, character-driven, community-activated, globally scalable, and increasingly AI-powered. They are behaving less like advertisers and more like IP houses.”

— Jared Carneson, Head of Global Social Media, Adobe

NEWS
Issa Rae Announces New Microdrama Series with TikTok

Source: Fast Company

Issa Rae’s Hoorae Media is partnering with TikTok to launch “Screen Time,” a microdrama series built for short-form viewing. The new series is part of a larger content deal, with additional micro-series planned for TikTok and its developing microdrama platform PineDrama.

The move reflects a broader shift toward serialized short-form storytelling, following similar initiatives like Dhar Mann’s multi-year partnership with Fox Entertainment and Holywater to produce vertical microdramas for the MyDrama platform. Read more here.

THE INFLUENCE FACTOR PODCAST

How SHEIN Uses Creators to Drive Trends (Not Follow Them) w/ Lisa Zlotnick

Podcast Episode · The Influence Factor by The Influencer Marketing Factory · April 22 · 26m

Apple Podcasts

In this episode of The Influence Factor, Alessandro Bogliari speaks with Lisa Zlotnick, Head of Brand PR, US Marketing at SHEIN, to explore how brands are evolving from transactional creator partnerships to more authentic, cultured collaborations.

The conversation highlights how Gen Z engagement is increasingly driven by community-led initiatives and how creators are stepping into deeper roles in product development.

AHEAD OF THE INFLUENCE
Stories & Tools on Our Radar

OUR AMAZING CLIENTS
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Until next month,
The Influencer Marketing Factory

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