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Content Creation Is Poised to Explode — And Why Gen AI Is Lighting the Fuse

  • Writer: Jeff Hulett
    Jeff Hulett
  • Jul 19
  • 8 min read

Updated: Jul 27

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A New Era of Content and Attention


The future of advertising is no longer confined to glossy magazine spreads, 30-second television commercials, or even Google search ads. Today, content creation sits at the heart of consumer attention. Platforms like TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and X (formerly Twitter) have become modern distribution engines where creators share compelling content, and algorithms deliver it directly to tailored audiences.


This system is reshaping how brands reach consumers—and generative AI (GenAI) is accelerating the shift.


About the author: Jeff Hulett leads Personal Finance Reimagined, a financial strategy and decision-making platform supporting high-potential entrepreneurs and content creators. Through PFR’s fractional CFO services, Jeff helps clients build scalable business models, raise capital, and make smart investment decisions.


Jeff is a career banker, data scientist, behavioral economist, and choice architect. Jeff teaches Personal Finance at James Madison University. He has held executive and advisory roles at Wells Fargo, Citibank, KPMG, and IBM, and is the author of Making Choices, Making Money: Your Guide to Making Confident Financial Decisions.


The Platform Model: How Content Finds the Right Eyes


Social media platforms are more than entertainment hubs. They function as marketplaces of attention, where creators produce short-form videos and algorithms deliver those videos to the most interested viewers. These algorithms—finely tuned by user behavior data—stitch together customized, minute-by-minute entertainment experiences that resemble personalized micro-movies. The objective? Sustain user attention.


That attention well is deep—and growing. As of 2025, the average American spends over 7 hours per day on internet-connected screens, up nearly an hour since 2013. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated this shift, with screen time spiking past 7 hours in 2020 and remaining elevated ever since. Among younger demographics, Gen Z frequently logs 7 to 9 hours per day, turning digital media consumption into a defining behavioral trait.


Attention is the new currency, and screen time is its monetary base. For creators, this is not just a trend—it is an expanding economy of opportunity.

Each scroll prompts the algorithm to reconfigure itself in real time. If attention wanes, content shifts. In this dynamic ecosystem, platforms reward those who can consistently captivate audiences.


The Two Revenue Streams of Content Creation


  • Brand Deals: Companies pay creators to incorporate their products or services into videos. These collaborations are calibrated by the creator’s follower count, engagement metrics, and audience alignment.

  • Platform Incentives: YouTube’s Partner Program, TikTok’s Creator Fund, and Instagram Reels bonuses are structured to reward engagement. Platforms need high-quality content to keep users coming back—and they are willing to pay for it.


In essence, creators who can build trust and drive attention now act as miniature media companies—tapping into a massive and growing pool of daily consumer screen time.


Entrepreneurship and the Creator Economy


This model is fueling an entrepreneurship renaissance. There are two primary types of digital entrepreneurs emerging:

  • Content Entrepreneurs: Individuals who monetize their own personality, storytelling, or niche expertise through videos.

  • Offering Entrepreneurs: Business owners who use content to promote physical or digital products or services.


Regardless of category, content creation is now the connective tissue linking brand, product, and customer. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, which confined billions of people indoors, the growth in content consumption and creation has been explosive.


The Business of Content: Advertising's Long Migration


Understanding the rise of content creation requires a look back at the evolution of advertising. The transformation is not simply technological—it reflects deeper shifts in how people consume information and who they trust.


Era

Dominant Mediums

Emerging Mediums

Declining Mediums

1940s to 1970s

Newspapers, Magazines, Radio

Television

None (TV still rising)

1980s to 1990s

Network & Cable TV, Print

Direct Mail, Infomercials

Radio

2000s to 2010s

Google Search (AdWords), YouTube

Programmatic Display, Facebook

Newspapers, Magazines

2015 to 2020

Social Media Ads, Long-Form Video

Influencer Marketing, TikTok

Linear TV, Print

2021 to  2025

Short-Form Video, Creators

GenAI, AI Search Interfaces

Google Ads, Traditional Search

 

Long-Term Advertising Trends


The table shared above shows how dominant, emerging, and declining ad mediums have shifted from the 1940s to 2025.


The Google Era — And Its Decline


Around 2003, Google changed the ad industry with AdWords, allowing businesses to target consumers based on search intent. Advertisers loved it. It was measurable, efficient, and scalable. YouTube, acquired in 2006, enabled advertisers to reach consumers through long-form videos—usually 5 to 20 minutes in length—built around education, product demos, or entertainment.


But fast-forward to today, and the economics are shifting. Advertisers are now diverting spend away from search and long-form video toward short-form creator-driven content. Why? Because attention is shorter, more fragmented—and more difficult to buy.


Generative AI: Lighting the Fuse


While much of the conversation around AI in influencer marketing focuses on task automation, hyper-personalization, and precision targeting—all of which drive real efficiency—the true disruption lies far deeper.


Yes, AI is helping marketers streamline workflows, access deeper audience insights, and experiment with virtual influencers. But this is just the small picture. The far bigger transformation is unfolding around how people discover information, engage with content, and make purchasing decisions—and it is shaking the foundations of digital marketing.


Generative AI is redefining search behavior. Platforms like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini are increasingly replacing Google for everyday queries. According to Pew Research and Elon University’s 2025 surveys:

  • 34%–52% of U.S. adults now use generative AI tools.

  • 20–25% of these users rely on chatbots for search-like behavior.


This shift is not just about preference—it is about platform economics. Generative AI does not run on ads. There are no sponsored links, no paid placements, and no bidding for visibility. The result?

  • Fewer Google searches → fewer clicks → less ad revenue.

  • AI Overviews already reduce click-through rates by up to 30%.

  • Zero-click experiences now account for 65–70% of search queries.


And here is where content creators come in.


As traditional search-based ad strategies falter, trusted creators with strong engagement and niche authority become the new gatekeepers of discovery. Brands will no longer “buy attention” through sponsored links—they will earn influence through aligned creator partnerships.


In short: Generative AI is not just improving influencer marketing—it is putting creators at the center of the next digital era.


The Impact on Advertising Strategy


As traditional search advertising faces headwinds from declining click-through rates and the rise of generative AI, advertisers are reallocating their budgets toward content creators—individuals who offer what algorithms cannot: authenticity, relatability, and trust.


This shift is not speculative; it is already reshaping advertising strategy. In 2025, 80% of brands either maintained or increased their influencer marketing budgets, with 47% raising them by more than 11%. Global influencer marketing spend is expected to reach $33 billion, marking a broad reallocation of capital toward trust-based distribution.


Why the shift? Because creators have earned it. Over 60% of consumers report trusting influencer recommendations more than traditional advertisements, and creator-led campaigns average $5.78 in return for every dollar spent. Brands increasingly recognize that high-performing creators can:

  • Build authentic, trust-based relationships with niche audiences

  • Capture attention through emotionally resonant storytelling

  • Drive purchasing behavior more effectively than impersonal display ads


But trust is a two-way street. For creator marketing to work, brands must also trust the creators—to represent their voice, uphold brand values, and deliver messages with professionalism and care. The best creators operate with diligence, strategic alignment, and brand integrity, often functioning as creative partners, not just media outlets.


Major firms like Unilever have acknowledged this pivot publicly, citing a 20-fold increase in creator-led campaigns to meet consumer demand for trusted and relatable messengers. These campaigns succeed not just because audiences trust the creators, but because brands trust the creators to carry their reputation forward.


In this evolving landscape, content creators sit at the center of a two-sided trust equation. They are no longer fringe participants in media—they are a decentralized, relationship-driven distribution channel, and the most compelling media investment available in an age of algorithmic fatigue and attention scarcity.


The Psychology of Trust and the Halo Effect


Trust is the cornerstone of influence—and content creators sit at the center of a trust-based ecosystem that benefits both consumers and brands. Consumers are far more likely to act on a recommendation from someone they follow than from a faceless advertisement. This dynamic reflects well-established behavioral principles:

  • The Messenger Effect: We trust individuals we perceive as “like us.” Creators who reflect their audience’s identity, values, or lifestyle earn the right to be heard.

  • The Mere Exposure Effect: Repeated contact with a familiar creator increases likability and credibility, reinforcing trust over time.

  • Neurobiology of Engagement: Short-form content stimulates dopamine release, rewarding curiosity and driving ongoing engagement with both creator and message.


Layered onto these effects is the Halo Effect—the psychological tendency to project positive attributes from one area onto another. When a trusted creator endorses a brand, that trust often transfers from the creator to the product, giving the brand access to credibility it has not earned directly.


But the Halo Effect cuts both ways. For creators, partnering with respected brands can elevate their own reputation, signaling professionalism, relevance, and growth. And for brands, entrusting creators to represent their voice requires confidence that the creator will uphold their standards and values.

In this symbiotic relationship, trust flows in both directions—from the audience to the creator, from the creator to the brand, and back again.

In a world saturated with content and algorithms, creators who can maintain consistency and authenticity—and who honor the trust of both their audience and their brand partners—are not just influencers. They are strategic assets, delivering high-return attention in a low-trust media landscape.


The Economic Outlook for Creators


For established creators, the trend is clear: demand is rising, and so is pricing. Their trusted relationships with followers are now premium inventory for advertisers trying to navigate a disrupted media landscape.


For emerging creators, this is a window of opportunity. While success requires resilience, iteration, and sometimes years of work, the advertising tailwinds are stronger than ever. With platform incentives growing and advertisers hungry for authentic engagement, creators who can build loyal audiences are positioned for long-term upside.

 

Conclusion: A Platform Shift in Real Time


The pandemic ignited the content explosion. GenAI is now lighting the fuse on a broader transformation—one where search, trust, and attention are all being redefined. Advertising dollars follow attention. And attention is increasingly flowing to creators, not search engines.

In this evolving economy, content is not just king. It is infrastructure. And those who build it—thoughtfully, consistently, and with audience trust—are shaping the future of advertising itself.

 

Resources For the Curious


On Generative AI and Search Behavior

  • Pew Research Center. “34% of U.S. Adults Have Used ChatGPT.” Pewresearch.org, June 2025.

  • Elon University. “52% of U.S. Adults Use Large Language Models.” Elon.edu, March 2025.

  • Search Engine Journal. “77% of Americans Use ChatGPT for Search.” SearchEngineJournal.com, July 2025.

  • Columbia Journalism Review. “AI Search Replacing Google for Some Users.” CJR.org, March 2025.

  • BrightEdge. “AI Overviews Decrease Search Clicks by 30%.” SearchEngineLand.com, 2025.

  • Barron’s. Levine, Adam et al. “Google Search Is Fading. The Whole Internet Is at Risk.” Barrons.com, 2025.


On Advertising Spend and Historical Trends

  • WARC Global Advertising Trends. Warc.com, 2023–2025.

  • eMarketer. “U.S. Ad Spend Forecast.” Insider Intelligence, 2024–2025.

  • Statista. “Digital Advertising Spend by Format (2000–2025).” Statista.com, 2024.


On Influencer and Creator Marketing Growth


On Screen Time and Attention Trends

  • Exploding Topics. “Average Screen Time Stats: How Long Do We Spend on Screens?” ExplodingTopics.com, 2025.

  • Magnet ABA. “Average Screen Time Statistics: 2024 Report.” MagnetABA.com, 2024.

  • Mastermind Behavior. “U.S. Teen and Adult Screen Time by Age and Demographic.” MastermindBehavior.com, 2024.

  • Reuters. “Tech Titans Clash Over Limited Time: Attention Wars Intensify.” Reuters.com, May 2025.

 

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