BigJoe, a South African gaming creator based in Durban, has experienced this shift firsthand through building an audience around Call of Duty: Mobile content on TikTok.

The account has grown to more than 14 000 followers, generating over four-million monthly views and approximately 10 000 new followers per month. Individual videos have also reached hundreds of thousands of views, demonstrating the potential for specialised content to reach audiences at significant scale.

What began as gaming content has developed into a broader creator brand, community and platform for opportunities with established gaming and technology companies.

Niche Does Not Mean Small

One of the biggest misconceptions about creator marketing is that audience size is the only metric that matters.

A creator with millions of followers may offer enormous reach, but a niche creator can offer something different: relevance.

Someone following a gaming creator is already interested in gaming. They may also be interested in smartphones, gaming accessories, connectivity, technology and other products that naturally fit within that ecosystem.

For brands, this can create a more targeted way of reaching potential customers.

The important question is therefore not simply, "How many followers does this creator have?" but also, "Does this creator have the right audience for us?"

The Importance of Consistency

Building a niche audience requires consistency.

Gaming content is an extremely competitive space, particularly on platforms such as TikTok where creators are competing for attention within seconds. Creating content regularly is only part of the challenge. Creators need to understand their audience, monitor performance and identify what makes people stop scrolling.

For BigJoe, this has meant experimenting with different formats and topics while maintaining a clear identity around mobile gaming.

The result is an audience that does not simply watch individual videos, but continues to follow the wider creator brand.

A New Opportunity for Brands

This presents an interesting opportunity for South African marketers and PR professionals.

Creator partnerships do not necessarily have to begin with the biggest influencers available. There is value in identifying creators whose audiences closely align with a campaign's objectives.

A gaming creator could be relevant to a smartphone launch. A technology creator could be relevant to a software campaign. A fitness creator could be relevant to a sports brand.

The Key is Alignment

When a partnership makes sense to the audience, branded content can feel less like an interruption and more like a natural extension of the creator's existing content.

South Africa's creator economy is evolving.

The growth of creators like BigJoe demonstrates how social platforms are lowering the barriers to building a media presence.

A creator no longer needs a television network, newspaper column or large production company to reach thousands of people. A smartphone, an idea and consistent content can be enough to start building an audience.

That does not mean every creator will become commercially successful. It does, however, mean that brands and PR professionals have a growing pool of specialised voices to consider.

The next stage of South Africa's creator economy may therefore not simply be about finding the creators with the largest audiences. It may be about finding the creators with the strongest connection to the audiences that matter.

For niche creators, that connection could be their greatest asset.

For more information visit BigJoe on Instagram, or on TikTok.

*Image courtesy of contributor