Paul Emeka Chimodo
Content creation is the cornerstone of marketing. It’s a way to get your message out to the world and create a buzz about your brand, product, or service.
So, to be a successful content creator, you’ll need to know much more than simply how to take a photo, write a blog post, or capture a video. You need to keep up with trends and know how to research.
If the idea of research didn’t scare you, continue reading to find out how you can join this exciting, fast-paced industry.
I have scoured the web to summarize the main steps and included a couple of tips to help you set yourself apart from the competition from the get-go.
Steps and Tips to Becoming a Content Creator in 2024:
Which Types of Content Creators Do You Get?
As mentioned earlier, content creation is not limited to the written form so there’s not just one type of content creator that you can become. In the digital marketing space, content creators manage different digital “departments”. While some companies may use a dedicated content creator for a specific type of medium, others may use one to manage all avenues. Here are some of the main types of content creators that you get and a brief look at their job description:
Types of Content Creators
Content writer
Content writers create original and engaging written content that can be used on various platforms. They are often also tasked with creating text for the company’s various marketing channels, such as social media, and email. That said, blogging is usually the most common channel used by content writers.
Videographer
Videographers are in charge of filming and editing video content. It’s their responsibility to ensure that the video content is up to the company’s standards. YouTube has become the preferred platform for video content creators, but with increasingly more video content getting shared on sites like Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok, there are multiple platforms where videographers can share their craft.
Photographer
Photographers are the creatives behind many of our images on social media and websites. They use their skills to create compelling photos that tell stories or capture the world’s beauty around them. From fashion to beauty to food to fitness, you’ll find photographers in many different fields. While they have a lot of creative control over what they shoot, they also have to consider what their client wants them to shoot. This means that at times they might have to tackle a less interesting project like shooting product photos.
Podcast host
Podcasts are a great way to share messages. As a podcast host, you often have to act as the middle or neutral party between the guest and the listeners. You’ll be responsible for conducting interviews, providing commentary, and, ultimately, creating an engaging experience for listeners.
One of the most important responsibilities when hosting a podcast is interviewing the guests and asking them relevant questions to keep the interview interesting. So, podcast hosts often work with scripted content ideas. This can be difficult because you need to think of questions on the spot, but it is also rewarding to learn more about your guests and meet interesting people along the way.
Social media influencer
Social media influencers have a significant and loyal following on social media. They use their following to promote products and services or convey their messages.
Some examples of the content that social media influencers can create and share include:
Posting pictures on Instagram or Facebook
Creating YouTube videos
Creating live streams on Twitch
Hosting podcasts
Writing blog posts
Hosting webinars
Providing one-on-one digital coaching sessions
Steps to Becoming a Successful Content Creator
Whether you decide to focus on video, blog posts, or podcasts, the following steps will help you carve your rightful place. While you don’t necessarily need to complete the steps in this exact order, there are certain things, like establishing your target audience, that you’ll need to do first before you can move on to the next step.
Steps to Becoming a Successful Content Creator
Identify your audience
Knowing who your target audience is, is crucial to the success of your content and marketing strategy. A brand needs relevant and innovative content to pique the audience’s interest. Though it doesn’t stop at grabbing their attention, you’ll also need to find ways to keep it. And, knowing what they’ll resonate with will make this challenge much easier.
Choose a platform
The benefit of using social media platforms is that they already have a loyal following of users. Just take Facebook with over 2 billion active users, for example. The picture looks pretty much the same for YouTube (with 2.6 billion users), WhatsApp (with more than 2 billion), and Instagram (with an estimated 2 billion users). So, social media is a good place to start as you already have a captive audience.
It’s all good and well to be on all platforms (and it’s probably worthwhile for more exposure to the brand), but choosing one or two platforms will help you to concentrate your efforts and energy on making that a very successful source. After all, there’s no point in using Snapchat or TikTok, if your ideal audience is B2B business owners.
Also, not all social platforms are created equally. Not only do they attract different audiences, but some platforms have been created for a specific type of content. WordPress is synonymous with blogs. YouTube is the home of video. You get the idea.
Here are some examples of the social and digital platforms that content creators often use to help boost their reach:
YouTube
YouTube is perfect for vlogging (video blogging). Content creators can utilize the platform for a wide range of videos like how-to videos, product reviews, unboxing videos, tutorials, etc. Not only is YouTube versatile, but video content is also one of the leading forms of digital entertainment. When people have limited time, they would often much rather watch a short video than read a long article.
Instagram
What’s easier and faster to digest than a short-form video? A picture. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words and this is especially true for Instagram. Sometimes you can’t type everything you want to share, but in many instances, you can do just that with the perfect picture.
Businesses can also use the platform to promote products or sell products directly. Plus, arguably the biggest advantage offered by Instagram is that posts are easily shared, making it perfect for engagement.
Facebook
Facebook has always been a flexible option for businesses as it allows various marketing methods. From posting short articles to sharing and reposting stories, video content, and loads more, it’s a great way to promote a brand or service.
Design the content plan
A content plan can be viewed in some ways as a business plan. It sets the brand up for various scenarios and how to work through each. Best of all, it improves coordination.
Several great project management software tools like Monday.com, Asana, and Trello can help you to keep things seamless and communication on a roll.
Using an effective content plan also helps to prepare you for each month’s topics and events. For example, if you’ll be focusing on social media specifically, there are several social media content calendar templates that you can make your own. Even if you’ll be running the show on your own, a unified calendar helps you to look at your posts from a strategic vantage.
Establish the business/brand voice
The brand’s voice is how the business speaks to its target audience. To help you find and establish your voice, you may need to complete customer surveys and polls. These efforts will help you to identify the age, gender, profession, and geographical area of your target audience. This is a good example of where you’ll first need to complete one step (identify your target audience) before you can move to the next one (establishing your unique brand voice).
Invest in third-party tools
When you invest in essential content tools like Grammarly and Canva, it goes a long way in helping you refine your content even more. Some of the most popular third-party tools trusted and loved by content creators are:
SEMrush
SEMrush is a must-have tool for any content creator who’s looking to establish their online presence. The tool provides valuable feedback that helps improve SEO, PPC, PR content management, marketing insights, and keyword research to name only a few of its features. It does it all, making it extremely convenient and cost-effective.
Canva
Canva is another exceptional content tool that will help craft great-looking presentations, graphics, infographics, posters, and loads more. Not only is it affordable (it even has a generous free plan), but it’s also very intuitive thanks to its drag-and-drop editor.
Grammarly
If you’ll mainly be working as a content writer, a professional grammar checker, like Grammarly, is a must-have tool. Even if you’re not using the written form as your main medium, it’s still a good idea to invest in such a type of tool. After all, every piece of content that you’ll create for the web has a written component to it, whether it’s a short caption or a longer video description. There are many grammar tools and their prices differ from one to the other, but, overall, Grammarly offers some of the best value for money.
Google
For example, Google Ads are excellent for revenue generation, and Google Drive gives teams the liberty to collaborate on simultaneous projects in real-time. Then, you can also check out Google My Business and Google Trends.
Make a portfolio
All businesses need a portfolio to show off their experience, talents, and what other happy clients have to say. If you’re working in the content creation industry, it’s even more important to take the time to create a portfolio that manages to communicate your expertise and unique selling points. In addition to including examples of your most successful completed projects, you can also include information similar to an About Us page so that potential clients can get a sense of your brand voice and style.
7. Market yourself
If you create content, having a website and business cards are just some of the more traditional ways that you can use to market yourself. Digital networks and social platforms will also help to boost your online presence needed to thrive in this day and age. Even if you don’t plan on working as a content writer, a blog can be a helpful resource to get the word out about your content creation services (but a little bit more about that later).
Grow a following on social networks
Social media serve as digital lines that you can use to establish an authentic connection with your target audience. With a solid social media presence, you can reach your audience and increase the credibility of your services. Even if you don’t plan on becoming a social media influencer, it’s still important that you devote some time to creating content to advertise your brand on social platforms like Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc. Plus, it can be a great way to generate social proof.
Do You Need a Qualification to Become a Content Creator?
The good news is that you need no degree to make high-quality content or to be called a content creator. Still, taking extra courses to sharpen your skills and insights is worth the investment.
Aspiring content creators may consider courses about digital marketing, copywriting, content strategy, social media content creation, and content management to name just a few. While there are loads of paid courses online, there are also many free courses offered by credible platforms like Udemy, LinkedIn Learning, and Hubspot. For example, Yours Truly offers a 10-module introduction course to influencer marketing for those of you aspiring to become social media influencers.
Can you Make Money?
Whether you tackle content creation full-time or you’re a freelance content creator, there’s revenue potential. It will take some time before you start seeing fruits (just like with any other business), but if you’re disciplined and you improve and expand your skills continuously, there’s a market.
Extra Tips for Becoming a Successful Content Creator
For successful content creators, creating content forms part of their lifestyle. After you’ve completed the key steps discussed above, there are a few other things that you should do continuously to ensure that you can continue to churn out content that’s relevant and gets results. Here are some key habits that you can develop:
Tips for Becoming a Successful Content Creator
Create content continuously
Consistency is a critical part of being a successful content creator, no matter what niche you’re serving. All content creators must post regularly. Not only will this ensure that your skills remain sharp, but it will also help to keep you at the top of search engines and boost brand awareness.
Measure success through KPI tracking
Keeping track of key performance indicators (KPIs) is important as it will empower you to see what type of content is working and what isn’t. Metrics that you want to measure include follower count, average social media engagement rate, and post reach.
Creators Tool Tip
One of the features that social media content creators can use is a link-in-bio tool. There are several tools available, but Beacons offers serious functionality to help creators monetize and engage with their audiences.
Start a blog
Blogs are great for SEO. Not only will it help to establish your online presence, but you can also repurpose the blog posts as an infographic, Instagram post, email newsletter, etc. later on.
At the end of the day, there are many ways to create content, but they all rely on the same basic principles. Know your target audience, know yourself (aka your brand), and know the goals for which you’re working. Even if you don’t make millions, it can be an extremely fulfilling career that you can start today.
