What do you see when you search the Internet for specific terms? All sites or pages you visit have some content, whether in writing or in the form of videos. All that information is the job of a content creator.
Businesses must provide content to their targeted audiences to prosper in this digital world.
Unfortunately, many businesses don’t take the creation of the content seriously, as you can see from the infographic below. Still, what a business presents to its online audience in the form of content can either attract or turn them away.
What is a Content Creator?
A content creator is responsible for the idea and creation of content that connects a brand or entity to its potential audience. Content creation encompasses copywriting, design, production, and other media that provide value and connect you with your target audience. Matching search intent and delivering value (to the consumer and the brand) is the foundation of successful content creation.
As a content creator, depending on where you work and where your audience is, your responsibilities will vary widely. Some of these tasks may include:
- Brand Analysis: Evaluating a brand from bottom to top, including their design style, tone and voice, competitors’ strategies, strengths, weaknesses, and potential content strategies with the most value based on calculating the ROI of the content
- Content Ideas: You may be asked to flex your creative muscles by brainstorming relevant and engaging content to deliver results.
- Project Management: Several digital content producers are also tasked with managing the projects they are helping to build – a skill that will serve you in many different scenarios.
- Copywriting and Research: Copywriting covers various content types, from social media captions to lengthy blog posts, synthesizing years of studies into a digestible case study.
- Design and Visualization: Great design or photography is vital to elevate content and gel with brand personality. Design can lead to a massive difference in an asset’s shareability because an image is worth a thousand words, right?
- Videography: Several platforms like YouTube and TikTok have opened up new avenues for connecting with your audience, linking content directly to products through video demonstrations and reviews.
- Editing: This is an essential skill that applies to copywriting, videography, and design. The ability to cut your work, capture imperfections or typos, and produce polished deliverables keeps customers happy and the work coming your way.
- SEO: Web content writers must be well versed in the basics of SEO and apply them to their pieces for the best visibility. SEO is not just a part of the copy game, video SEO and imagery optimization help content rank.
- Promotion: Once the content is created, you need to ensure that it reaches as many relevant goals as possible. This final but crucial step in the content process can include manual link building, preparing an email for customers, a PR pitch, or social engagement.
Tips to Become The Best Content Creator
Now, you must be thinking about how can you become a successful content creator? Becoming a content creator at the individual or organizational level is not a straightforward process.
It takes time, requires effort, and requires a high level of discipline. If you commit to what this guide outlines, you’ll find answers to the relevant questions you may have.
Here are five tips for becoming a successful content creator.
1. Keep Up with the Trend
Every time you create content for your targeted audience, it needs to be tailored to their needs. It should also be within what is happening in your industry.
The best content creators spend ample time watching what’s trending. With this data, they can predict the elements that currently shape the mindset of their audience.
Make a habit of reading extensively and keeping the information in one place for easy access. Use apps like Feedly to put up RSS feeds for relevant news blogs. Find out where your shoppers spend their time online and follow those blogs as well.
It is also crucial for you to keep up with the latest trends in content creation. Trending searches show the latest topics or keywords around your selected keywords. It helps you find out what are the trending searches for which people are searching online.
If you know what prospects are actively looking for, you will be better positioned to create content that they love.
2. Write as you Talk
Just because you are writing content about a serious or technical topic doesn’t mean it should look like a robot wrote it. Nor should you try to impress your audience by using complex terms and a lot of technical jargon.
Conversely, your readers will not understand what you have written. Instead of taking the time to figure out what your content is about, they will simply opt-out.
If you want your audience to stay on your site and enjoy reading your content, write it like you’re talking to a close friend or colleague.
It makes your content easier to follow. You also need to communicate with your readers on a more personal level. In turn, your readers will be more open to building a trusting relationship with them. It is important because people only do business with brands they trust.
3. Improve your Skills
If you’re not a professional copywriter, you’ll have to do some work to get close enough that no one will notice the difference. Start by avoiding common business writing mistakes. Some quick-read books are available to help you clear up the most common missteps (like overwriting, awkward phrases, paragraphs that don’t flow, etc.).
4. Educate Yourself
You can educate yourself through:
Degree or certificate: Many universities have focused their programs on digital marketing and content creation. Since content creation is a multifaceted task, it is helpful to understand the type of content creation you want to do before committing to a program.
Some avenues are more obvious, such as design and production, but content writing and management could be less clear. Some of the popular degrees mentioned in the content writing position description include:
- Marketing
- Public relation
- Business
- Journalism
- English
If you’re interested in technical writing, clients may be looking for experience in that field and writing skills to express what you know – for example, a degree in biology. Or work experience, as well as a technical writing certificate or a portfolio, may look like existing published work.
An internship: Unpaid and paid internships are a surpassing way to break into the content production business. Internships can lead to full-time positions and, at a minimum, help you build experience and context for your resume.
Self-taught
In the modern world, the Internet hosts a vast library of resources and courses that you can use to educate yourself and hone your skills. Try the free Google Analytics Certification Course and Udemy: Be a Better Blogger to help you get started.
5. Pick the Right Platform
After you have a clear idea about the kind of content you want to create, you need to choose a platform to share and promote it.
For example, if you want to share your photography with the world, you might want to turn to Instagram, which is a primarily visual-based platform.
For video-based content, becoming a YouTube content creator might be the best idea. The point is, starting with the right platform can help increase the number of people engaging with you. It also makes it easier for brands to identify and contact you.
Conclusion
Working as a content creator is challenging and rewarding. You become part of a rapidly growing field, create innovative content, and help people connect with helpful content. If you are interested in learning more about the content creation process, you can contact us. If you have any questions about what it’s like to work in a content marketing agency, call us now!.