Social media has technically been around for a long time. Even before Myspace, there were niche brands like Black Planet, MiGente, College Club, and even AOL chat boards that all served as a place for people to connect, share ideas, and build communities. But in a post-Facebook world, social media has become big business.
Originally, only corporations and consumer brands were using the platform to drive sales, typically to off-site locations such as their own websites or other online retailers. But with the rise of the blogger in the late 2000s, social media morphed into a space where anyone could build a following. From there, they could transform their online community into a lucrative income stream. Blogging in the late aughts paved the way for the content creator of today.
Being a content creator isn’t just about pitching products to a willing audience, though. Building a following that makes brands take notice and offer paid opportunities takes careful planning, consistency, and a lot of work. Here’s what aspiring content creators need to know about what it actually takes to build a following and land paid collaborations with brands.
Key Steps Content Creators Can’t Skip
Everyone marvels at the creator who’s being invited on brand trips, constantly unboxing their press mailers, and presenting the lavish lifestyle their follower count affords them. But it takes work to get to that level. Serious content creators treat their social media presence like a full-time job because it takes time and dedication to create engaging content that builds a following.
Aspiring content creators need to do the same things that any entrepreneur needs to do when they launch a startup:
- Pick a focus and target audience
- Select platforms to focus on
- Plan enough content to build a content calendar
- Build a consistent content schedule and stick to it
- Interact with the target audience
- Begin to monetize content
Pick a Focus to Drive Content
Content creators cover all types of material. People who want to get serious about content creation need to decide upfront if they’re going to be a generalist or focus on a specific niche.
Being a generalist in the world of content creation is tough for multiple reasons. First, creating enough content within each category to get the visibility needed to build a following is hard. Second, people interested in one of the topics a creator posts about might not stay engaged with their content when they post about different topics. Third, there are literally millions of content creators in the social media landscape, and being a generalist means more competition. That being said, this strategy can work for savvy content creators who have the time and resources to create a lot of viral-worthy content and interact with their followers.
Though it’s still not easy, succeeding as a content creator covering a specific niche is easier. Instead of competing with all the content creators who cover the topics a creator is interested in, niche content creators only compete with other content creators within their niche.
Even within a specific niche, content creators still have a lot of flexibility with their content. For example, a parenting content creator may decide to review children’s products, family-friendly restaurants, and travel brands, or even “mom fashion.” While it’s “niche” because the angle is always focused on children’s products or family topics, the creator isn’t limited to just toys or baby gear.
Identify the Target Audience
After deciding what content to cover, it’s time to consider the target audience. Succeeding as a content creator relies entirely on an engaged audience, so aspiring content creators need to figure out what kinds of people they’re making content for.
This doesn’t require a deep dive like creating customer profiles. Checking the comments sections of content creators who cover similar topics provides a solid idea of the potential target audience. Take time to consider the attributes of this target audience.
- How old are they?
- Are they single or married?
- Do they have kids?
- What’s their cultural background?
Understanding these attributes of the target audience doesn’t just help with content creation. It’s crucial for long-term monetization goals. To really make money from content creation, creators eventually need to pitch brands for paid or in-kind work (more on that later). To do that effectively, they need to have a clear picture of their audience.
The target audience also influences the platform(s) content creators choose to focus on.
Select Social Media Platforms
Understanding the target audience and content goals helps aspiring content creators pick the social media platform most likely to help them build a following. For example, content creators targeting Gen Z need a video-first platform like TikTok or YouTube Shorts, with Instagram’s Reels coming in a close third. Meanwhile, Facebook and YouTube might be better for older creators targeting Gen X and Boomers.
According to a recent 2024 Pew Research study on social media popularity by age groups (18 to 29, 30 to 49, 50 to 64, and 65+):
- YouTube is most popular across all age groups and is the top social media performer.
- Facebook is most popular among those aged 30 to 64.
- Instagram is most popular among those aged 18 to 49.
- LinkedIn is most popular among those between the ages of 18 and 49, but it’s a lower performer overall because of its niche business focus.
- X (formerly Twitter) is most popular among people aged 18 to 29, but is the lowest performer overall.
- Snapchat is most popular among those aged 18 to 29.
Content creators aren’t limited to just one platform, but it’s best to keep it simple in the beginning. One way to do this is by starting on just one or two platforms. These days, there are a lot of options, and the more platforms creators launch on, the more effort they need to spend scheduling or uploading content.
Consider Future Monetization Goals When Choosing a Platform
Before settling on a platform, take some time to explore it and see what content is most popular. It’s important to remember that some platforms are very niche-specific. For example, X used to be a generalist platform but has become incredibly political in recent years.
If the long-term goal is to monetize, look at platforms supporting native sales, such as TikTok, Instagram, or even sales-first channels like Flip or WhatNot. For many creators, commission-driven content is a core component of their content strategy. So, integrated shops that allow easy linking to products and process commissions are a priority.
Plan the Content
Planning content isn’t just about creating a schedule, although that helps. It’s about creating a comprehensive content strategy that centers on the long-term goal of monetizing content. The first step in building that strategy is deciding what kind of content to create. This is different than choosing a focus. This is about choosing the form and angle of the content:
- Will the content be primarily videos, images, or a mix of both media?
- Will the content be entirely original or responses to and remixes of other creators’ content?
- Will the content focus on current events or evergreen topics within the chosen niche?
- Will the content be funny, informative, or a mix of both?
- Will the content be relatively tame or somewhat edgy?
Then consider the realities of creating each type of content. Videos are more time and labor-intensive than images, but they tend to perform better. Some creators simply comment on hot topics or other people’s original content. There’s nothing wrong with this strategy, but it requires content creators to stay on top of trending topics and viral videos. It also means they need to be prepared for any backlash if their hot take goes south or another creator doesn’t like how they’ve used their content.
Do Extensive Research Before Posting
Social media lets anyone voice their opinions. This means that content creators often make very public mistakes and share opinions that don’t go over well with their audiences. Unless a content creator’s whole schtick is to be contrarian and “rage bait” people to force engagement, it’s essential that they do the research and understand a topic before posting.
Some content (like politics, race relations, and even commenting on celebrity culture) lends itself to turning the comment section into a high school cafeteria food fight. Content creators hoping to land brand deals in the future need to be careful with these topics. Brands aren’t typically interested in creators who’ve gone viral for their bad opinions or creators whose comment sections are consistently contentious. Brands want to work with creators whose audiences form a community around the creator.
Don’t Forget to Be Authentic
To that end, content creators need to stay authentic regardless of what they decide to post. Today’s audience is much savvier than in previous years. People immediately see through content creators who just parrot popular opinions, rapidly change their opinions based on the zeitgeist, and make shallow pitches for products that don’t align with their content.
For longevity, and success, content creators need to stay true to themselves.
Be Consistent with Content
Being a content creator is at least a part-time job, if not a full-time job. Creating engaging content takes time and energy, and content creators need to make and post a lot of content to succeed. Posting multiple times per week, on consistent days and times, is usually rewarded by the social media platforms’ algorithms, which opt to show that content to more people. If the content is good, people want to see more of a creator, and social media algorithms also reward that.
However, there is such a thing as posting too much. The algorithms that drive social media platforms work off the idea that posting content too frequently means the content isn’t high quality. If content creators make several posts a day, scheduled within minutes of each other, their content will be penalized and suppressed by the algorithms.
So, creating a posting schedule focusing on consistency rather than quantity works best.
Interact with the Audience
While there are still brands, marketers, and publicists that focus solely on follower count, smarter executives know that this can be gamed. For years, major influencers have been buying followers only to have their follower count culled when platforms perform routine bot purges. This is why engaging with the audience is more important than follower counts.
Interactions can be as simple as liking or responding to comments. It can also include creating response content, known as stitching, to someone’s comment or inviting viewers to share their opinions in the videos or captions. When people know that a creator will actually respond to them, they’re more likely to want to follow them and even share their content.
The goal is to create a social media persona that people can relate to and see as their friend or trusted advisor. In short, content creators want to build parasocial relationships with their audience. It’s not ideal for audiences to be so invested in people they don’t know. However, that level of connection is exactly what convinces brands to work with content creators. Brands know audiences will buy products if a content creator they adore and trust recommends the product.
Begin to Monetize Content
It’s great to have millions of followers, but it’s not actually necessary to secure brand deals. These days, there’s such a thing as micro and nano influencers. These people have significantly fewer followers than the major influencers, but often their audiences are more likely to buy recommended products. With fewer followers, building relationships is easier, which translates to a stronger parasocial relationship. This translates to more trust between the audience and the creator, which can turn into more sales for a brand.
Brands understand this, which is why it’s never too early to start pitching for opportunities. Unlike in the past, there are plenty of influencer platforms that now cater to the nano and micro influencers. Often, these opportunities will offer smaller paid fees or work on an in-kind (product provided) model with commissions attached. In other words, content creators receive a free product, but can also make sales.
Both models have benefits, but for content creators who are just starting out and need a way to build content consistently, an in-kind partnership can help them get their foot in the door. It can also help them develop a personal brand that will appeal to bigger brands, which means more money.
There’s Always Room for More Content Creators
It’s no secret that content creation has become a viable career opportunity for many people. Not everyone will walk away a millionaire by creating TikTok clips or long-form get-ready-with-me (GRWM) YouTube videos. But there’s still plenty of space for new creators to find a niche they can leverage to create a steady income stream.