What is an influencer? What is a content creator? Is there a difference? In short, yes there is a difference. However, both can benefit and grow your business. To learn more about content creators vs influencers, keep reading.
What is a content creator?
Content is essential for businesses who are looking to compete and participate in the online e-Commerce marketplace. Compelling content has the ability to connect with internet users through advertisements, blog articles, social media posts, infographics, videos, and more. Everything an individual sees on the internet has the power to attract them to your business page or website, and ideally, become a loyal customer and/or a brand advocate. Content is also powerful because it is most likely the first impression that an individual will gather from your brand. The content gives the first impression, and hopefully, it is enough to intrigue the individual. To pique their curiosity in a way that inspires them to learn more. It is then that the content can bring the user to a landing page, website, or business social media profile. In order for a business to create this creative and compelling content, they may employ the services of a content creator. A content creator is someone who can create the appealing and engaging content that companies need to acquire new customers, followers, clicks, and likes. A content creator has the ability to take a good idea and spin it into content that can be either educational or entertaining or a combination of both. A good idea that is spun well into captivating content has the power to make a positive impact on an audience and generate leads for your brand. Having a skilled content creator on staff, or if you are a good content writer yourself, can be priceless in terms of persuading, informing, and changing the purchasing power of users on whichever platform you are targeting. A good content creator is responsible for telling the business story of your brand or company, and through emotional and mental engagement, tie together potential customers with your product or service.
What kind of content do content creators produce?
Anything and everything you see on the internet could be considered content. Whether it is on social media, a website, or a display that pops up while someone is playing an online game, it is all content. Content comes in many forms. Content could be a video, blog post, social media post, infographic, image, display ad, podcast, or vlog. A content creator is really only limited by their resources and their imagination. Once a content creator decides what media format they are going to use to produce a new piece of content, they then have to decide where they are going to post the content and who their intended audience is.
- Social media: If social media is going to be the platform, which social media platforms would be best for finding the potential customers who will connect most with the content and the brand? For example, a social media platform like Tik Tok may be best suited for a brand looking to attract more of the Gen Z crowd. Instagram may be best for both millennials and Gen Z, while Facebook may be better for millennials and Gen X. Twitter and YouTube are additional platforms worth pursuing that reach a broader audience across age demographics.
- Website: If a content creator is creating content for a company website, the content may have to be more specific to the brand and its business story. Additionally, the content may describe products and services in more detail with a focus on how the product or service will benefit the user. The information should be straightforward and direct. Videos and/or infographics make amazing content for websites.
- Blog content: Blog content is a powerful tool to bring in potential customers from all corners of the internet. Blogs can come in the form of listicles, how-to’s, pros and cons lists, and educational articles. The main point of a blog is to provide information on topics that are somehow related to your product or service. For example, if you have a website that sells high-powered hunting bows, you could do a listicle of the top 5 fastest shooting bows of 2021 and list the pros and cons of each one. Blog content can provide an incredible amount of freedom when it comes to what kind of information a content writer wants to present and how they want to present it.
For online content, you mainly have social media, websites, and blog content as the vehicles to present your content. Other forms of content creation do not involve the internet. Content creators can also help produce radio and/or television advertisements as well as print media content like magazines, newspapers, and billboards or poster displays.
Benefits of working with a content creator
Hiring a content creator has many benefits. A content creator can focus on creating engaging content and ensuring it reaches the widest audience possible while a business owner can focus more on other aspects of running the company. Also, content creators tend to have a high return on their investment as opposed to having a business owner or another employee create content. A content creator knows how to stretch a budget to achieve the greatest impact in targeted messaging. Additionally, content creators are much more efficient at creating the content that is needed to reach people.
What is an influencer?
An influencer is someone who has the ability to affect the purchasing decisions of social media users because of their authority, knowledge, position, and/or relationship with their followers. Typically, the relationship between an influencer and their followers occurs in the bubble of a specific niche. Brands and/or companies can work with influencers to help their brand positioning, to help establish the brand as an expert in the market space, to sell products, and to offer special discounts and promotions.
What kind of content do influencers produce?
Many influencers choose video and photography as their primary source of content. The content then is shared across social media platforms and potentially YouTube or Vimeo. Video has the power to display appealing content that is entertaining and educational. Influencers can also go “live” on a variety of social media platforms to help with product launches, special promotions, and contest/user engagement campaigns.
Benefits of working with an influencer
There are numerous benefits to working with an influencer for your brand. First, an influencer can help establish your brand as an expert in your niche as well as build trust between your brand and the people that respect the content and recommendations of the influencer. Second, an influencer can quickly improve brand awareness across multiple platforms reaching a wide audience. Third, an influencer can enrich your content strategy and help you consistently provide new content while you are busy developing your own. Lastly, influencers can effectively reach your target audience in ways that your brand could not on their own. Their expertise and knowledge on the subject, product, and/or service is well-respected and appreciated by their followers.
Content Creators vs. Influencers: how they collaborate with brands
Influencers are technically content creators in some aspects, however, there is a distinction between influencers and content creators that has been established. Content creators possess particular skills that provide them with the ability to create high-quality digital media content. Influencers can create content, however, their expertise is more about connecting with the audience with their personality and expertise rather than the quality of the content they create. A content creator and influencer can collaborate to create the compelling content that a brand needs to reach its target audience.
Which option is best for your business?
You may be wondering if an influencer or a content creator is best for your company. Ultimately, if you have the budget for it, you may want to consider using both in tandem with one another. A content creator can come up with ideas of how to utilize an influencer properly. The influencer and the content creator can collaborate to truly create some powerful content for your brand. If you do not have the budget for both, it may be best to weigh the pros and cons of each option. An influencer can be a powerful partner that can help bring awareness to your brand, however, it may be limited in scope to only one social media platform for example. A content creator can also bring awareness to your brand, however, they can do so across multiple platforms while using a variety of media formats to engage the widest audience possible.
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