As a user of social media, experienced content creators use a wealth of creative marketing skills to produce high-quality visuals and messaging for specific audiences. Being a content creator is a varied and rewarding role paved with exciting opportunities (just see what some TikTok creators can make)—if you know what you’re doing. Here we look at what it means to be a content creator and look at ways to become one in today’s age of influence.
Ready? Let’s dive in.
What is a content creator?
A content creator produces… well… high-quality content for a range of digital channels, from Facebook and Instagram to TikTok, YouTube, and beyond.
Some content creators produce visuals and communications for a range of digital channels while others specialize in one particular platform or medium. But, in either case, successful content creators must have a well-balanced knowledge of key digital marketing principles to create videos, images, ads, copy, and messaging that speaks to the right audience at the right time.
Most content creators produce videos, animations, infographics, well-crafted social media posts (both paid and organic), and even articles or blog posts.
What does a content creator do? 
As you will know by now, content creators deal in words, imagery, and videos—largely on social media channels. With such a varied role, there’s no typical day in the life of a content creator—but there are certain tasks or duties that come with the job. These include:
Working with brands and businesses to establish key customer segments and buyer personas
Creating campaign concepts and ideas that are inspirational and offer value
Using content creation tools to produce images, animations, videos, graphics, articles, blog posts, memes, social media ads, promotional copy, and a range of other targeted promotional materials
Measuring, tracking and analyzing the success of content and campaigns using data-driven marketing tools and platforms.
What skills does a content creator need?
To be a successful content creator, it’s important to develop a well-rounded mix of creative and analytical skills while possessing (or working on) certain personal attributes.
Copywriting skills: the ability to craft compelling and conversational messaging is essential as a content creator. Understanding the art of copywriting will help you connect with your audience while earning engagement for your clients.
Visual editing and creation skills: knowing how to create sharp, polished, and visually appealing videos, imagery, and digital designs is essential as a content creator—especially as most of today’s consumers respond best to visuals.
Analytical skills: as we touched on earlier, having the ability to test, track, and analyze the success of your content is critical to content creator success. As such, learning essential data-driven marketing principles and getting to grips with tools like Google Analytics is important.
Storytelling skills: gaining the ability to create compelling stories across channels and mediums will help you stand out as a content creator. Brand storytelling is a powerful tool and learning how to arrange your campaigns, content, and messaging into inspiring narratives is one of the greatest skills you can acquire.
Communication and organizational skills: being able to communicate clearly and frequently with your clients throughout a project is essential. Plus, as most content creators have to juggle many projects, having sharp organizational skills will ensure you remain consistent, creative, and reliable at all times.
What’s the difference between content creators and influencers?
While content creators are influential in their own way, they are not social media influencers. Both content creators and influencers create and share relevant content via social media—but it’s the motivation and style of content that generally differs.
Influencers are focused on building their personal brand and sharing content based on their personal lives or interests. Once an influencer gains a healthy following, they work with brands to plug or promote their products through their social media pages.
A content creator, on the other hand, produces and develops content for a variety of brands or businesses based on the needs of their target audience or marketing goals. Content creators do often promote themselves through social media, but ultimately, work in collaboration with clients to publish a range of content while consulting on creative direction and campaign concepts.
Read: The ultimate influencer marketing guide (and template) and discover all you need to know about the subject.
How do you become a content creator?
Now that you know the answer to the question, ‘what does a content creator do?’, we’re going to look at how you can get into this exciting branch of digital marketing.
First of all, it’s worth noting that to stand out as a content creator, you should avoid spreading yourself too thin.So, rather than trying to be a ‘one stop content creation shop’, you should focus on a specific niche or area of expertise. For instance, you might want to specialize in working within the charity sector or in ethical retail.
Choosing a niche and understanding various audiences within that niche will empower you to create content that earns results while building a name for yourself in an area that suits your passions and knowledge.
Decide what type of content you want to make
As a content creator, it pays to know how to produce materials for a range of channels and mediums. But, having one specialist area won’t hurt as it will help you excel in a specific area.
You could, for instance, position yourself as a TikTok and YouTube video specialist in the charity sector. Focusing your efforts in this way will give you direction while helping you gain an edge on the competition.
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