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For small businesses and start-ups, writing content on your own is likely to be perceived as a challenge. Therefore, it is common for companies to outsource their content marketing to digital content creators. As content creation is quickly becoming popular and beginning to be seen as a professional role, people are finding themselves engaging with digital content creators with a range of different skill sets. If you are planning to reach out to a creator, here is a quick look at how you might be able to maximize collaborative efficiencies.
Influencers vs Digital Creators.
Before reaching out, you need to do your research. The first mistake you can make is confusing influencers with digital creators. While in mass media their meanings are used synonymously, their roles and contributions to your marketing campaigns are quite different.
Influencers are social media ‘personas’, also known as ‘micro-celebrities’. They tend to have a vast number of followers and high levels of engagement within their network. Influencers also create content, but usually with different intentions. Content of influencers is often focused on their personal lives, their lifestyles and personal interests, with the occasional paid partnership or sponsorship. Simply put, the role of the influencer is to “influence” their audience into purchasing a product and earning commissions based on the effectiveness of their produced content. Influencers are often rated by their follower count and their reach when being considered for a company to work along-side them.
Digital creators, or content creators, literally “create” content. It’s important to note that the creation of content is not restricted to promotional activities and could be any form of creative content stemmed from their personal interests. Digital creators also have their own loyal following and will still “influence” their followers in significant ways, but the key difference is that digital creators focus more on the production of content instead of branding themselves. Companies and businesses often evaluate digital creators through the quality of their content and the interests of their audience.
The Benefits of collaborating with Digital Creators:
1. Experts in the Field
Digital Creators know what they are doing. With knowledge in their field, they often share valuable information, resources or continue to create high-quality entertaining content. With thorough field knowledge, they naturally earn a vast following from people interested in the products they showcase. Digital creators understand the efforts necessary to make a brand and their offerings stand out with their superior knowledge and technical skills. Working along-side an industry expert and being associated with their reputation can also boost your brand credibility.
2. Interacting with Target Audience
Generally, it can be difficult for a brand to communicate directly to their customers and from the customers point of view, users are not always fond of talking straight to a brand. Although this can be an issue, potential and past customers are more likely to communicate and engage with their favorite creators. This is an amazing opportunity to make a presence, raise awareness and create the new leads your business needs.
3. Building Brand Trust
The number one reason why audiences trust digital creators is due to the perception that they are not trying to sell, therefore the relationship is regarded as more genuine, reliable and trustworthy. Similarly, when you work with these creators, their audience might perceive your business with them more meaningful and valuable compared to watching ‘pure’ targeted advertisements.
How to Engage with Digital Creators:
You should not aim to ‘hire’ a content creator, instead, your aim is to sponsor them or collaborate with them. The main idea is to create contents that align with the creators developed image as well as bring relevance of your business to their audience.
1. Choose your Creators Wisely
Digital Creators deliver value for their audience. If your brand’s offerings are in a completely different field, creators might understandably refuse the project as it does not serve the interests of their audience. Therefore, the first step is to identify and find a digital creator that aligns with your product offering. The second step is to study and analyze who exactly their audience is. While their contents and your products might align, their audience might not actually be the right fit for your products and services.
2. Establish Mutual Goals
A team is only effective if the members are working towards the same goals. To ensure the best possible outcome, it is beneficial to lay out a set of objectives you aim to achieve and discuss if it works with them. An issue often associated with collaboration in any team is the misalignments of values. Sure, your brand and the creator have agreed on the same goal, but what are the steps required to achieve those goals and is there any discrepancy on the procedure?
3. Allow Creative Freedom, but with Guidelines
Digital creators are creative directors of their own work. Being restrained in their creation process can be a digital creator’s worst nightmare. Although creative freedom is more than necessary, it is crucial that they don’t misunderstand or misrepresent your business. During the process, be patient and try not to rush them as creating a piece of original content with external influences is not a simple task. While letting them freely develop content, there is no issue with working closely along-side them and setting up regular meetings to ensure all steps of the process are efficiently being completed in accordance with the goals and objectives.
4. Track and Evaluate Performance
It is crucial to monitor the campaign and identify if your strategies are producing quality outcomes. If the initial collaboration between your business and the creators is successful, don’t fall into the potential trap of the performance being a one-time achievement. Continue to track the progress and overall performance even after the campaign to see if you can gain any valuable insights, both about your business and the collaboration with the creator.
5. Staying In Touch
Instead of a one-time deal, it is ideal to consider them as a business partner, regardless of the project’s performance. After all, content creating should circle around delivering values and building meaningful relationships. Digital creators are likely to have a large network of experts in the same field. If the values, styles, or methods of the chosen creator are not suitable for your brand, take it as a learning opportunity and reach out to other creators in their network.
Original content creating is difficult and time consuming, if you are faced with the struggle to come up with your own pieces, collaborating with a content creator is one of the best ways to obtain high-quality resources for your overall digital marketing campaign. Although it can be a bit tricky at first, once you overcome the first hurdle of finding a creator that believes in the vision and values of your brand, their expertise and imagination will do the rest. Are you willing to take a chance?
