How to Become a Content Creator

• Producing social media posts, blogs, graphic designs, and videos are all part of being a content creator.
• Focusing on your target audience and staying true to yourself can help you succeed as a content creator.
• Growing as a content creator requires creativity, versatility, and adaptability.

What is a content creator?

A content creator is someone who produces media for a specific audience. It’s a content creator’s job to create interesting, engaging, and relevant content that appeals to either a wide range of individuals or a specific niche. Their goal is to entertain or inform a target audience through artistic, written, and/or visual storytelling. Content creators can work by themselves or with others. Collaboration can be a big part of a content creator’s career if sharing their market is a part of their vision or strategy. A content creator’s success depends on how engaged their audience is. The more attention and traffic a piece of content receives, the more successful a content creator will be. There are many different forms and ways of producing content, from social media and freelancing to corporate employment.

What do content creators do?

Content creators are the people who make the content you see online. These individuals work by themselves or with a team to produce marketable content that intends to reach audiences of a particular demographic. For example, the article you’re reading right now was made by content creators. Common formats of content include: Blogs Websites Social media posts Graphic designs Articles Newsletters Videos

How to Become a Content Creator

Choose a topic you’re passionate about. When you’re making content all day, you want to make sure you’re producing something you care about. Ask yourself, “What do I like to do? What hobbies do I have? What’s my personality type?” Answering these questions can help you find your community and niche. For example, if you love reading, consider branding yourself as a “booktoker” who makes TikToks on the latest book and publishing trends. If you’re a foodie, think about starting a blog reviewing the restaurants in your neighborhood. If you have an interest in true crime, try starting a true crime podcast on unsolved mysteries or cases in your area.

Know your target audience. Before you start producing content, ask yourself, “Who am I speaking to?” Your audience directly impacts your success as a content creator, so get to know them well! Research the topic you want to cover and notice any similarities between the top search results. Are the articles, videos, and/or photos intended for a younger audience? What vibes do the top results give visually? The answers to these questions will help you tailor your content to appeal to your audience. For example, say your target audience is Gen Z. Your content might include trending, upbeat audio, vibrant colors, emojis, and/or slang to appeal to a younger audience. If your target audience are baby boomers, your content may be cleaner, more serious, and respectable.

Pick a platform you’re comfortable using. What do you actively use most today? When you first start making content, it’s important to choose a site that supports your vision. For instance, you wouldn’t want to pick TikTok if you want to write long form posts, but you would want to start a blog. Similarly, you wouldn’t want to start a YouTube channel to make short form video content, but you would want to post Instagram Reels. Scroll through the platforms you like to see what’s trending and if your target audience matches. Stick to one platform at first to keep your focus and strategy as narrow as possible. As you grow and learn, you’ll be able to expand across other platforms. If you’re unfamiliar with a specific platform that interests you, download it and start fiddling around, search how to make content for the platform online, and get yourself as familiar with it as possible.

Find your unique style. Every day, there are millions of people marketing content. Your job as a content creator is to make yourself stand out amongst the crowd. Think about ways you can strategically use trends and current events to entertain your target audience and/or amplify your voice and message. For example, if there’s a trending audio going around Instagram and TikTok, see how you can use that audio to match your specific demographic. Maybe you emphasize a movie trope, flirtation tactic, or relatable meme that plays into the audio’s tone.

Keep a consistent and reliable schedule. To be a successful content creator, you have to be willing to put in the work. Make time each day to brainstorm, create, edit, and post. Stick to a posting schedule to stay consistent in your followers’ feeds. Staying persistent is the key to personal and analytical growth. Programs like Hootsuite, Loomly, SocialBee, and Sprout Social can help you schedule and track your social media posts.

Engage with your audience. When people engage in your content, they’re building a relationship with you, and reciprocating that engagement will keep you accountable and watchable/readable. Reply to comments and DMs, repost shares, and start friendly conversations. The more you communicate with your audience, the more “real” and relatable you’ll seem. Keep in mind that target audiences often have preferences and favorite social media platforms. EXPERT TIP Ashton Wu Ashton Wu Board Game Expert Ashton Wu is a Board Game expert at Shelfside. After delving into the Yugioh tournament community while growing up, Ashton launched himself into the board gaming community in 2014 and went into reviewing board games as a career full-time in 2019. His YouTube channel Shelfside has over 35K subscribers and over 4 million views, assisted by written reviews on the Shelfside website and BoardGameGeek.com. He also consults with gaming companies to build high-quality gaming products. Ashton is a tournament commentator, board game playthrough director, and host of the Shelfside Podcast, where he talks about board games with his business partner, Daniel. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Economics at the University of California, Santa Barbara, in addition to the Technology Management Certificate. Ashton Wu Ashton Wu Board Game Expert Engage with your audience to build an online community. Respond to comments across platforms like YouTube, Discord, social media, and relevant forums. Hearing your content inspire viewers is incredibly rewarding. No matter your niche, fostering a supportive community around your passion is a powerful source of fulfillment.

Skills You’ll Need

Creativity Content creators are constantly creating and coming up with new innovative ideas. If you want to be a content creator, you have to be able to brainstorm and think outside of the box. You should be able to hop onto trends and present information in interesting ways that engage with your audience.

Versatility Being a content creator means taking on multiple jobs. Content creators wear many hats—editor, writer, producer, actor, etc. Knowing a variety of creator platforms and programs like InDesign, Photoshop, Canva, and Final Cut Pro can help you create content for various platforms in multiple ways.

Adaptability The world of content creation is constantly changing and evolving. A content creator must be able to adapt and go with the flow in any situation. For example, if a program crashes, they need to be ready to film again at a moment’s notice. If they want to go on location to take pictures of a sunset but get rained out, they need to have a backup plan.

Analytical Mindset Understanding and implementing search engine optimization (SEO) is an important part of being a content creator. You need to be able to analyze data to conduct social media and content strategies that are most effective for your followers, readers, or viewers. Crunching the numbers and identifying key terms helps content creators reach a wider audience. SEO creates and compacts relevant data from search engines that can promote traffic to web and digital content.

Organization Deadlines keep a content creator on track. If you want to be a content creator, you need to be able to keep an organized and detailed schedule. You’re essentially working for yourself, so you need to be your own boss. This means keeping track of the content you produce and the hours you work. Try using a color-coded calendar to block your schedule by task and time. For example, use blue to block out the hours you want to spend writing content, orange for filming, yellow for engaging with followers, and so forth. Save virtual meeting links in a calendar that syncs up to all your devices, so you’re never late.

Passion Successful content creators don’t produce content for the money. They do it because they love it. To be a content creator, you must enjoy creating new and exciting content. If you’re passionate about what you’re creating, it’ll show through the quality and quantity of your content. Have fun making content for yourself before starting a content creator career. Spend a few months fiddling around with different platforms to see if it’s something you’d enjoy doing. EXPERT TIP Ashton Wu Ashton Wu Board Game Expert Ashton Wu is a Board Game expert at Shelfside. After delving into the Yugioh tournament community while growing up, Ashton launched himself into the board gaming community in 2014 and went into reviewing board games as a career full-time in 2019. His YouTube channel Shelfside has over 35K subscribers and over 4 million views, assisted by written reviews on the Shelfside website and BoardGameGeek.com. He also consults with gaming companies to build high-quality gaming products. Ashton is a tournament commentator, board game playthrough director, and host of the Shelfside Podcast, where he talks about board games with his business partner, Daniel. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Economics at the University of California, Santa Barbara, in addition to the Technology Management Certificate. Ashton Wu Ashton Wu Board Game Expert Captivate your audience. Make the first 10 seconds of videos engaging to capture your audience's attention. Craft compelling titles & thumbnails. Don't shy away from serious topics, but remember – YouTube is an entertainment platform, so add a sprinkle of humor. Have fun and keep your audience interested – it's the secret weapon for a thriving YouTube channel!

What is the typical salary of a content creator?

The estimated yearly base pay of a content creator in the United States is $44,166. A content creator’s salary depends on the individual and their platform, consistency, company, and brand deals. Some creators can make as much as $75,783 a year with additional pay. YouTube has the highest pay range for content creators at $64,244 per year. Content creators usually have multiple streams of income, especially if they work a corporate content job alongside personal projects.