Social Media Content creators produce entertaining, educational or captivating content for digital distribution. These individuals typically offer a distinct perspective or voice. Fans latch on to their unique points of view, creating deep connections over time.
Creators develop content for various channels. Popular formats include:
Videos (like TikToks, YouTube videos or livestreams)
Images (like graphics, memes or photography)
Audio content (like podcasts)
Written works (like blogs and ad copy)
This list is long, but not exhaustive. Content is forever evolving alongside the landscape of the internet. When a new format rises to popularity, the list grows again—creating new opportunities for budding content creators.
Content creator vs social media manager: what’s the difference?
While there certainly is overlap between social media content creators and social media managers, they’re not one and the same.
Content creation is one of many responsibilities a social media manager might take on. Social media management also includes:
Community management
Online reputation management
Analytics and reporting
Strategic planning
Team management
These efforts make the most out of the channel as a business function. They also take a lot of time. Adding video and graphic production to the list can quickly create an unsustainable workload.
Why is content creation important?
Content creation is the ultimate inbound marketing practice. When you create content, you’re providing free and useful information to your audience, attracting potential customers to your website, and retaining existing customers through quality engagement. You’re also generating some major value for your company, as these content marketing stats show:
Almost 40% of marketers say content marketing is an essential part of their marketing strategy. 81% say their company sees content as a business strategy.
B2B marketers have data that says content marketing is a successful tool for nurturing leads (60%), generating revenue (51%), and building an audience of subscribers (47%).
And 10% of marketers who blog say it generates the biggest return on investment.
Some content creation ideas
Whether you want to post videos on social media or YouTube, video marketing is a type of content creation that becomes more popular every year. Short-form and long-form videos both have their place in your content creation strategy. So, be sure to come up with ideas for both types of content.
86% of video marketers say that video is effective for generating leads. This makes original video marketing an important strategy for anyone who is working on content creation.
Some solid video content ideas include behind-the-scenes or time-lapse videos. Let's go over some other useful ideas for video content creation.
Animate Hard-To-Understand Ideas
Animation makes it easier to understand new or complex information. So, use video to show your viewers how your product works or to talk about the specific problem your product solves.
Choose scenarios that people can relate to that clearly connect to your product. Whether you choose to use digital animation or stop-motion, animation can bring a dry topic to life.
For example, tech products often solve problems that the average user doesn't deal with every day, like a broken connection with an API.
But what about an animation of what happens when the wireless at home gets cut off? A video with this scenario could make that abstract idea easier for the average user to understand.
Repurpose Blog Content
Another quick video idea is to use the text from your most popular blog as a voiceover. Long blogs make great content for a video series.
You can also break up key points from blogs into bite-size videos for your social media posts.
Then, add your videos to your blog posts. This gives people who find your blog on search engines another alternative to get the information they're looking for.
How-tos and Tutorials
How-to content is also very popular in video formats. To create a powerful instructional video, stick to short and specific steps. Don't skip anything, but you also don't want to overwhelm your viewers with extra information.
Use simple visual steps to help your viewers learn, and offer a clear call-to-action at the end.
It's also a good idea to engage with the comments on these videos. This reassures your audience that you are available if they have more questions, and could help you come up with more video ideas.
Product Demos and Unusual Use Cases
Product demos can make it easier for potential customers to see how they can use your products. It's also a chance for you to share some product design processes.
By sharing the problem you initially solved with your product, and how the solution changed through the process, you're building a relationship with your viewers. This relationship builds trust and makes them more likely to engage with you and your products.
Show how your product works in an interesting way. For example, the "Will It Blend?" video series on YouTube was a winner for Blendtec because it didn't just show the power of its blender.
They were inventive and asked for customer suggestions for each video. And the videos were blending objects you normally wouldn't throw in a blender, like cell phones, golf balls, or glow sticks.
You can also personalise your video content. Video product demos are a great option for connecting individual customers to your products.
Graphics
In your blog posts, or in your social media posts, you might want to post original graphics. These can be infographics, photography, GIFs, memes, illustrations, or screenshots.
This type of content creation usually requires a graphic designer or a design tool to help you get the job done.
Image-based Content Creation Ideas
Photo and image-based posts are the content types businesses use most to increase audience engagement.
As you begin to create visual content, make sure you have a strong grasp of the basics. These include:
Choose the right subject to illustrate your idea
Think about composition
Use contrast and colour
Keep it simple
Visual Storytelling
Visual content is great for quick storytelling. As you start to experiment with storytelling, remember to show, not tell.
For example, say you're telling a story about meeting a tough sales goal. A picture of a sales rep talking on the phone won't tell the story as well as an image of that same sales rep scaling a tall mountain.
Try to use setting, clothing, lighting, and motion to emphasise the action and drama of every scene in your images.
User-Generated Content
Fans of your products are often looking for ways to get involved. And there's nothing like user-generated content to show your followers that you care about their opinions.
To get your users to create and share content for your brand, invite them to get involved. Try a custom hashtag or contest on social media to start. Email is also a great channel for collecting photos, quotes, and stories from your customers.
That said, don’t use content from users without asking for their permission. You also want to make sure you credit users for their contributions. Nothing can damage your relationship with a customer like using their images without consent.