The New Pioneers of Digital Marketing: Creators

If you are somehow engaged with digital marketing environment or even you are not, you may have heard of the term of creator recently. Social media pioneers are boosting or opening new creator programs to support creative individuals who are capable of producing exciting and authentic content without the need of huge budgets or corporate support while brands are also enthusiastic about working with creators due to their prominence and acceptance over their community.

The concept of “Creator” removed a huge contradiction in terms by uniting creative and productive individuals under one roof. Neither the field of work nor the platform you use make any difference, what matters is creating continuous content for the niche community you have. As we all know, it all started with YouTube. Back then, there were YouTube stars, YouTube celebrities and today they are all creators. Evolution of content creation, rapid changes in the needs of target audiences has brought us here. It was a new thing for everyone and also a journey where people discover what they exactly like while brands discover how to address needs and interests of their target audiences.

So, what kind of content are we referring about, what is the difference between creator marketing and conventional marketing, what is the key impact of it and which actions do social media pioneers take about it? Let’s discover all of them together!

What is Creator Marketing?

For getting to the bottom of creator marketing, we should understand who creators are and where the term comes from. The term simply comes from creativity and its predecessor is content creation. So the concept is focused on content more than anything else. In addition to this, being a creator is also includes publishing phase. However creators are not the people who work with huge budgets or bother themselves with tedious production processes. They have replaced expensive works with something else: authenticity. We will mention about key things that makes creator marketing so unique later on. Now it is time to warm up with a simple description!

Creator is a person who makes and publish unique and modest contents by using today’s accessible technologies. The term shelters a broad work scale from writing copy to filming, shooting, editing. Creator is a abstracted term for many ways of creative productivity and by simplifying all the works done with different disciplines, it helps audiences to focus on only the content. We have been witnessing prominence of creators over mass productions but why? How do two people sit on chair can be more interesting than productions with huge budgets? Answer of this question actually an important marketing lesson for those who want to make difference with their business. Let’s check on this too!

Why Does Creator Marketing Take Off So Fast?

Do you remember the very first episodes of famous TV show, South Park? Creator of the show were sitting on their humble cottage and having a conversation before the show starts. This was unique at its time and their way of storytelling have created a niche community in no time. Today’s creators are on the same path; their audiences are impressed only by their creativity and the way that they enjoy their life. Actually the key message here is “okay, we don’t have the budget to create dashing content, yet we are still fun!” Authenticity

has gained the heart of large audiences and it becomes what people are looking for when they interact with a new content. There is a lesson here for all of us. We don’t need to over-engineer things; spontaneity, keeping things simpler and revealing your true self can be just enough to engage niche communities.

Continuity beneaths under the success of creators as well to earn audiences’ trust. The exact reason why experts call it “earned” media. So, how do creators earn trust of their audiences? Firstly, they publish their unique content on a regular basis; thus they create expectation. It is not all about quantity though; quality of the content still comes first. However, remaining consistent on your promise as a publisher strengthens the bond between you and your audience. Think about a YouTube channel that you subscribe. Don’t you feel disconnected if the channel that you subscribe does not publish a video for weeks? So keeping the promise you have been giving is quite important trust of your audiences. There is another component when it comes to earned trust: Values. Raw knowledge or entertainment materials are not that exciting anymore. The key is the perception of the creator in other words the value set. To sum up, keeping the promise that you have been giving and dropping value bombs is what earned trust made of.

As interaction has been changing the course of content, marketing strategies are no exception. Creator marketing is all about its communities and involving community is the key for success. Audiences feel more engaged when their questions are answered or they are the ones who ask the questions. This leads also strong advocacy which we will mention about later on.

What Is the Difference Between Conventional Marketing and Creator Marketing?

The marketing funnel that we have been hearing for years is totally different when it comes to creator marketing. Typical buyer’s journey starts with awareness; brands should be known before they deliver their core message. Afterwards, learn, intent, purchase and support steps come. In creative buying, the process starts with inspiration. Audiences are less interested about the identity of the brand and more focused on the content itself. When they inspired by the content, they evaluate and affirm it. This leads to something very valuable: advocacy. If audiences become advocates of the creative content, this means long time and stable engagement. Thus, we could say that advocacy is a stronger customer attitude than purchase intent and this certainly explains why creator marketing takes off so fast.

Social Media Pioneers on Creator Marketing

Due to the changes we have mentioned above, social media pioneers has started their own creator programs to encourage their creators and inform the marketers what creator marketing is all about. As the initiator of creator marketing, YouTube has a very well-organized and wide programs for their creators which is based on values. YouTube created its own creator academy and even provided physical studios for its creators for further encouragement. Moreover, the company has a program called “ creators for change” which invites its creators to speak out for important social issues. This visionary program actually shows what creators are capable of and ensures the sustainability of the trend. On the other hand TikTok shows more customer oriented approach in its creator marketplace where marketers can reach huge data sets and find the best partners for their business. Instagram is also showing more creator oriented approach in its creator CRM too. It provides more specific analytics in term of content, community, likes and dislikes.

With the encouragement of social media pioneers and the demand of marketers, it seems like creators will have even more influence and prominence over their communities thanks to their dynamic, authentic and of course creative approach! Whether it is a video of a regular conversation or vertical Instagram post, unique and relatable content, creativity is appreciated in the eyes of niche communities.

McAudience: Enkronos solution for Creator Marketing

McAudience is an Enkronos solution that structures and executes marketing activities, involving the use of Enkronos Apps platform, an exclusive multi-application environment for advertising, marketing, AI and big data solutions.

McAudience creates and manages your influencer marketing campaign from A to Z. In order to do an effective Marketing Activity with Influencers you need to partner up with a company that understands your needs. With McAudience we tailor your Influencer Marketing campaigns based on your vision and your goals

Discover all McAudience features at www.mcaudience.com.

Enkronos Marketing Team

Link

https://www.youtube.com/intl/tr/creators/learn-and-connect/