You’re a savvy small business owner, so you’ve got the basics of marketing down.
You know the importance of networking, being active on social media, and investing in your digital marketing efforts.
But if you’re looking for creative new ways to build your brand and engage with prospective customers, it’s time to tap into the creator economy.
We discussed the what and why of the creator economy and how to work with influencers to boost your marketing efforts in parts one and two of this series.
In this third installment, we’re looking at the last key piece: monetizing your content as a creator to build your brand and business.
How to Become a Content Creator (Without Dancing on TikTok)
Content creation is all about engaging with your audience in a unique and creative way.
And, because there are so many ways to do it, you don’t need to show off your dance moves on TikTok or anything else that may not suit your brand (unless you want to, of course).
Instead, think of how you can create original content that captures the attention of your specific audience. To do so, follow these steps:
- Define your target audience: If your business is up and running, you already have a clear idea of this. Know key demographics and create an avatar of your ideal customer.
- Know where they “hang out”: Understand your target audience and where they spend time online. Honing in on key platforms means you can focus your energy instead of trying everything at once.
- Look at your competitors: Get some ideas from other businesses in your industry. Often you can search for keywords and hashtags on various social media platforms and get a sense of what other people are doing.
- Determine your message: Have a clear idea of what you’re trying to accomplish through your content. Is it to create general brand awareness? Is it to educate? To sell products? Define exactly what you want to say and why.
- Choose your medium: Make the medium fit the message. Videos, written content, audio, and other types of content offer a different tone and impact, so choose something that aligns well.
- Create a plan: As you get clarity on your message and medium, develop a content plan. How often will you create? Is it a frequent thing (i.e., Instagram reels) or a one-off project (i.e., course launch)? Your plan can also include the cost of producing your content and information on monetization.
- Monetize your content: We’ll dig more into this below, but consider how you can monetize your content, either directly or by driving leads and sales to your business.
- Evaluate: After you put your content out to the world, follow up and evaluate how it’s performing. It’s helpful to have some key metrics in place that you track over time to see the impact of your work.
Types of Content
Online content can go far beyond the typical blogs, videos, or social media posts (though those are great, too!).
There are endless options today. Here’s just a handful of examples to start thinking about:
- Courses and training
- Tutorial videos
- Templates
- Behind-the-scenes content
- Podcasts
- Ebooks
- Webinars
- Case studies
- Whitepapers
- Music
- Memes
- Infographics
- Live chats
- Research and data
- Images
- Artwork
- Apps or chrome extensions
- Games
- Stories
- Reviews
- Quizzes
- Giveaways and contests
Because of the myriad of content formats available, all industries and all professionals can become content creators. You just need to find what fits your brand and reaches your audience.
6 Tips to Monetize Your Content
If you’re spending time, effort, and resources creating content, you need to monetize it in some way to achieve reasonable ROI. Here are a few ways to monetize your content:
1. Leads and Sales
This is perhaps the most natural way to monetize your content. Interesting and relevant content can ultimately earn your company money through two pathways:
- Increased leads: Your online content can indirectly boost sales by increasing leads. This happens whenever people click through to reach your website, sign up for a newsletter, or download your lead magnet. Increased brand recognition also increases future leads.
- Direct sales: Content such as paid ads, resources, or online courses are direct sales for your company.
2. Licensing
Depending on what type of content you create, you may be able to license it. This applies to original works, typically those that are in a creative field and may be used or replicated by other people (i.e., music or artwork).
By licensing your content, you can charge a royalty when someone uses it or sell the rights for one-time use.
3. Subscription Services
This revenue-generation model has blown up over the last few years, with streaming services and other subscription-based products becoming the norm.
Platforms like Patreon make it easy to offer exclusive perks to people in your audience with a paid membership. It’s a way they can support your business and content directly and you receive regular, reliable income.
4. Merchandise
A great way to earn revenue while growing your brand image and presence is by selling company merchandise.
Options like Printful allow you to create high-quality products with your brand image, design, or logo on it. You can sell this to your audience to earn extra business revenue. Bonus—other people see it and learn about your brand!
5. One-Time Sales
While subscription services offer regular income, some online content is designed for a one-time sale. Examples include paid courses, PDF resources, artwork, or merchandise.
Because some of these content types can be more labor-intensive, high-value items, you may also consider selling them as premium content. While you may choose to offer some content for free, a premium model drives demand for exclusive content they wouldn’t get otherwise.
6. Advertisements
Instead of directly selling or monetizing your content, you can “sell your audience” by including advertisements in your content.
Third-party ads in your podcast or video, for example, earn your business revenue by exposing your audience to the product or service being advertised. You may earn more if your audience specifically clicks a link to a custom landing page and makes a purchase (affiliate marketing).
Content Creator Inspiration from Local Tucsonians
If you still need a bit of inspiration to get started, look no further.
We previously wrote about 6 awesome Tucsonians to follow on Instagram—they’re killing it over there and show a few unique ways to leverage content creation for your business:
- Alexis Castilo (@alesiistherese) is an Arizona-based fashion blogger who sells her photography presets online to people in her audience.
- Sean Parker (@seanparkerphotography) is a Tucson-based photographer who sells his prints at in-person events and offers content licensing.
There are also some great examples of content creation and monetization from some of our awesome members at The Post:
- Bean Ninjas offers bookkeeping, tax, accounting, and other financial services. They have a free downloadable guide to scaling your business when you visit their website.
- Wow Wow Lemonade Stand sells trendy, branded mason jars as part of their refill program. When you purchase a reusable jar, you get 10% off all refills.
- Better Faster Marketing offers visual marketing services, so their Instagram is full of creative and engaging videos—content that directly sells their services.
- The Alder Group is in the real estate business and they use their Instagram to create reels and share showing properties and sharing real estate insights their clients can benefit from.
Realtors, SaaS companies, restaurants, consultancies, and beyond—it doesn’t matter what industry you’re in. Creating engaging content can be a great brand builder and drive new leads and sales to your business.
The creator economy is only growing—what are you going to do to make the most of it? Tap into a professional network that can help you learn, grow, and expand your business. Book a tour of The Post.