In the digital age, everyone is a content creator. Bloggers, podcasters, YouTubers, gaming streamers – you name it, there’s someone out there creating content about it – and as the traditional influencer model begins to feel a little stale, brands are starting to sit up and take note.
The resulting move from influencer to content creator is the biggest shift in the social media landscape for some time – and while the terms were once seen as interchangeable, they actually mean very different things.
So does the rise of content creators signal a new era of influence or is creator marketing just having its moment in the spotlight? And what does all this mean for marketers and brands looking to tap into the power of the online community?
According to Buttermilk chief growth officer Zoe Mitchell, speaking to IAB CMO James Chandler, working with content creators is simply the latest stage in the natural evolution of digital marketing.
“Every media channel has its moment,” she says.
“Radio didn’t go away, TV didn’t go away. Everyone said social media would just go away and it hasn’t – well that’s true for creator marketing too. It will only go away if it stops being effective.
“If it continues on the trajectory that we’re already seeing, creator marketing isn’t just going to be a moment, it’s going to fundamentally change the way that brands are built.”
The dawn of the content creator
With content creation fast becoming an established marketing channel in its own right, Meta’s retail and ecommerce client partner Michelle Capp describes the social media giant’s results as “phenomenal”, something she attributes to Gen Z growing up with mobile phones.
“They’ve grown up creating content themselves, so their expectations are pretty high,” she says.
“I don’t think that’s going anywhere.The days where we could just chop up a TV ad and put it on social media are gone – now you really have to create content that’s specific to the platform. And right now, it’s all about creator marketing, reels and shorts.”
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Establishing how creator marketing differs from the traditional influencer model is a key part of the puzzle. Part of that centres on the opportunity to speak directly to communities through the creators they engage with – and that requires a level of trust which means that simply running a paid-for ad wouldn’t have the same impact.
Ultimately, asking a content creator to speak to their own audience in their own voice amplifies the opportunity to connect in a way that feels more intimate and genuine.
Is influence a dirty word?
The distinction between influencer and creator can be a difficult one to make, but Mitchell believes it comes down to human nature, pointing out that no-one really wants to be ‘influenced’ when they are simply scrolling through social media.
“I don’t want to be influenced – I want to be spoken to, inspired, educated and entertained. So yeah, I think influence is becoming a dirty word because we want to be pulled in – we don’t want to have things pushed on us,” she says.
“It’s the creators and the communities that we choose to engage with, not the big brands or big influencers or the Kardashians telling us what we should think or feel or buy to be happy.”
Publicis Media business director for influencer marketing Agata Narkowicz says that while there isn’t always a clear divide between influencer and content creator, brands will sell product if they pick the right people to work with.
“Social personalities or influencers with a fantastic reach can of course raise high awareness for brands. But with creators we are tapping into niches where people have really specific affinities and talking directly to their audiences. It’s not just about the number of followers anymore.”
The creative process
Making the most of those niches is where content creators are really able to shine. As well as creating original content – whether that is a 30-second comedy skit or a 2-minute craft tutorial – they will engage with their communities, responding to comments, replying to messages and asking for feedback and opinions to get conversations started.
How then, do brands tap into these relationships without ruining the very thing that makes them so valuable? Once again, it comes down to trust.
“We think about how can we excite them about the idea we have for the campaign, and then let them develop it,” Narkowicz explains.
“It’s a combination of having a really good brief but having those human touch points as well.”
Mitchell describes a good creator brief as being “freedom within a framework”, emphasising that the beauty in creator marketing is in handing the control over and seeing how it is interpreted.
“You have to say, this is us, this is our brand and these are the things we would love you to say, but your expression and interpretation is important. So why don’t you kind of play here?”
So do brand guidelines have to be cast aside completely? It’s not quite as drastic as that, but as Capp explains, it’s important to make sure that clients are ok with letting go of their own perception of what the brand is.
“We always say to partners be in control enough to lose control,” she says.
“Every brand has strict brand guidelines, but some are more polished, and they might send a brief out and get a response back that isn’t so polished, so they think it doesn’t fit.
“But actually that is a really authentic response, and that’s what works best… So it’s really important to let creators be authentic with the content they create.”
