Content Creators & Influencers: Key Differences
We have been using the terms influencers and creators together at many instances.
But the truth is; although both of them sound similar, influencers and creators are not actually identical.
Influencers burn the candles at both the ends and still won’t admit their hard work! Whereas creators are the souls who are more from an artistic background, entrepreneurial and who create content based on their interests (with a vocational interest and less for a paid partnership).
Both influencer and content creators create content almost in the same manner: which includes independent content, advertising, editorial, or a series of social media content. When it comes to the pay: the system works similarly for both parties based on the payment systems in use like fixed revenue system, sponsorship content, referral counts, performance-based, social media in-built payment systems too (ex. super chat feature on YouTube Live) and more.
So, how do they differ from one another, even if it’s just a subtle difference? We shall find out!
Let’s talk about influencers!
Okay if someone has 2M followers on Instagram, does that mean the person is an influencer? No.
If someone posts all fancy stuff online, does that make up for an influencer? No.
Okay if someone poses as an expert and shares a real review on a product is an influencer? Partly yes, but that’s not the whole picture.
Who are influencers?
Influencers are the individuals who have a clear knack of convincing people to buy from a brand with or without enough expertise of the product they are endorsing/selling.
Srishti Patch curates a fun collab video on college days for the latest ‘back to college’ sale run by Flipkart! This connects the audience emotionally while making people check the sale prices and investing in the products by ordering directly from the sale. This is an example of influencer marketing content.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CckqHfQjGB5
As an influencer, it is their job to display the product as appealing and interesting as possible. (influencers are digital creators but with an added intention to make a product interesting for their target audience as well as the brand audience)
What is the goal of an influencer?
The goal of the influencer is to develop a cool content strategy or a brand campaign that ‘influences’ the audience to make a purchase. Also, to build a strong relationship with the people following them and improve brand awareness + loyalty among the target audience.
Among all major influencer challenges, one of them is choosing the right campaigns and brands who resonate well with the influencer values.
Which are the skills that an influencer must possess?
Again creators and influencers have similar skill set requirements, however influencers also need to know about how social media algorithms work and focus more on the engagement factor.
- Photo editing skills
- Video editing
- Audience engagement and study
- Live streaming
- Social media metrics and analytics
- Promotional and brand deals experience
- Communication skills
- Feedback listener
- And above all consistency
About Digital Creators!
Creators are the ones who belong to the artsy world. For example, we have influencers from different art fields like painter, illustrator, dancer, singer, entrepreneur, magician, fashion designer, culinary artist and many more who post content for the love and passion of the art form.
And creators who belong to social media are thus called digital creators.
Who are digital creators?
They are the special geniuses who post creative, engaging, unique content based on their specific niche which would make anybody pause and watch it.
It could be someone who gracefully dances to the tune of a music or a person who mimics celebrities with the right expressions. Even an art lover would follow painters, illustrators whose work stand out from the rest, like pranitart from IG makes beautiful illustrations for personal as well as brand collaborations.
While Deep Pathare via justdeepdrama is promoting beauty and skin wellness that go beyond genders. He won the Upcoming Male Beauty Influencer from cosmoindia in 2020! So he is a digital creator cum influencer too!
What is the goal of a digital creator?
The goal of a content creator is to generate engaging content for building the community, connecting with the right audience, generating qualified leads, entertaining the audience, upscale their niche skills, keeping growing and collaborating with brands and other influencers/creators as much as they can.
Which are the skills a digital creator must possess?
Digital creators may or may not possess the video or photo editing skills but they must be able to do the following:
- Know how to win the trust of the audience
- Communication skills
- Keyword targeting
- Audience research and segmentation
- Digital marketing
- Brand analysis
- Create quality content
- Manage client and audience feedback
This brings us to the end of this interesting article.
Yet, there’s as such no direct difference between a creator and influencer however it’s the objective of the content that mainly makes the difference. An influencer is a content creator too, whereas a content creator may wear the influencer cap when the time demands.
While some people consider ‘influencer’ being an overused term and ‘creator’ being a more likable and formal term.
What’s your take on this? Would you follow an influencer or rather a creator? Does it make any difference to you or not? Let us know in the comments below!!
