Through documenting, strategically sharing my travels, and creating passive income streams over the years, I’ve gained first hand experience about the business side of content creation. It is through my own journey that I have been able to create a roadmap to help ask the right questions, grow my brand and business, and continuously create value for my audience. This focus has helped me leverage my platform, thereby attracting brand collaborations and sponsorships I never in my wildest dreams would have expected. So after receiving countless messages and emails from others who want to do the same, I’ve decided to start sharing more strategic resources for you: an aspiring content creator at the beginning level of your journey, who is ready to take a leap of faith and build a business that is rooted in passion and purpose.
Next in this series: detailed tips on how to strategically grow your social media!
Know your demographics. Knowing who your audience is, what they like, what time they are on social media, and what some of their habits are will make a huge difference in how engaged they will be with the content you put out. You can get details on these analytics by using a business account on Instagram or adding Google Analytics into your website.
Create shareable content. Once you know who you are creating for, lean into this. Be sure to create content that captures their attention immediately and inspires them to share it with their own audiences. In my own work, I’ve focused on using color, unique locations, and culture to captivate audiences. I’ve also focused on creating within underrepresented niches so that my content stands out and puts me in a position of being a leader in the categories I choose to create in.
Pay attention to algorithms. Speaking of algorithms, it’s important to stay up to date on current algorithm trends. Social media algorithms are a way of sorting posts in a users’ feed based on relevancy instead of published time, so they will prioritize which content a user sees in their feed first by the likelihood that they’ll actually want to see it. Because these platforms are designed to keep users on for as long as possible, it’s important that you pay attention to how the algorithm rewards users. This doesn’t mean you should try to “game” the system, because it’s highly unlikely that you’ll be able to decode it. Instead, the key is finding a balance between what an algorithm wants and creating compelling content for your audience.
Collaborate with others. This one seems pretty simple, but is one of the most effective. The easiest way to get exposure is by your content being shared by another creator. This doesn’t mean you should go out and clout chase for likes, but I would encourage you to find other creators you admire and develop friendships that allow you all to grow and support each other.
Be Consistent. Can the content you create be easily identified as yours? Can your audience expect to see something new from you at a specific time daily/weekly? The more consistent you are in both the quality of your content and the times that you post, your audience and social media algorithms will keep rewarding you.
Evolve to keep your followers. People always ask how to get followers, but no one seems to ask how to keep them. While it’s important to be consistent, if you only create in a specific way and post the exact same kind of content for years, people will get bored and unfollow you. Try new things, experiment with new categories, and don’t forget to be yourself. You should strive for better, outdo your previous work, and show your growth and evolution. This will keep people interested and invested in your platform.
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