5 Ways for Content Creators to Grow Their Audience and Revenue
Photo by Anete Lūsiņa on Unsplash
The Creator Economy has exploded in 2022, with new growth and monetization opportunities being discovered every day.
According to the Influencer Marketing Hub, more than 50 million people worldwide consider themselves to be creators, with over 17 million Americans earning some sort of income in 2022 by posting creative content to their chosen platforms.
There has never been a greater opportunity for creators of all kinds to grow their audiences and their incomes by using a wide range of revenue-generating activities. Here are several options that content creators should consider:
1. Sell digital products
All creators who produce content for any number of chosen platforms are essentially creating digital products. One revenue-generating opportunity that often requires very little additional effort is to package creations and offer them up for sale to your audience.
A digital product is anything that you can pay for and download instantly – which might seem too simple for what has grown into a +$300-billion-dollar industry as of 2022.
Highly profitable examples include courses, digital downloads, webinars, art, music, etc.
2. Collaborate with other creators
Building mutually beneficial industry relationships is one of the primary ways creators are growing their audiences in 2022.
Whether you’re a podcaster in search of engaging and entertaining episode guests, a YouTuber on the lookout for the perfect collaboration, or a well-known blogger looking to partner with experts or retailers to broaden your audience and drive traffic back to your website, connections are key.
By finding the right partners, creators can introduce themselves to audiences that may not have otherwise discovered their content.
3. Share your expertise
Speaking of consulting businesses, a growing number of experts are turning to creative outlets to share their knowledge in their areas of expertise and drive interest back to their core businesses.
Whether this is fitness, cooking, personal finance, etc., creators are more frequently using their platforms to encourage audiences to purchase services from them.
Think you don’t have a particular area of expertise? Think again! Most moderately-successful creators are at least experts in one thing – growing a content business!
4. Improve your marketing skills
For those who want their creative pursuits to become full-time jobs, improving their general business and marketing skills can be one of the best ways to help them reach their goals.
Almost half of the creators surveyed in Accenture’s 2022 report, The Social Commerce Revolution felt they could benefit from some upskilling in their marketing and sales skills.
Platforms have hustled to provide creators with the training they need. With a growing number of options for audiences to choose from, however, creators who opt to upskill in areas such as digital marketing and SEO may find themselves with a competitive edge.
5. Offer memberships and online communities
Between daily posting to social platforms and regularly creating longer-form blog posts and newsletters, along with any number of other activities, creators are a consistent and reliable source of entertainment, knowledge, and inspiration for their audiences.
That value entitles creators to charge their audiences for access to additional content and perks through memberships and/or subscriptions to online communities.
For those who choose this option, be sure to reserve premium content and services to provide additional value to users who choose to pay for them. This option is especially useful for extremely active creators with a wide enough selection of content to offer both paid and free packages.
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Jessica is a Product Manager with a background in journalism and content strategy. I currently manage Creator Experiences for Cision.
