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Digital creators are the storytellers and artists of our time. They use the internet as their stage to connect with people through their creations. And they’ve become a global phenomenon. Creators build a direct connection with their audience, which is why small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) team up with ?them to reach new audiences and build brand awareness. Such collaborations help businesses tap into the strong trust and engagement creators have with their audience.

But what does it take to become a digital creator? Are you interested in partnering with a digital creator, or perhaps becoming one yourself? These strategies and tips will help build your online presence and start creating with confidence.

What you’ll learn:

• What is a digital creator?
• The impact of digital creators on business
• Key skills and tools for digital creators
• 13 steps to become a digital creator
• Tips for success as a digital creator
• The future of digital creation

What is a digital creator?

A digital creator is an individual who produces and distributes multimedia content across various online platforms. This involves making different kinds of content, like photos, videos, writing, and audio, instead of specializing in just one type. Unlike photographers or food bloggers, digital creators are versatile in multiple content formats. 

Here are seven types of creators:

1. Bloggers: Write content for websites and newsletter platforms, specializing in diverse topics and niches.
2. Influencers: Use social media following and reach to promote brands, products, and ideas.
3. Video creators: Produce engaging video content across platforms like YouTube, Vimeo, and TikTok, covering a wide range of subjects.
4. Podcasters: Create and distribute audio content across various podcast platforms.
5. Digital artists and illustrators: Design and share visual art, including illustrations, animated content, and graphic design.
6. Online course creators: Develop and deliver educational content through virtual courses and workshops.
7. Streamers: Broadcast live video content online, often focusing on interactive entertainment like gaming.

Emerging trends in digital content

The digital content landscape is constantly evolving. Some emerging trends include the rise of short-form video and increased personalization driven by artificial intelligence (AI). Here are a few trends shaping digital content: 

• AI-generated content creation: You can use AI tools to produce, edit, and publish high-quality content ?without technical skills. AI can also act as your go-to sounding board to spark new ideas.
• Multi-format content ecosystems: Don’t rely on one platform; explore cross-platform storytelling and immersive formats across many different channels. This includes augmented reality (AR) or virtual reality (VR) experiences.
• Diversified monetization strategies: Go beyond subscriptions with multimedia content, collaborations, and exclusive memberships to offer more diverse value propositions. 
• Moving to owned distribution platforms: Having your own distribution channels helps build a direct connection with your audience. You can gather valuable first-party data, and have flexible monetization models, increasing the value of your work.

The impact of digital creators on business

Salesforce’s latest State of Commerce report suggests that 53% of customers prefer to engage digitally. And most ?ecommerce purchases begin on social media, with creators influencing many shopping decisions. Digital creators have evolved from merely entertaining audiences to becoming influential business partners who deliver measurable results. Businesses partnering with creators have superior reach over traditional ads. 

A recent example is ?Dunkin’ Donuts’ partnership with TikTok creator Charli D’Amelio for the launch of The Charli drink. This collaboration involved D’Amelio showing how she’d get her go-to Dunkin’ order customized to her liking on her social media feeds. Dunkin’ officially added this specific drink order to their menu and named it after her, capitalizing on her influence.

The result? D’Amelio’s direct connection with a large Gen Z audience drove traffic and sales, showing the power of creator-led commerce. In fact, Dunkin’ saw a 20% sales boost on ?launch day, and a 45% rise in all cold brew orders a day after the launch.

Let’s see how creators add value to businesses:

• Building brand awareness: Users discover new businesses through digital creators. Their authentic storytelling resonates more deeply than conventional advertisements.
• Engaging with target audiences: Creators have a direct connection with people. This helps them get valuable feedback and build communities around shared interests and values.
• Driving sales and conversions: Creators boost sales through affiliate links and special discount codes, making it easy to track exactly how their content affects purchasing decisions.

Key skills and tools for digital creators

If you want to succeed as a digital creator, you’ll need both your creative and business hats on. Here are a few skills you’ll need on your journey as a creator and the tools that can help: 

Content creation

This goes without saying — strong content creation skills form the foundation of any creator’s toolkit. This includes writing long-form and short-form content, producing high-quality video assets, and experimenting with design. A combination of the following can help you get started:

• Copywriting: Clear and concise writing can help you connect with your target audience. Use Grammarly to refine your text and Substack to build a community.
• Video and audio scripting: Edit your videos using Final Cut Pro or CapCut, and consider software like Audacity for recording. Achieve crisp, clear sound for podcasts and streams using microphones like Blue Yeti or Rode VideoMic.
• Design and photography: For a strong personal brand, maintain design consistency and design graphics with Canva. Free photo editing tools ?like VSCO and Snapseed can help enhance your photos.

Social media management

Managing multiple social platforms requires specialized tools for scheduling, monitoring, and audience engagement. The following can help: 

• Social distribution: Understand when and where your audiences are most active and use tools like Sprout Social to schedule your content for those peak times and platforms.
• Analytics and social listening: Know how your audience feels about your content with social monitoring using tools such as Brand24. Plus, analytics on social media platforms provide direct performance data.
• Digital portfolio management: Bring all your channels under one roof, and flaunt your skills using link-in-bio tools such as LinkTree. You can craft a digital portfolio using these tools.

Pro-tip: You can use a ?customer relationship management (CRM) tool to plan your social media strategy. It centralizes social media interactions with your audience and provides a unified view of engagement history and their preferred communication channels.

Planning and organization

You should set specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals as a content creator. While your goals should act as the guiding star in your journey, planning and organization are essential in achieving them. The following can help you stay productive:

• Project management: Project management tools give you an overview of your tasks and progress. Use Slack for collaboration, project tracking, and integration with sales, marketing, and service. 
• Storage: You’ll, of course, need a lot of storage. Opt for external hard disks or cloud-based storage tools like Google Drive, Dropbox, and iCloud. 
• Inspirational boards: Stay inspired with tools like Milanote and Pinterest boards to stack your ideas and revisit them to get your creative juices flowing.

Analytics and performance

Track what’s driving traffic to your website using Google Analytics, and measure audience behavior and user experience (UX) across the site using Hotjar. Also, social platforms offer direct insights into your content performance and audience growth.

You can identify your target audience’s interests, the websites or social accounts they follow to make your content more relevant. SparkToro and Facebook Audience Insights are great tools for this.

Become a digital creator in 11 steps

Becoming a digital creator is easier now, but it takes smart planning and putting in regular effort. The following steps are all you need to get started:

1. Identify your niche and strengths

Tap into your strengths and find your spot by looking at what you love, what you know, and what people want. Your ideal niche is where these three things meet. See what’s missing in the market that you can offer. Check out other creators to see what audiences expect and how you can be different. Starting with a narrow focus can help you become an expert before you try to cover more. 

For instance, Emma Chamberlain, a podcaster and influencer, translated her personal interest and love for coffee into a business venture by launching a coffee brand called Chamberlain Coffee.

Her large following provided a community of potential customers who trusted her taste and recommendations in this space. Plus, owning her brand opened up an additional revenue stream and creative control over the product and branding.

2. Create high-quality content regularly

Once you’ve figured out your niche, it’s time to establish a sustainable publishing schedule that allows you to maintain quality while remaining visible to your audience.

To do this, use marketing tools! You can use an AI CRM as your content creation sidekick, and that’s how 68% of creators use it for basic tasks. AI assistants can help you research, generate, and track content.

Choose content platforms strategically based on your content type and goals rather than trying to be everywhere. Visual creators may thrive on Instagram, while educational content creators should consider YouTube or newsletters as their primary channels. Start with one or two free platforms before expanding. Use those platforms as your playground for learning and experiential marketing.

3. Invest in tools that can scale

You can’t create content without your tools. The technical quality of your content matters, but expensive equipment isn’t necessary when starting out. Begin with what you have while focusing on fundamentals like good lighting, clear audio, and professional video.

Some tools you’ll want to use are:

• For video and visual content: A smartphone or a professional camera or a ring light for good lighting (a spot by the window for sunlight works too)
• For podcasts: A microphone, an audio editing software, and a podcast distribution channel like Spotify.
• For writing: A reliable computer, a keyword analytics tool like Moz, and? a proofreading tool like Hemingway Editor

Pro tip: AI can handle tasks like transcriptions, noise reduction for better content quality. You can also help you edit and distribute your long-form content or podcasts for social media platforms here. 

4. Measure content performance

One of the best parts about being a digital creator is seeing how your content performs. Set up key performance indicators (KPIs) aligned with your goals — including engagement rates, follower growth, views, email open rates, or conversion rates. Adopt a testing mindset to compare headlines, posting times, and content formats. This approach will help you improve your content strategy over time. 

Pro tip: Use AI to analyze your historical data across platforms to identify which topics and formats consistently resonate with your audience over time. This helps you hyper-focus on what your followers like instead of chasing short-lived trends. 

5. Monetizing your content

Monetize your content through various methods like advertising, direct fan support (subscriptions, tips), selling products, and brand sponsorships. You can also create membership communities with exclusive content or license your work to larger platforms. The most sustainable creators typically combine multiple revenue streams rather than relying on a single monetization method. In fact, around 91% of creators and influencers have 1-5 different types of revenue streams.

Build a highly engaged and loyal audience because this foundation will really boost your earning potential. To be a successful creator, you don’t need a million fair-weather fans — you need 1,000 loyal fans.

Pro tip: Use AI to analyze ??platform monetization trends and pinpoint which content formats can help you build a pipeline. AI can also help you create premium content tiers, products, and approaches that users will likely buy, increasing the average order value (AOV) for your business.

6. Brand partnerships and sponsorships

Brand collaborations represent one of the most direct monetization paths for creators with engaged audiences. These partnerships can range from one-off sponsored posts to long-term ambassador relationships. The foundation of successful brand collaborations lies in the connection between your audience’s interests and your combined business and personal brand. 

Research which brands resonate with your niche and audience and develop a clear pitch highlighting your unique selling proposition (USP). Create a media kit using Canva’s templates, highlighting your offerings, engagement metrics, and successful partnerships. This positions you as a business partner rather than just a promotional channel.

Pro-tip: AI can analyze your audience’s interests and content to suggest brands whose target audience and values align with yours. This can increase the likelihood of successful and authentic partnerships.

7. Service-based digital creation

Many creators use their expertise to offer direct services to businesses or individuals. This might include coaching, consulting, public speaking, and workshops. For instance, if you analyze fashion trends and create content around it, you’re a perfect fit as a social media creator or a freelance writer for a fashion brand or lifestyle magazine.

Creators who have built authority in their niche can generate significant income through consulting services. Even with a smaller following, creators can charge a premium as businesses collaborate with them for their expertise — and not just following.

Pro-tip: Take control of your day with time blocking and let automated calendar scheduling simplify your work hours. Setting boundaries around availability and deliverables ensures a healthy balance between your content creation schedule and professional commitments.

8. Subscription-based content

Subscription-based content involves creators offering exclusive or recurring content to members who pay a recurring fee, typically monthly or annually. Recurring revenue provides creators a financial stability that one-off monetization methods can’t match. Platforms like Patreon allow you to release exclusive content and early access to paying supporters.

The subscription model works best when you’ve already established consistent free content that demonstrates clear value. Subscribers need confidence that you’ll deliver quality content reliably before committing to recurring payments.For instance, Salesforce operates on a subscription-based model and customers pay recurring fees to access and use its cloud-based software and services.

Pro-tip: Use AI to automate mundane tasks like scheduling and outreach. This frees up valuable time and mental energy to focus on the core creative process of content strategy and generating subscription-based content.

9. Selling digital products with an online storefront

Thanks to digital products, you can package your expertise into assets that can generate passive income. These might include gated assets like ebooks, templates, online courses, or workflows. The goal? To solve specific problems for your audience that your free content identifies but doesn’t fully resolve. 

Your digital products should represent your most comprehensive work rather than repurposed free content. Also, your marketing strategy should involve email marketing, testimonials, and landing pages to improve conversion rates. 

Pro-tip: Tools like Commerce for Small Business can help you set up a digital storefront without a website. It provides intelligent analytics and a 360-degree view of your sales pipeline. You can scale with a suite of features for commerce, like payments, storefront design, and ecommerce automation.

10. Merchandising

Merchandising is the art of positioning and promoting your offerings to meet customer needs and encourage purchases. Think of it as an extension of your personal brand and the services you offer as a creator. Merchandising usually involves accessories, collectibles, product bundles, experiences — or their combination.

This approach can strengthen your community while making you money, particularly if you have a dedicated following. You can consider modern print-on-demand services to reduce upfront investment and inventory management challenges.

Pro-tip: Use Salesforce to launch and get started with your online store. This comes with features like abandoned cart recovery, customer segmentation, and marketing automation specifically tailored for small creative businesses.

Tips for success as a digital creator

Success as a digital creator rarely happens overnight. And building a sustainable digital presence requires more than just creating content. These practical tips will help you navigate your digital creator journey:

• Learn essential skills: Combine your creative talents with business skills, and make continuous learning, using platforms like Trailhead, a non-negotiable part of your routine. 
• Keep up with trends: Stay tuned in to the digital landscape changes with  search algorithms, consumer reports, and trending content stats. Trusted resources like the State of Marketing Report and the Small and Medium Business Trends Report can help you stay informed. 
• Make the most of AI: From content creation and research to analytics and brainstorming — creators are using smart intelligence to gain traction fast. Use AI to automate marketing campaigns, schedule posts, and draft outlines.
• Network with creators and join communities: Building relationships with fellow creators — within and adjacent to your niche? — ?can offer growth and provide emotional support.

The future of digital creation

Digital creators will play a significant role in the growth of businesses of all shapes and sizes. And, AI will make digital creation easier and more accessible. Creators who keep learning and adapting will be the ones who succeed as platforms and what viewers like keep changing rapidly. 

Start your journey with a free trial of Starter Suite today. Looking for more customization? Explore Pro Suite. Already a Salesforce customer? Activate Foundations and try out Agentforce today. 

AI supported the writers and editors who created this article.

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