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Back-to-basics

Content creators’ kick-off fuel with creativity. They would share their thoughts and ideas clearly and concisely without any external factors distracting them. This period of time can be classified as the golden age in the account’s life cycle as content ideas will be constantly pouring and improving, and the account’s overall success will be increasing exponentially. As time passes, the content begins to attract attention which ultimately leads to the business accounts growth in audience, reach, and revenue. At this point, a mental shift might take place. To understand this shift, we will need to examine it further and ask, what is creativity?

The Creative Process

Creativity to me is connecting the dots. First, we collect ideas (also known as the research phase), then we let those ideas simmer and this is known as the incubation period, finally, we let our subconscious present us with a brand-new idea, which is where our creativity comes from through.

When we simplify the creative process, we see that it is all about paying attention. When we pay attention to existing ideas, we can remix them and come up with something new.

The Shift

Now, back to the mental shift. As fame and success begin to grow, content creation turns into a numbers game. Creators begin to move their focus towards increasing or, at the very least, maintaining the number of followers that they have achieved from their creative/happy phase. This shifting of focus transforms the creator’s thinking from “how do I share my idea in the best way possible?” to “which of these ideas would bring me more interaction from my followers?” “Will I lose followers if I switch up the topics I am positing about?” or “My competitors are growing at a much faster rate than I, maybe I should follow their style.”

In most cases, the creator won’t even realise that they have shifted their focus so drastically from what they started out with, they went from paying attention to seeking attention. This doesn’t necessarily mean that this creator has changed their values or they don’t have the same dedication towards the idea that they started out with from the beginning, it is an unconscious reaction caused by our natural desire to get attention and be successful.

As the American actor and Director Joseph Gordon-Levitt said, “If your creativity is driven by the desire to get attention, you will never be creatively fulfilled.”

The digital platforms force us to seek attention

We’re programmed to believe that these two terms are somewhat synonymous, getting attention and success, due to the current age of digitalisation that we live in. The creators who are the central part of all these proceedings will be wondering themselves as to why their account is declining when they are still posting about the same topic that they started out on. But the answer is simple. It was the shift in focus that led to their downfall.

How to remain a successful content creator?

1. Seek first to understand, then to be understood

This is the first thing that I tell clients when I am giving them a consultation. Learn as much as you can about your audience. You can do that by social listening which is the simple activity of trying to find out what your audience is looking for. What are their main points and desires? Start with your own social media accounts and find your top posts. What worked and what didn’t? Repeat the exercise by looking at a competitor’s account.

2. Stop competing and start collaborating

Instead of looking at other creatives and thinking “oh, they’re going to get more attention than me,” try to find collaborations and look at them as allies. Two brains will definitely come up with better ideas than one so when you give your attention to your collaborators, it becomes very easy to focus and grow with them.