To bring our community together, we kicked off November with our first “What the Influence” panel event at 657!
Panelists and creators Camilla Lorentzen, a Youtuber and Instagrammer who creates content about self-love, Stine Hartmann, an Instagrammer who shares inspiring fitness content, and Martin Litwicki, travel photographer and CEO at Scream media, shared insights about how they’ve turned content creation into a business.
Here are some key learnings from the event!
On positioning yourself as a professional content creator
To become a professional content creator, all 3 panelists agreed that creators need to find a niche for their social channels. Creators with a niche specialize in a specific topic, such as street fashion, and attract followers who are interested in it.
The influencer marketing industry is filled with people who are trying to become creators, and it can be hard for everyone to be successful. In order to make a living out of being a creator and to stand out from the crowd, they need to create high-quality, engaging content. But creators can’t engage with everyone online, so they need to learn what their niche is, figure out what engages their audience, and create content with their niche in mind.
The panelists also agreed that creators have to put in the time, resources, and equipment to become better creators. Camilla reminded the audience that if they’re looking to become professionals in the influencer marketing space, they’ll need to figure out how to position themselves correctly. If creators aren’t sure what niche they fit into, she suggested looking into getting help from a marketing expert to get started!
The panelists also emphasized that creators should invest in equipment, such as a camera or sound equipment, to help boost content quality, as well as take the time to understand the social platforms they’re on. To Martin, it’s important that creators find what they like and want to post about, and search for other people posting in that niche to get inspired.
On increasing audience engagement
To increase engagement, the panelists discussed posting content that keeps their audience going.
For Stine and Camilla, they believe that creators should carefully analyze which posts perform well in engagement, so they can post more of that type of content. It’s important to pay attention to what their followers like and what type of content they want to see. Camilla referenced the ongoing discussions around Instagram’s algorithm, and how challenging it can be for creators to break through. But she pointed out that if creators pay attention to what their followers like, they’ll get great engagement, and they’ll show up in their followers’ feeds.
She also emphasized how important it is for creators to reply to their followers’ comments. Without replying, their followers will stop engaging, which can negatively affect their reach. She explained that creators’ followers build them up, and creators should take the time to respond to comments. This will help them create a community around their social profile and build loyalty.
While Martin believes in adapting content to what his followers like, he also believes that creators should create content they’re proud of. Ultimately, people will love what they love, so it’s a matter of creators finding their niche and passion. The right community will eventually find and follow them.
To keep their followers engaged with storytelling and collaborations, the panelists also talked about being creative and staying true to their niches.
For Camilla, she stays creative by involving more people in her content creation process so she can develop a creative environment. She encourages creators to talk with someone, like other creators, to offer their perspectives and gain insights on what they can do more of or differently.
All 3 panelists agreed that when creators do collaborations, they need to stick to their niche. When they choose to work with brands, it should bring value to the people that are following them. Stine stressed that collaborations should be heartfelt and integrated in their daily lives. Creators don’t need to say yes to every collaboration.
It’s easy for an audience to know when creators commit to collaborations for the money. By doing this, they risk losing their followers’ loyalty, and their followers may stop engaging or following their profile. But if creators do collaborations with their niche in mind, and they choose who to work with carefully, their engagement will be great.
On collaborating with brands in a professional way
To collaborate with brands in a professional way, it’s important to have a brief that explicitly says what the brand is looking for. Camilla believes that without a brief, creators can create something that they might think is great, but it may not be what the brand was looking for.
It’s vital that creators communicate with the brand and ask them what their expectations are, what they want out of the collaboration, what type of content they’re looking for, and what their goals are. It’s also important to collaborate with brands who like the creators’ creative style. Because if creators aren’t able to give the brands what they want and align their content with the brand’s campaign objectives, they likely won’t work with them again.
For Stine, it’s all about thorough and honest communication. It’s important that creators talk with brands. If the fee, guidelines, or deadlines don’t work, creators should open a dialogue with the brand. She notes that most brands are willing to talk with creators to find a way for collaborations to work.
Camilla and Martin agreed with Stine’s advice. They often assure brands that they know what will suit their profile, so they need the creative freedom to create content that will relate to their audience. Martin added that it’s all a balance. Creators should deliver something that the brand is satisfied with, but if the brief is too restrictive, they won’t be able to do what they normally would. Creators have to work in a way that makes them and the brand happy.
Final tips takeaways
The 3 panelists shared some advice they wish they had in the past with the audience.
Camilla encouraged creators to find their niche. They should find what they’re good at and stick with it.
Stine also stressed finding a niche, and believed creators should be personal with their content.
Martin added that besides finding a niche, creators should do what they love and have fun. There’s so much to consider when creators create content, but when they have fun with what they’re doing, they’ll find joy in it. This will make it easier to be creative and to stick to their niche.
We hope this recap on our panel event has great takeaways you can use to turn content creation into a business! Let us know your thoughts in the comments below, and we can’t wait to see everyone at our next “What the Influence” event.
