Digital creators are the people behind all of the content that is displayed on the internet and elsewhere like on television.
They are the individuals who harness the power of technology to craft and share creative (or sometimes not-so-creative) content across a myriad of online platforms.
From YouTubers to bloggers and beyond, the “digital creator” meaning encapsulates a diverse array of creative individuals who have found their voice in the digital realm.
But at the center of it all, they simply use their creativity to produce and share content with a wider audience.
This article delves into digital creation, exploring its significance, and the diverse types of creators, and providing guidance for those aspiring to embark on their own journey as digital creators.
What Is A Digital Creator?
Simply put, digital creators create content that appeals to a certain audience.
They leverage digital tools and platforms to produce, distribute, and showcase their content to an online audience.
The platforms include:
YouTube;
TikTok;
Instagram;
Twitter;
A website (or blog);
Any other digital avenue.
Most digital creators create online media, greece telemarketing database like social media posts, YouTube videos, or blog posts but some make offline media through other digital means such as on cable television.
The type of content varies and can be videos, images, graphics, blog posts, or other types of media.
Regardless of the media they choose, digital creators, sometimes called content creators, should create high-quality and engaging content to be successful.
Engaging content can include formats like:
Funny comedy skits;
Exciting unboxings;
TV show review;
Tutorials;
Day-in-the-life vlogs.
Regardless of the format they choose, the aim is to capture and interact with the audience through their content.
Unlike traditional creators who may work within specific artistic fields, digital creators often possess a unique blend of skills that enable them to navigate the digital landscape effectively.
They are not confined by geographical boundaries, enabling them to connect with audiences globally.
What Is the Difference Bewtween a Digital Creator and an Influencer?
A digital creator and an influencer, while overlapping in the modern digital landscape, have distinct roles and focuses:
Primary Focus:
Digital Creator: Their main focus is on creating content, often with a specific skill set like photography, graphic design, video production, writing, or music creation. The content itself is the primary product, showcasing their creativity, expertise, and artistic vision.
Influencer: Influencers primarily focus on building and engaging with their audience. Their content is often centered around their personality, lifestyle, opinions, or endorsements. The goal is often to influence their followers’ decisions, behaviors, or opinions.
Content Nature:
Digital Creator: Content is often original, creative, and showcases a particular talent or skill. It can be informative, entertaining, artistic, or a combination.
Influencer: Content may include personal stories, experiences, lifestyle choices, product reviews, and brand collaborations. It’s often tailored to establish a connection with their audience.
Monetization:
Digital Creator: They may monetize through selling their creations, getting commissioned work, or through platforms that pay for content creation (like YouTube or Patreon).
Influencer: Their monetization often comes through sponsorships, brand deals, affiliate marketing, and promoting products or services to their followers.
Audience Relationship:
Digital Creator: The audience relationship is often based on appreciation for the creator’s skills and the quality of their content.
Influencer: The relationship is more personal and interactive. Influencers often build a community around their personal brand and engage directly with their audience.
Professional Identity:
Digital Creator: Their identity is strongly tied to their craft and the quality of their work.
Influencer: Their identity is more tied to their personal brand, personality, and the influence they have over their audience.
In essence, while there is a crossover in that both create digital content and can have significant online followings, the core difference lies in their primary focus—artistic creation and skill demonstration for digital creators, versus audience engagement and influence for influencers.
The 5 Different Types of Digital Creators
In the expansive world of digital creation, creators come in a variety of forms, each with their own niche, content type, and platform preferences.
From those who create videos such as YouTubers, to those who write blogs, each category offers a unique form of sharing information and content, earning in a variety of ways as well.
Here are some of the main categories:
YouTubers
At the forefront of the digital creator revolution are YouTubers, the term for someone who creates YouTube videos.
These are individuals who employ the power of videos to captivate, educate, and entertain their audiences using YouTube as their platform to upload and engage with their audience.
YouTubers span diverse genres, from tech reviews and gaming commentary to cooking tutorials and heartfelt vlogs. Using cameras, microphones, and editing their prowess, they bring their visions to life, often cultivating loyal communities of subscribers.
Aside from simply creating and uploading videos, many creators have now evolved into live streaming where they stream or replay videos for hours and hours.
These kinds of videos gather viewers over time, some of whom watch for many hours before leaving to rest.
On the other hand, YouTube Shorts, which mimic TikTok videos, have also become popular since creators curate short and snackable content that entertains the viewer but also causes them to stay engaged.
One of the top YouTubers also happens to be the biggest content creator globally: Mr. Beast. Also known as Jimmy Donaldson, Mr. Beast has 163 million subscribers which has enabled him to be the highest-earning YouTuber generating $54 million a year.
Donaldson creates exciting content such as being buried for over 50 hours and attempting a 30-day fast that captures the interest of the younger audience.
Educators
Education has found new frontiers in the digital realm, thanks to creators who deliver knowledge in innovative ways on digital platforms.
These educational content creators produce tutorials, explainers, and online courses that empower learners across the globe.
The main goal of educators is to condense all of their knowledge into materials that are simple for their audience to understand.
They offer plug-and-play formulas, templates, and step-by-step instructions to either demystify complex subjects or teach practical skills on topics like creativity, online business, nutrition, personal finance, and more.
Education content is delivered through various formats such as blogs, newsletters, email courses, post captions, videos, webinars, or paid courses.
As such, educators can be found on several platforms including YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram where they create engaging yet entertaining videos to educate the masses.
For more technical and in-depth concepts, educators mainly use YouTube to create and upload videos or LinkedIn, Medium, MailChimp, and Substack for written posts and newsletters.
Online learning platforms like Skillshare and Coursera are excellent options as well, giving educators a reliable platform to monetize from by creating high-quality paid courses.
Among the top educators is Crash Course, a YouTube channel operated by two brothers (John and Hank Green) with expertise in Literature and History as well as Science.
CrashCourse creates short videos, approximately 15 minutes each, offering information on various topics from Anatomy to Artificial Intelligence. The videos have fun illustrations and animations making the learning process easier especially for children and teens.
Podcasters
These digital creators have specialized in the auditory realm, offering immersive experiences through the power of spoken words.
Podcasters are creators who engage listeners with insightful conversations, captivating interviews, comedy, or thought-provoking discussions on audio platforms.
Equipped with recording equipment and a knack for conversation, podcasters explore a wide array of topics, fostering connections with audiences through the intimacy of sound. They have a distinct edge in that their content can’t be passively consumed.
Therefore, once they have their audience’s attention, they have the ability and chance to hold it and offer advice, entertainment, and stories in a way that other creators are not able to.
There is typically a large overlap between podcasters and other creator types.
Most times, podcasters are also educators, YouTubers, or writers. However, one thing is certain: their podcast is the primary means by which they produce their main content and grow their audience.
Working with audio also enables you to try many different things in order to develop into the content creator you want to be, whether it’s handling production for clients’ web content or self-producing a personal program.
More recently, podcasters have begun offering their content in other formats aside from audio. It is becoming more common to have a podcast streaming on Spotify or other audio platforms while the video version streams on YouTube.
By offering various formats, these digital creators have increased their streams of income enabling them to earn more by simply adding one more format.
A testament to podcasting prowess is “Serial,” a true crime podcast that sparked a global phenomenon of true crime podcasting. The podcaster, Sarah Koenig, narrated a 1999 murder story over several episodes in a season, each time discussing additional evidence and angles, attempting to unravel the truth behind the case.
Influencers
Most times, when people hear digital creators, they mainly think about influencers since they have become the most common type of creators and most people are exposed to them all the time.
Influencers are individuals who utilize their credibility, expertise, and relatability to establish a strong connection with their audience in order to ‘influence’ them into a certain perspective, brand, or lifestyle.
The tremendous rise of influencer marketing has made creating social media posts a hobby into a potentially incredibly lucrative career.
Influencing is mostly used as a marketing tool to translate followers and subscribers on various platforms into sales for sponsoring brands. As such influencers mix their personal lives and stories with brand content in a way that will cause their audience to want to purchase goods or acquire services because the creator uses or recommends it.
Their content spans a wide spectrum, encompassing eye-catching visuals such as curated and selfies, well-edited photos, personal stories, reviews, tutorials, and much more. Due to the way they have on their followers, these digital creators have become gems to brands looking to reach their target audiences.
Influencers mostly operate on social platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter, and even YouTube which helps create a more personal connection through vlogging their day-to-day lives.
Such digital creators mostly generate their income from brand partnerships, either for the content they create for them, or affiliate links and commission on sales.
Other than that, they also earn from digital goods such as printable downloads or presets for photo editing, frequently offered through outside marketplaces like Etsy.
With increased influence and followers, some open businesses resonate with their brand and sell products or services that their audience has previously shown interest in acquiring.
Among the top influencers is Kylie Jenner who has amassed over 398 million followers on Instagram. According to Visual Capitalist, the digital creator earns a staggering $1.8 million per sponsored post, making her the highest-earning influencer globally.
Bloggers
Bloggers are one of the oldest forms of digital creators.
Some people may even wonder if bloggers count as digital creators (they certainly do). They have contributed to a significant amount of information available on the internet today.
Similar to podcasters who have specialized in audio content, bloggers have carved out their space in written content.
A blogger writes content in the form of articles of all kinds. (like this one, for instance)
Most times, they specialize in a given set of topics such as travel and lifestyle, beauty and fashion, or a given education subject. Other times, the focus is on their personality and they write about random things such as cars, food, news, parenthood, music, and so on.
Through writing and posting blogs, bloggers are able to build a readership and a following for themselves. Once they have a following, these digital creators must continue to post content that is relevant to what their followers want to read, otherwise, they can become disinterested.
In some cases, these creators have their own websites where they post their articles or they create one on platforms such as WordPress, Wix, or Squarespace.
In other cases, they use platforms such as Medium to post their content and interact with their audience.
Having been in existence for a while, bloggers have built multiple ways to generate income.
From running ads on their sites and brand sponsorships where they market products in their articles to paid courses and paid access to communities, bloggers can earn money in various ways.
As more apps are launched and people move to the next big thing, bloggers have had to spread their wings and be active on more platforms. As a result, most bloggers also have Instagram and Pinterest accounts which help them engage their audience between articles.
Neil Patel is one of the top bloggers globally, having gained recognition from President Obama and the UN as one of the top 100 entrepreneurs.
Patel has specialized in online ad creation, content marketing, and search engine optimization (SEO).