Difference Between a Content Creator and an Influencer?

content creator, influencer, marketing manager, marketing, social media, content ideas

on February 14, 2022 |

Is there a difference between a content creator an influencer?

Words like “content creator” and “influencer” are thrown about on practically every social media site in today’s internet-focused world. Have you ever wondered exactly what these phrases mean? Isn’t it the same? From the standpoint of a user or consumer, how do the two positions differ?

In a nutshell, a content creator is someone who creates some type of material, such as blog entries, videos, pictures, and reels, among other things.

Influencers can also generate such material, but they’re more recognised for their relationship with their followers (i.e., their “influence”).

What Do Content Creators Do?

Content creators create content for blogs and social media platforms. This can include YouTube videos, TikTok reels, and text-based posts on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc.

The content they produce is typically original and may be shared for money, audience building, brand awareness, or just as a way to share their talents online.

What Do Influencers Do?

Influencers are popular individuals on social media and other content-sharing platforms who leverage their substantially large followings to promote certain brands and lifestyles.

This can be very beneficial for brands and small businesses looking to reach new users and build brand awareness.

When you see someone with thousands of followers flaunting a beauty or wellness product with a “sponsored” tag, they’re probably an influencer.

Influencers promote products and lifestyles through photos, videos, blogs, reels, and other forms of “viral” media.

Influencers often create content; that’s where the confusion comes from.

However, the difference is influencers are more focused on audience engagement, promotions, and portraying a certain image about themselves and their lives to sustain and grow their influence.

Content Creators Vs. Influencers: Which Is Right for My Business?

Now that you know more about what content creators and influencers do, how they work, and which tools they use, it’s time to think about which of the two would be right for your business.

Whether you’re planning to work with content creators, influencers, or both, each option has its pros and cons. Let’s discuss some of those below.

Working With Content Creators

Let’s start by highlighting the pros and cons of working with content creators. Know that there will always be some individual differences based on how each person works, but many content creators share the following traits.

Pros:

• Content creators are well-versed with digital marketing and can add more value to your marketing campaigns.

• Content creators can offer more than one skill. They can write about your product but also offer photographs and videos for a more comprehensive final product.

• Content creators tend to be good storytellers. They can weave in narratives and strong research findings to strengthen your story and position your brand effectively.

Cons:

• Content creators may or may not have huge followings. Many content creators don’t have a massive influence on their audience, so you won’t necessarily get millions of impressions on your post.

• Content creators typically don’t take on sponsored posts, so your content may not be advertorial in nature.

• Some content creators have specific processes of how they work, and they might not be able to tailor their content to match your marketing needs.

Working With Influencers

Now let’s look at the pros and cons you can experience when working with influencers across different industries.

Pros:

• Influencer marketing offers a great return on your investment. Studies show nearly 90 percent of marketers feel influencers provide comparable or better ROI than other marketing channels.

• Influencers have strong relationships with their audiences, so your posts can get a lot of engagement.

• Working with influencers can help you target specific audiences. For instance, beauty influencers have a lot of followers interested in beauty and wellness products so you can market to them directly.

Cons:

• Influencers may have huge followings but still be subpar content creators. Not every influencer can make the most engaging post so often there’s no guarantee of quality.

• Influencers may have fake followers. Today many influencers buy followers or have fake accounts to boost their apparent credibility making it very difficult to vet them before partnership.

• A lot of social media users dislike engaging with influencers, so you’re essentially cutting off a huge portion of your target audience by working only with influencers.

The bottom line here is that both influencers and content creators have something to offer, but you have to carefully consider your needs before choosing to work with any one of them.

Finally, remember that some content creators do double as influencers, offering you the best of both worlds.