Like Mari Smith once said: “Content is King but engagement is Queen, and the lady rules the house.” Content is the currency for modern-day entertainment. To stand out in the very crowded space of the virtual world, certain factors like product placement and engagement play a vital role. In the content-making industry, quality and visibility both are codependent on each other. Content has been primitive to all art forms and entertainment tabloids since the beginning of their introduction, so has there division for the audience to consume them. It is relatively evident that the consumption of content has increased in the last decade due to the introduction of digital media. Content is the poster child for your organization. It is essential to be aware of your personas’ needs and interests; this way, you can offer the right content at the right time, something every creator should strive for.
The Creators Process
The creators’ process is mainly targeted with the overall idea of making content, i.e., moving images, photographs, digital blogs, vlogs, and certain others. Generally, a creator focuses on producing his initial bodywork with originality to establish his sustainability in the industry. As originality is a subjective concept, hence the creative process includes experience to expression. But sooner or later, as it wears out of this or rather creative block strikes him, then it becomes inevitable to use the audience he/she has built and encash that in the name of creativity. This is quite similar to building your own brand.
As long as the content has existed, there have been means to please the audience. Still, creators have always found a way to satisfy themselves as well as their audience. In recent times, content has been subjected to commercialization to increase mass value; this has been intentional and unintentional. This is instead a phenomenon that happens to increase the selling point and stand out among other counterparts.
Massification of Content
The commercialization of content doesn’t generally come from a negative standpoint. It is instead the positive effect of advertising and a strong marketing strategy. The only downfall being identical or cliched content. The encouragement to create such content comes from the consumerism stats. This results in the range having a short lifespan and forces the creator to frequently recycle the content. Thus the entire process becomes far too hectic and less enjoyable in some cases.
This also affects the aesthetics of a creator, as their originality is lost somewhere to attract more audience. Thus the primitive question becomes valid; what is conviction? As the creator and the creation in no way serves the passion of that artform. Although the bulk of content conforms to the communal experience and some level of relatability among the consumers. Judging the value of content is often partly intellectual and interpretative. Still, it can be influenced by emotional and societal aspects.
Aesthetic Value of Content
The aesthetics of content depends a lot on its overall audience span;. At the same time, it only relies on the artistic appeal of the product. Still, it certainly attracts the target audience at first glance. The importance of first impressions is very impactful, and also this response is immediate and involuntary. Aesthetic attributes include preference. Aesthetics are responsible for satisfying user experience.
Nowadays, the value of a product is more important than aesthetics. But aesthetics help you against your competition. Often different contents are coexisting in the same platforms with the help of aesthetic differences. The massification of the content also creates its own aesthetic norms. The distinction is also sustainable only with the hint of signature style, thus preventing the monotonous nature of content from its contemporaries.
Sustainability of Content
The amount of content produced is increasing massively. The prime way to sustain in the industry is with uniqueness. Although the major letdown of this process is plagiarism. As engagement is a priority for most content creators, frequent content updates are necessary. This peer pressure makes victims of plagiarism. This overwhelming workload to create content is also one of the reasons for creators to quit the space.
Creating content for the sake of content is never a healthy way to deal with it. Incorporating a sustainable content strategy helps the creators build an audience for a more extended time. But sometimes, waiting for too long can kill the overall engagement. Keeping content fresh and including authoritative information depending on your niche can help build your online solid media presence. This also involves using social media trends which is another effect of commercialization; this helps relatability among the audience. The creator has to stay updated with internet culture. It is an integral part of the content-making process and firmly influences the engagement rate.
Targeted Content
Content with or without the introduction of social media will always stand out on its own. People will always find out their need for consumption; that being said, consumerism is only prevalent as long as the product placement is correct. The commercialization of content has helped many small-scale creators get a national scale audience, which has helped grow their content. Channeling the response from the audience and applying it to the development of your content will help refine and serve your target audience. Once a creator is familiar with their own thematic content and how to achieve consistent quality, it’ll help them thrive at their own pace. Sometimes building this own brand of content can take more time than expected. Still, the creator has to focus more on the outcome than the unhealthy competition. Creators are already under a lot of pressure to churn out high volumes of quality content in a short period; this can quickly lead to burnout, ultimately creating a vacuum in the creative industry.