What skills do you need to be a content creator? (8 proven ways to be a badass creator)

Whoever told you that content creation is a gift/talent/special skill, oh boy, they told you a big, fat lie. There isn’t a thing about content creation that is a gift. Everything is a skill and anyone can learn the skills, get better at them, and make money. Ooh yeah! What skills do you need to be a content creator? Well, that’s exactly what you’ll learn in this post. Ready? Hop on, my friend. You’re in for a delightful read.

30-second summary

Hey ninja! Gotcha. I know you can’t wait to find out what it takes to be a badass content creator. That’s why I created this section for you. Although, a real content creator will never skip the details. There, that’s the first thing you need.

• Mindset: the right mindset means a lot for every content creator
• Research skills: everything starts with research. The better you get at research, the better you create content
• Planning: as a content creator, you need to plan the next week, month, quarter, year, and even the long-term five years
• Analysis: Before you create, you need to analyze if it’s worth creating or not
• Content & Copy: That’s the heart and soul of content creation. You cannot do with these two skills, no matter how basic.
• Design & Presentation: Ok, you can write great copy, but a big chunk of your audience will prefer not to read. Visual representation of ideas is a must-have.
• Packaging: Yeah, it doesn’t end at just the creation part, you also need to package it all together and sell it.
• Storytelling: Great content is great storytelling. From a hook to a plot to the finale, you need to know how to tell boring information through exciting and memorable stories.

What skills do you need to be a content creator?

It feels like a superhuman skill set to have, right? Well, being a content creator is nothing less than being a superhuman. And if you also run your business alongside all this, ah, you deserve a salute!

Handpicked for you: 15 hacks for getting started with content creation (if you are a complete beginner)

If content creation is overwhelming for you, try breaking it down into small chunks of tasks and batch them. E.g. Research; Ideas; Planning; Scheduling; Visualization etc.

Let’s dive deeper, ninja! Are you ready? Here are 8 skills you need to develop to become a badass content creator.

1. You need the creator mindset

It might sound cliche but mindset plays a big role in your success as a content creator. With the right mindset, you will always create content that is impactful, useful, and profitable for your business. Here’s how to develop the creator mindset:

• Content creation is not about you, it is about the person who will consume your content
• Content creation is not meant to impress or show off your skills in copywriting or design. It is meant to solve a problem, serve an aspiration, initiate an action by the person who is going to read the content
• Content creation is not the end goal, it is a means to achieve your end goal
• If the content is not useful, actionable, result-oriented, rework before publishing
• Not every piece of content is going to perform well, move on and keep creating
• Every piece of content should move you closer to your goals and your audience closer to their goals
• It is not about the tools, it is about what the tools can help you achieve
• You don’t need to champion all content creation techniques, but you need to master at least one and master it like no one else
• Content creation is less about profits and more about awareness
• Content creation is not only for TOFU (top of the funnel), it is also about MOFU (middle of the funnel), and BOFU (bottom of the funnel)

Just getting started with content creation? Get your starter content creation toolkit here.

2. You need to learn advanced content research skills/audience research skills

The problem with content marketing is everyone is using the same sources. That’s why a lot of content you will see is just a rehash of something you already know. That means – ZERO VALUE.

Duh! Ninja creators do it differently. Your level of content research and audience research will ultimately define the level of content you produce.

Here are six things to consider when doing research:

1. Don’t just stop at Google, go above and beyond, expand your sources of research
2. Read a lot of blogs, forums, review sites, Q&A sites, social media discussions, Facebook Groups
3. Keep asking questions using surveys, polls, emails, messaging, feedback
4. Keep an eye on all allied niches e.g. if your niche is email marketing, study online shopping behaviors, email technology companies, newsletter trends, trending blogs, curation portals etc
5. Maintain a swipe file of your research sources: Blogs; Forums; Influencers; Speakers; Authors etc who talk about your niche
6. Audience research is as important as content research. Don’t create until you know who is going to read it and what do they already read

3. You need to learn short, mid, long term content planning

If there was one skill that I would pick if someone asks, what skills do you need to be a content creator, it would be planning. Content creation is simple, content planning is where a lot of creators fail.

Think about it like this.

Your goal: Lose 30 lbs in 30 days

Your strategy: Join the gym and workout once a day + daily morning 5K run + Keto diet

Your planning: Day 1 – go to the gym + run 5K+ keto diet; Day 2 – go the gym + run 5K + keto diet; Day 3 – go to the gym + run 5K + keto diet

Do you see what’s happening here? Strategy is easy because you make it once (and keep tweaking as required). Planning is difficult because planning is every day till you accomplish your goals through your strategy.

Planning involves taking a series of small steps that will eventually compound to accomplish your goal. Content planning is no different. As a content creator, content planning can be your biggest asset and help you create content that impacts, sells, and converts.

4. You need to learn how to analyze content creation and content performance

Analysis in content marketing works both ways. Analysis before content creation – deciding what you are going to publish based on research and analysis after content creation – learning the impact of published content and recording the learnings for future analysis.

Before: Content analysis before content creation

This is where content planning comes into the picture. How do you decide what kind of content to create? How do you know it’s going to work? The answer is simple.

Based on your research, you will have a fair idea about your audiences likes and dislikes, preferences, consumption patterns. You will also consider your previously published content to decide this.

After: Content analysis after content creation

This is the second step. Once the piece of content is published, you need to track its performance depending upon the platform it was published upon.

E.g. to measure the performance of this blog post, I will use Google Analytics. If I share this post snippet on Instagram, I will watch Instagram Insights.

Content analysis is a continuous process. Analyze what to create, create content, analyze content performance, repeat.

– Dev Matharia

5. You need to learn the basics of content writing and copywriting

It goes without saying. If you want to create content, you need to learn how to write. In fact, content creation is impossible without content writing or copywriting.

If you want to communicate your message effectively, you need to express yourself in words. And not any words, impactful words that sell.

Here’s how to go about it without sounding like a complete novice in writing:

1. Keep your sentences short
2. Use simple language as long as the message is conveyed properly
3. Never publish without proofreading (Tip: Use Grammarly free version)
4. Write less but write addressing the key challenges you are solving with your content
5. Think about the reader. Will they understand? Will be be able to use it? Will they remember?

6. You need to visually express your ideas through content

Mindset, check! Research, check! Analysis, check! Planning, check! Copywriting and content writing, check! Whoa, what next? It’s time to put it all together in a fashion that appeals to all audiences – visuals.

The difference between an idea that makes it and an idea that doesn’t is how well the idea was understood.

– Dev Matharia

Visual communication can make or break your content. Keep it too simple and you lose interest. Keep it complex and you lose attention. Visualization is striking the sweet spot between all-text and all-images.

Handpicked for you: How to create content for social media?

Badass ninja creators hone their visualization skills to create aesthetically rich, visually appealing content that is always on-brand too. Here’s how ninja creators go about it:

1. Start thinking about your idea in visuals. What pictures, elements, videos will represent it best?
2. While working on the content ideas, also work on visual cues for each piece of content
3. Maintain a swipe file for visuals. It can be as simple as having a dedicated secret board on Pinterest for inspiration or taking screen grabs and saving them all in an album on your phone
4. Did something catch your attention? Stop and think about what’s in it that made you stop. Heading? Font? Image? Icons? Colors?
5. Keep your brand elements handy (your transparent logo, your fonts, your brand elements, your brand color codes)
6. Always watch for striking visual inspiration and save screengrabs in your folder
7. Keep track of the world of design, what’s trending, what kind of images are common, what colors etc.
8. Finally, get creative with tools like Keynote, PowerPoint, Canva, Visme, Infogram, Crello, Photoshop, Illustrator etc

Here’s a guide for you to learn how to communicate visually. Wanna learn more about visual communication through content? Follow me on Instagram here.

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A post shared by Dev | Content Marketer-Creator (@contentmarketingninja)

7. Learn to package your content (to convert, to sell, to gain leads, to garner engagement, to get reviews)

When I told you earlier that good content creation is a superhuman effort, I wasn’t lying. But it’s not impossible either. When you are clear on the foundation of content creation, you can amplify your content creation efforts to get results.

What does it mean to package content? After you have created your piece of content be it a social media post, a podcast, a video or a blog post, you need to package it before you publish.

Packaging content will depend upon the goal/s you are trying to achieve with your content. E.g. A piece of content created to gain reviews will differ from a piece of content created to gain leads. That’s content packaging.

Content packaging basics

Here’s how ninja content creators package their content for maximum impact:

• Define a clear goal for your content
• Write down a clear and actionable CTA
• Define how would you measure the success of content
• Identify platforms where the content would be published and repurpose individually
• Use relevant elements depending upon time, audience, geography, event, campaign
• Add social proof (if needed)
• Reference back or link back to other relevant content
• Be mindful of the audience journey (have they seen something similar earlier?)

What skills do you need to be a content creator?

You need to be mindful, passionate, creative, resourceful and possess traits of a creative professional, a salesperson, an entrepreneur, and most importantly you need to be a visionary.

8. Learn how to tell stories through your content

If I had to give the most important recommendation on what skills do you need to be a content creator, I would say – tell amazing stories. People don’t buy your product or service, they buy what your product or service can do for them.

When you create content with this mindset, and you tell them stories that allow them to see themselves with a solution, you have created winning content.

All great brands tell a story. E.g. Nike doesn’t says buy my shoes, they sell confidence, endurance, personality. Apple doesn’t sell iPhones, they sell innovation, creativity, productivity, technology, status.

Storytelling basics

Good lord, don’t get me wrong here. I am not asking you to start writing fiction. By telling stories I mean communicating your message in a way that makes sense. Here’s how ninja creators tell stories through content:

• Intrigue your audience by starting with a great hook line/opening sentence/teaser
• Don’t sell your product, sell what it can do for them
• Have a beginning, middle, and end for your content
• Include emotions
• Keep them engaged through questions, twists, familiar scenarios, known language and terms
• Always have a conclusion e.g. CTA
• Stick to your story (if you stand for simplicity, stick to it)

Conclusion

That’s all folks! Next time you wonder what skills do you need to be a content creator, don’t forget to revisit this post. I have a better idea for you, why not bookmark this post or save it for later?

• Content creation can be learned and mastered
• Your research matters. The better your source, the better the content you create
• Plan, plan, plan! The only way to get better at planning is by making a plan and sticking to it
• Basic writing skills, writing like a human and not a bot is enough
• Think about your idea in pictures, shapes, illustrations. If you can, draw your idea without words
• Don’t just create content, create an experience – that’s packaging
• Alway tell stories (they work all the time)

Liked this post? Why not share it with someone who needs to know this! If you would leave a comment, feedback, review, it would mean the world to me.

PS: Part V of the content series ‘Everything about content creation: Basics’.