What Is Content Creation? (A Basic Guide)

Content Creation is a buzz term on the digital media platform, such as YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Twitch. Some may have gained interest in pursuing this path of career or hobby for various reasons. For instance, exploring their creativity, publishing a topic of their expertise so as to inform others, entertaining others, or being deluded into thinking that this is a great way to get rich and famous.

It is also a multi-faceted term. The media, marketers, and academics have contested its definition and meaning, who differ on how it could be said to integrate with and interact with other forms of information processing.

If you’re a beginner, you should know the fundamentals.

Let’s dive in and discover the 4 basics of content creation.

The Definition

There are many ways to define content creation. For example, one could say, “[it] is a task meant to educate…” or “is essentially the process of crafting…” or even “can be defined as the act of generating content for a given audience.” Here’s a definition from the most famous website that should never be used for citation on an academic paper:

Content creation is the contribution of information to any media and most especially to digital media for an end-user/audience in specific contexts. Content is “something that is to be expressed through some medium, as speech, writing or any of various arts” for self-expression, distribution, marketing and/or publication.

Wikipedia

The most simple way of defining is the method of generating, managing and distributing content in whatever form and medium that would reach and appeal to a target audience.

Other related articles on the definition:

• The Ultimate Guide – HubSpot Blog
• How to Create Great Web Content – Conductor

The Nature Of Content Creation

Some might say that content creation is essentially a task while others might disagree, arguing that it is a process. Still, others might find a middle ground and say that it is both a task and a process.

While task and process are a part of nature, exploration is fitting. The attitude behind the exploration should be the enjoyment of discovery. I’ll get back to this important point in a bit.

Content creation requires the creator to research and plan the content. After the planning process, the creator is to execute it by creating the content to share with the audience (e.g. making a video on YouTube, writing a thoughtful Tweet on Twitter, capturing a stunning photo(s) for Instagram). After creating the content, there is editing involved. The substance and content have been created, and the next step is stylizing them to make the content captivating. When all that is done, you share your content with the world.

The nature of content creation is similar to the movie industry: pre-production, production and post-production. However, unless you plan to hire a team and pay the members, you need to consider the cost of creating content.

The Cost Of Content Creation

When I use the word, “cost,” I do not necessarily mean how much money you need to spend to create content although that is a part of the cost.

Many do not consider what it would take to become a content creator. Content creation will cost you time, energy and money.

When you start out as a content creator, you are technically your own boss. You are making content by yourself, but the material that you produce will not make you rich and famous immediately. Unless you are fortunate, it requires a lot of hard work, commitment, creativity and mental strength to make quality content for your audience, but that does not guarantee you anything within a short frame of time.

If one does not count the cost, they will eventually quit content creation. However, you should remember your goal in creating the content.

The Goal Of Content Creation

The goal of content creation is to reach your audience and provide information to those who discover your content. Try not to be short-sighted and focus only on numbers. Remember, when you are creating content, your attitude should be the enjoyment of discovery. When you explore a new idea for your content, you want to share it with the whole world. Once your content is out there, it can inform, entertain or inspire people and get their reaction.

Therefore, when choosing to create content, you should find the niche that you want to share with the world.

What is your personal goal in creating content? What drives you to create it in the first place?

Other relevant articles on the goal:

• 5 Important Goals for Your Content Strategy – Relevance
• 5 Business Goals Of Content Marketing – Influence & CO.

So, did you get the basics down?

You have obtained a general knowledge about content creation. It is my hope that as you better comprehend the basic guide to it, you will understand how you may best contribute to the communication revolution that has been transpiring in recent decades. Are you up for that task?

Content creation is vast. There are many directions you can take to begin your journey. You can create content in social media, digital marketing, education and so much more.

If you have enjoyed this post, then leave a comment on what your goal is in content creation. If you think someone else will benefit from this entry, then share it with your friends or on social media. Finally, follow me on Twitch and we can hang out on stream!