No matter what type of art you create or are involved in, when it comes to building an audience that really appreciates your work, having a presence online will no doubt help you reach that goal. But with so many different ways to connect with your audience, which is the best? And how can you build an audience that really loves what you do? Here’s where original content comes in.

In this article we are going to explain exactly what original content is, what it means for you, and how you can start to create content that works for both you and your audience. Let’s go!

So, what exactly is “original content”?

Social media marketing expert Kimberley-Ann Jiminez describes original content as:

“Any piece of content created by your brand used to instruct, educate, entertain or empower”.

That means basically anything that you create from scratch, whether it be a blog post, an infographic, a photo, or a video; all of these are original content.

Why do I need to create “original content” when I’m an actor/ singer/ artist/ other?”

When it comes to your online presence, there are so many reasons why it’s important to always be creating and sharing fresh, new content with your audience (and a variety of types, if you can!). Let’s outline the main reasons:

1 – Helps you stand out in a crowded online space 

Even though there may be thousands of people all working in the same niche; it’s your individual story and experience that can really create and provide value to your audience. A good way to stand out is to truly show your personality and what you have to bring to the table.

Even in an industry where there are “industry standards” for work or for content creation, adding your personal flavour to the conversation can really make you stand out.

2 – Become a subject matter expert

When you give your audience more information about your topic you are establishing yourself as someone who really knows what they’re talking about. Your confidence in your knowledge shines through, which in turn makes people trust you. When people trust your opinion and advice (and it works for them) they will come back time and time again to seek out more information. For a lot of people starting out in your industry or niche, they want and need all the help they can get. That’s where you can provide real value to them, in turn building an engaged audience!

3 – Build your community

Original content that your audience enjoys and can utilise helps forge relationships – they trust you and they want to know more about what you have to offer. Similarly, even if your content is something that entertains or inspires your audience, it’s still eliciting a response from your audience, and that’s what helps build your audience. Similar to how your art can make the audience feel or think in a different way, your posts should do the same.

The more your audience love your content the more comments, likes, shares and mentions you’ll get. Not only that but people will trust you and feel like they know you, which in turn will make them comfortable approaching you and initiating conversation via social media. Interacting with your audience will make potential fans think you really care about the people you’re interacting with, which in turn will make them want to join the club. The more engaged your audience is, the more you’ll attract more!

4 – Add value to your audience

When creating original content, whether you entertain, inform or educate, you’re offering your audience something of value. It could be knowledge that helps them in their industry, information that helps them progress in their niche, or just something to entertain them when they have some free time. Whatever role your content has for your audience, it’s important to maximise it so they keep coming back.

5 – Builds rapport with your audience which potentially leads to sales

Although we’ve already covered building a community (see #3), it’s important to note that building an engaged community can also lead to potential sales. If you’re a creator who is selling your products or work online, a thriving community will be more likely to buy.

It can be particularly hard for independent artists to make sales online, but if you have a community that like and trust you, they will want to support you, and in turn feel much better about parting with their money for you.

So how do I choose what type of content to create?!

The easiest thing to do is to look at what others in your niche are creating and pay attention to the pieces that have had a lot of likes, comments and shares.  If it works for your competitors, it’s probably going to work for you. 

However, this isn’t a fail-safe method. Others in your niche may have more fans, or may be more established, and therefore it’s hard to tell whether their audience are really enjoying the content, or whether they’re more inclined to like it because they already support the person.

Ask yourself the following four questions to help figure out the best way to create original content that works for your target audience:

1 – How does your target audience normally (and prefer) to consume content?

How does your audience consume content? Do they prefer video content? Are they avid readers? Do they need direct and informative infographics? Pay attention to what has worked for you before – and what works for others in your niche. This will give you hints as to what type of content your audience actually enjoys. And therefore you can modify your social media offering to incorporate that!

For example, if you are a comedian that makes jokes about the lives of Millennials, you may find more luck sharing short videos, sketches and jokes on a platform such as Snapchat. After all, it has been proven that some 78% of 18- to 24-year-olds use Snapchat, and a sizeable majority of these users (71%) visit the platform multiple times per day (Pew Research Center, 2018). Therefore, clearly your target audience prefers to consume content on Snapchat, so start to invest time and effort on that platform!

2 – How often and when do you want to post?

There is no specific formula to how much you should be posting, or when, although studies have shown that there seems to be some trends. Check out the graphic below to help you figure out the best time to post: 

3 – What feels natural to you?

Above all, an important thing to keep in mind is what feels natural to you. What type of offering actually suits your personality? If you’re quite a shy person videos are probably not going to present the best version of yourself. If you prefer to write your ideas down than to share them vocally, writing could be the best option for you.

The great thing is that there is something to suit every personality type, and whatever your strengths are, you can find a media format that really can connect with your audience whilst also encouraging you to offer the absolute best of your personality, and in turn, help to cultivate your relationship with your audience.

4 – What are your audience actually going to be interested in?

There’s no use sharing original content if nobody who sees it is going to be interested in it; it’s a waste of time and effort.

Try to think about what your audience would really love to see; for example, if you’re an artist, perhaps you love seeing behind-the-scenes of how particular artists work, the paint brands they use, how long it takes to make their pieces…. and so on. Why not create the same thing for your audience?

Ask yourself: what kind of value can you create for your audience that will keep them coming back again and again?

Examples of original content

• Blog post 
• Video
• Podcast
• Infographic
• Newsletter
• Social Media Post
• Webinar
• Gifs
• Films
• Memes
• Live video or chats 
• Ebooks
• Online events 

Some examples of original content for creatives

ACTORS: A video explaining how you grew a passion for acting, a blog post with your top tips for successful auditions, a photo diary of tips for taking headshots. Here are some more content ideas for actors, including a 30 day calendar!

SINGERS: A fun video where you do impressions of famous singers, a Spotify playlist of famous artists in your genre that your fans may like, an Instagram story of a day in the studio recording

MUSICIANS: A video of a band practice, a curated Spotify playlist of your musical inspirations, a blog post about your songwriting process

ARTISTS: A blog post about what inspires your work, a video behind-the-scenes in your workspace, a product review of paintbrushes you use or have used

WRITERS: A blog post on how your career as a writer started, a video interview of yourself so your readers can get to know you better, host a writing competition on one of your social media platforms, a webinar about how to find ideas for writing fiction

PHOTOGRAPHERS: A behind-the-scenes video of a photoshoot, a blog post about how you edit your photos, a webinar on photography basics for beginners

Now you’ve asked yourself some key questions, take some time to analyse what sort of value you want to offer your followers and what you think they may like to hear about. Research other people in your niche and see what’s working for them. Also take some time to self-reflect; ask yourself what’s going to work best for your personality and what you feel comfortable with. Once you know the answers to these questions you’ll better know how to provide quality content that your audience will love!