Don’t just create content for a niche — become the niche

Hey folks👋🏽

Happy Friday! This has been a long, busy week for me, and I’m very ready for the weekend. I’m curious — outside of social media, how else are your publishing content? You can reply to this tweet to let me know.

💌 In today’s email:

• 🔓 TikTok creator Katie Xu takes us behind the scenes of her unconventional approach to content that has netted her thousands of fans and followers
• 📱 Mitra recommends Buffer’s latest integration for adding images to your posts
• 📣 What’s happening in social: TikTok’s facing bans left and right, then a former executive at the company shares some depressing insight into the Creator Fund, and YouTube Shorts creators share behind-the-scenes of their first month of payouts.
• +All our latest content from the blog

Have a great weekend, and we’ll see you next Friday!

Warmly, 

Tami & the Buffer team

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🔓Creators Unlocked: Katie Xu

Welcome to the latest installment of Creators Unlocked! Today, we’re unlocking Katie Xu’s creator journey, from being the brain behind the social media accounts of companies like Kapwing to being a TikTok creator with 70,000+ followers.

Katie’s TikTok has grown in leaps and bounds thanks to several viral videos featuring her analysis and advice about what it takes to become a successful creator. In this interview, we discuss Katie’s unconventional approach to advising creators and look at her plans for growth as a creator.

Q: What’s in your tool stack for content creation?

For video creation, TikTok is where it’s at. I don’t like creating videos outside it because it adds too many steps to my workflow, which I like to keep simple. Even when editing for clients, I log into their TikToks because it feels more natural and native.

In terms of monetizing my platform, I use Stan for my link-in-bio because the user experience is so clean. And it makes the flow of purchasing easier for my audience.

Q: What are your goals for 2023, and how will you measure their success?

In terms of content creation, I’d say diversifying my brand and creating a long-term, sustainable business out of it. That’s my ultimate goal because while I love creating on TikTok, a platform that you don’t own can be taken away at any time. The algorithm can decide one day to stop pushing my content.

Also, some no-background: I took a gap year to pursue content creation and I’ll be going back in the Fall [of 2023]. When I do, ideally, I’ll have a brand that I can take with me and continue to document my life.

Q: Regarding diversifying, what platforms are you considering? Are you looking outside of social media?

Definitely – I want to build a newsletter or at least an email list. I’ve heard from many creators how important it is, and I definitely see the importance as I slowly start to build my own. It’s comforting to know that I can always reach my audience.

I’m also tentatively considering starting a podcast – and I say that because I’m hesitant to jump on just any medium or platform because I prioritize focus and doing things well. But you can hold people’s attention much better with a newsletter or 30-minute podcast than a short video. The dedicated readers and listeners really become your core audience.

Q: What advice would you give to someone who’s just starting to take their social media seriously and build their brand?

One, realize that content creation is a skill that needs to be worked on and not just a lucky break that happens to anyone. Of course, people get lucky and go viral but if you want to pursue content creation sustainably, it has to become part of your routine. Treat every video you put out as practice so that even when engagement isn’t forthcoming, you can stay consistent. The big creators make it look easy but they have skills, whether in editing or storytelling, or simply connecting with people.

Two, in my opinion, you have to become the niche. I think niches are a very nuanced discussion, but you have to realize that you can’t hide behind the category. Even with cooking videos, if you’re just doing tutorials on YouTube and that’s all you want to do, great. But if you ever want to grow as a brand and expand into other parts of your industry like releasing a cookbook, you have to be willing to speak in your videos and inject your personality. That’s what builds real connection with an audience.

💡Learn our top tips for getting the most out of Buffer

We run live demos and Q&A sessions every other week. You won’t want to miss the tips and tricks we have up our sleeves for getting the most out of your Buffer accounts. Register for our next one (or a few) 😉 and in the meantime, check out our latest session!

👇🏽 The latest from the blog

• Creators Unlocked: Jayde Powell on Showing Up Authentically As A Creator: We’re bringing Creators Unlocked to the blog! For the first instalment, we share the full interview with Jayde Powell, where we discuss everything from favorite platforms to her advice for creators on showing up authentically online.
• How This TikToker Landed Over 100 Brand Deals: In this interview, Umber interviews content creator Toni Bravo, discussing how she has landed over 100 brand deals and created a full-time career out of social media.
• The Old-School Marketing Approach I Swear By for Growing My Business: In this article, Shay Paresh discusses how one-to-one marketing has been instrumental to her beauty brand’s success.

📱 Social Tip of The Week from Mitra, Buffer’s Social Media Manager 

Want to add an image to your post but don’t have a good one in your own photo library? Our new Unsplash integration lets you access thousands of free images to use.

Try it out while you’re scheduling your posts or when you’re planning in Ideas!

🤳 What's Happening in Social

• 🚫 The UK joins the US, the EU and several other countries in banning TikTok from government employees’ mobile phones. 
• 👎 Former TikTok Exec Seon Kim says that TikTok’s Creator Fund wasn’t intended to help creators monetize but rather as a reactive measure against the competition.
• 😬 YouTube Shorts creators are sharing the results from their first month of ad payouts (spoiler: it’s not looking good)

Thanks for reading! 💟

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