With the tsunami of new content ideas and viral trends in Africa today, blogging and content creation have become more competitive and challenging now than ever. Trying to keep up with the constant flow of new content on the internet is already very challenging, but that is not even enough for a creator to be successful in this fast-growing industry.
So with this rise in competition and constant change in the industry, how can a creator stay relevant and successful?
The answer is quite simple; you must strive to stand out from the crowd and be exceptional. Now, if you are wondering how you can do that, then you should go through this guide, and you will be thankful you did; it discusses 10 effective ways creators in Africa can stand out from the crowd.
Find Your Niche and Stick to it
Africa is a vast continent where you can never run out of ideas to create content or topics to blog about. Hence, the first way to stand out in such an intriguing environment is to find your niche by identifying what you are passionate about as well as your skills and interests.
Then, you must do some competitor research and find out if there is a market for your proposed content. During your research, you should identify the gaps in the market and find out what the industry lacks that you can provide. However, you shouldn’t forget that it will be easier to create content about an industry you are familiar with than the one you know nothing about.
For example, if you are a nurse, you can create content to educate people on how they should care for themselves and what they can do to improve their health. Or, if you are a teacher, you can create content to briefly teach people about different topics you are good at. So you can see that any creator will do better with a niche they have experienced.
Be an Authentic Investigator
Blogging and content creation requires a vast knowledge of the area you have chosen to focus on, so you should know that learning is a must if you want to deliver exceptional content. Think about what will happen if you run a blog and your audience finds out that you gave false or invalid information; of course, your audience will be disappointed and may find it hard to trust you again.
Therefore, to become a creator and a blogger that will stand out in a crowd of an already saturated market, you must be ready to conduct authentic investigations to satisfy your audience’s curiosity. Delivering accurate and proven content is a very effective way to build trust and reputation with your followers, so ensure your content is tested, proven, accurate and effective before sharing it with the world.
Know Your Audience
Aside from choosing a niche, blogging and content creation strongly requires that you take time to carefully study your audience, and this doesn’t stop when your brand starts experiencing growth; it is a continuous process. In addition, you must consistently seek to understand the needs and interests of your audience because if you cannot satisfy them, you may find it difficult to retain them.
Everything you do as a creator is for your audience, so they play a big role in your success; therefore, understanding them will help you set standards to tailor your content and have it serve a significant purpose for your readers or viewers.
It’s okay to start somewhere small in getting to know your audience; you can receive feedback, insights, opinions and reviews from them to know their thoughts at all times. This will go a long way in helping you stay relevant and outstanding as a creator in Africa.
Keep Up With Industry Trends
Change is always constant in every industry, and since it may not be possible to know all the trends around the world, you should strive to know what’s essential and relevant to your content. Likewise, you do not necessarily need to know all the trends in the world, but most of these trends are of great significance to your content and will go a long way in helping you stay connected with your audience.
Keeping up with the trends in your industry will put you on the same page as everyone else, especially your audience, and they will always get first-hand information and content from you rather than visit elsewhere for it.
If you still need another reason to stay on trend, inactiveness and inconsistency are some of the most common reasons why blogging and content creation were unsuccessful for many people. So you need to update your blog, channel, page, etc. consistently so that search engines can navigate your content to find the most relevant for your audience.
Always Choose Quality Over Quantity
If you have been blogging and creating content for a while, asking you to create high-quality content may seem insignificant or even vague for some creators because while some may feel they are doing their best already, others may not even understand what is considered high-quality content.
High-quality content is not complicated; it is simply content that provides the most relevant, accurate and detailed information to meet the expectations of your target audience. Your content can be answers to some questions, solutions to problems or for entertainment purposes only but making them of top quality is key to attracting and retaining followers.
So saying you should always choose quality over quantity shouldn’t sound too strange anymore because quality would always be superior to quantity if you want to stand out as a creator in your industry. Hence, do not be in a hurry to create more content; instead, strive to make content that is well-researched, specific and personalised so you can have more quality over quantity.
Make Your Content Actionable
Becoming an outstanding creator in Africa is not such a daunting task if you understand certain things. First, you should know that people do not search for content they do not need, and they certainly do not come to your material to loiter around; they are there in search of solutions, entertainment, and answers that you have been positioned to deliver.
So you see that a very effective way to stand out and be unique is to create actionable content, give your audience something they can anticipate, and solutions that are effective. This way, you will drive engagement effortlessly, and your audience will keep coming back for more.
Maximise the Advantages of Multimedia
Blogging and content creation are all about communicating with people; yes, many creators do not forget to break up the monotony of their pages every now and then. Still, sometimes no image is better than one without a purpose.
Many authors and creators still find it difficult to use images, drawings, subtitles, graphs and other forms of multimedia relevant to their content; if you belong to this category, it will become a challenge when trying to create high-quality content that can drive engagement.
Adding multimedia to your videos and articles can attract your audience’s attention and motivate them to continue with your content. Aside from that, they can also help your audience better understand the information you are trying to pass on to them. So you want to stand out from the crowd, take advantage of multimedia and utilise it to your favour.
Be Yourself
This might sound cliche, but being unique and exceptional has everything to do with being yourself. While people can share the same interests and passions, it is rare for two people to think exactly the same way at the same time. So telling your own story and putting yourself out there for your audience to get to know you can help create a sound basis for differentiation and distinction in your industry.
Personalising and developing your own space for blogging and content creation will make you outstanding and help your audience get a sense of innovation when searching for different ideas on the internet. Therefore, being yourself is about communicating your unique ideas to people and creating a personal relationship with your audience so they can only find certain content when they visit your website or channel.
Socialise & Personalise Content
Another way to stand out from the crowd as an African creator is to make it easy for people to share your content and participate in your blog, and this can be done in several ways. First, you can comment on other blogs, contribute and try to build a relationship with the viewers and owner of the blog. Also, responding to comments on your blog or channel is vital; this is the only way to let your audience know that you care about their opinions and love hearing from them.
Another thing you can do is to spotlight your viewers on your blog, making them feel special for some seconds; this can attract more people to your content and make your audience feel appreciated. In addition, you can contribute and participate in Q/A sections on sites like Quora, wikiHow, Answers.com, etc., to showcase your expertise and draw attention to your content.
Lastly, you must incorporate social sharing buttons and tags in your posts to encourage your viewers and readers to share your content.
Create Differently
Blogging and content creation is something everyone with basic knowledge can do; it only requires a couple of hands and some equipment. However, while so many people can write or create content, not everyone can do it exceptionally and uniquely. Not everyone can create content that people will remember in a week or a month after the engagement. Only a few people can do these things, and you have to become one of the few.
Every content you put out there doesn’t have to be a hit, but it must be perfectly crafted to show creativity at its peak. So feel free to spend days on a single article or script but ensure it is worth it in the end.
If you have wished to take your creativity and creations to the next level, there is no better time to start than now, and if you can put this guide to good use, you will surely see significant results from now on.
Blogging and content creation are very lucrative in Africa and an excellent way to reach out to the world and express your creativity, so you should put your all into it and don’t stop until you are successful and fulfilled.
Market Differently
It is not enough to create quality content but how you market your content also matters if you want to stand out from the crowd. There are billions of content on the internet and thousands or millions more are churned out on a daily basis; so if you want to be heard and not just have your content sitting around without viewers or readers, then your content marketing strategy has to be different.
Many thought leaders in content creation/marketing have opined that more time should be spent on marketing content than on creating it; this indicates that standing out may simply mean creating quality content and spending more time and resources in getting it viewed or read by its target audience.
To sum up, as a blogger or content creator in Africa, doing things differently is the sauce/spice you need to stand out; from researching content ideas to creating and marketing it, your strategy needs to be different and systemized so it can be applied, replicated, and made visible in all your works.