Using Good Storytelling in Content Creation

The art of storytelling goes back far back into human history with petroglyphs almost 12 thousand years ago. It’s hard to believe that we’ve been telling stories for that long. Humans are drawn to a good story. We continue to be fascinated by books, movies, shows, and even chatting in our living rooms to catch up with friends. Compelling content is based on great storytelling. As content creators, you want to hook your audience in and make them want to hear what comes next. This can even be true in short-form video content. This can’t be truer in today’s digital age when people can just swipe through your video because they’re already bored in the first few seconds of seeing it. Though be it short, you still want to follow traditional storytelling techniques. Understanding the elements that make a good story is crucial to your content’s success and performance.

1.     Understand your audience: who is watching your videos? What do they care about? If you’re a fitness content creator, they probably won’t want to watch something on cooking. it should also reinforce your brand voice.

2.     A compelling narrative: start with a clear, concise theme that has a clear beginning, middle, and end with smooth transitions.

3.     Relatable characters: the character should be well-developed. Let’s say that you’re a comedian. You want to create a specific character with a distinct personality. How does this character relate to your audience? What do they have in common?

4.     Emotional appeal: you want to be authentic and appeal to some type of emotion. Is it humor? Is it happy? Is it angry? This will be where knowing your audience comes into play. What types of challenges do they face? What motivates them? What is it that they care about? What are their values and beliefs?

5.     Use the 5 senses: this can create a life-like description that the audience can feel like they are there with you.

6.     Story arc: this is the structure that moves your audience through events. It typically builds to the point. Lead them there with a good hook, some tension, and finally to the conclusion. Make them want to see what that is.

Storytelling in content creation is a powerful way to encourage your audience to stay engaged and possibly even act. Here’s an experiment, do two different video content clips. One of those videos doesn’t follow these guidelines and you just kind of post something with no specific structure. Now, do a similar post that follows good storytelling guidelines for the video and post. Compare the performance insights to see which one did better. We’re certain that you will find it in the second video. Stand out in a sea of creators. Create engaging content that people won’t be able to ignore.

Get Your Content Licensed: A Guide for Content Creators

We deal with a lot of content creators and influencers on the daily. Some of them are very organized, and others, not-so-much. Their mistakes have led to good content that went to waste. If you are a content creator or influencer it’s important to understand a few things to remain successful when dealing with agencies like us. Here is our list of do’s and don’ts to get your content licensed so you can make money.

1.     Don’t outprice yourself: there are industry standards. We compensate correctly and fairly. If you’re unsure how much your content is worth, there are plenty of resources out there with calculators as well as guides to help you.

2.     Don’t let “management” outprice you: A lot of times, “management” or representation proposes pricing that blows the brand out of the water, so the content does not get selected. A good manager knows the correct industry rates. Also, make sure that your management team is responding to inquiries in a timely fashion. Ask to audit them. If they are doing right by you, they shouldn’t have a problem with showing you receipts.

3.     Film your content logo free: no logos, please! Strive to create content that is completely logo-less or as logo free as possible. This could be the deciding factor in choosing your content over someone else’s. it’s better to license videos that are for editing purposes and typically, a brand does not want to see a huge blur over a Nike logo on a t-shirt, center screen in their commercial.

4.     Create family-friendly content: try to do this as much as possible. A lot of times the brands we’re sourcing for, want family-friendly content.

5.     Respond promptly: a lot of times there are backup selects that we have in mind so if we don’t hear back from you or your management, we will go with those and not choose your content. Make sure your inbox settings do not always usher inquiries to an “other” folder where you won’t initially see the messages. You can always delete spam on the fly. You can’t always make the deadline of the commercial if you miss the reach out!

6.     Be careful where you submit your content/and which agreements you sign: most creators don’t realize that when you submit your content to be featured on a website, that you are granting that entity to own your content exclusively. Also, companies will approach creators with an EXCLUSIVE agreement. While it seems like this will be great at first, you relinquish control of your content, and sometimes, your content will be shelved forever, and you’ll never be able to get out of the agreement. Don’t fall victim to this and make sure you read the fine print, including the terms of service for platforms, to remain the copyright holder of your content.

7.     NEVER film your content inside the Tik Tok App: When you film using Tik Tok’s proprietary camera, they own an exclusive to your content, which means you need permission from them to make any money from the content.  This makes your content un-licensable. Always film or shoot on your phone or camera, AND THEN if you want to upload to Tik Tok, we can still license your video/still/audio/design for a commercial.

8.     Beware of SCAMS: There are a ton of scams out there whether it be a text message, an email with a blurry PayPal prompt telling you that your account has been locked, or a series of others. The trick to identify this is PERSONALIZATION. If someone reaches out to you by your real name, provides examples of work, and asks for an in-person call/video chat, they are most likely, NOT a scam.

We hope that this helps any content creators out there who have questions about best practices may have when dealing with agencies such as ourselves. We want to see content creators thrive. Our business wouldn’t be where it is without them, so we appreciate all their hard work and dedication to their craft. We understand it can be a tedious job at times. Happy creating!

How to Build Lasting Content Creator Relationships

“93% of marketing professionals use influencer marketing to increase brand awareness, build trust, reach their target audience, drive conversions, and connect to a wider market” (Influencer Marketing Hub). We know we work with content creators every day as well as influencers. Brands using real people to get their name out there to the right audience are really on to something. We may be biased since we know the power of UGC ad campaigns firsthand, but we want to chat a little about the importance of creating a relationship with creators that will last a long time. Successful creator-brand relationships are no different from any other and must be nurtured. They’re very valuable for both parties involved. The brand gets to spread awareness while the content creator also gets cross-promotion to increase their brand awareness as well. It’s important to keep the collaboration positive. Here are some tips to create and foster a great brand-creator relationship.

1.     Check-in: check in with them often and show your appreciation for them. Communication is vital!

2.     Communicate clearly: make sure that you provide them with concise and detailed briefs on what you need from them. This will lower any mistakes from confusion and streamline the work process.

3.     Don’t micromanage: you have to trust them. Treat them as if you understand that they’ve worked hard to build their content brand and know what they’re doing. There is a reason that you chose them to collaborate with. Don’t lose sight of that.

4.     Compensation: be on time with payments and make sure that you’re paying them accordingly. You show them that you value their work and will build greater trust between you both.

When both sides are happy the relationship will continue to be productive and reciprocal. This collaboration has become a large part of marketing strategies for most brands. With happy creators, the content they create will be meaningful. You will see in the content’s quality that they are fully invested in the brand.

Supporting Content Creators

“44% of content creators say their creator business is their family’s primary source of income,” according to The Tilt, but only “12% of those full-time creators make more than $50K in annual income” (Linktree). If you do the math here that’s not a whole lot of rich and famous for these people. Well, maybe a little bit of famous, minus the rich. Depending on where you live, $50,000 isn’t a whole lot for one person to make annually, especially if they have families to support. We’ve been working with content creators for almost a decade now and we truly love supporting them. They’re the best kind of client we work with. Usually they’re just normal people with no frills attached. They easy to communicate with and grateful to license their content to us for our campaigns. Thus far, we’ve paid out over $1,500,000 to content creators since Locomotive Contents formation. Here are some ways that you can support some of your favorite content creators or even friends who may be part of the creator economy.

1.     Amplify their voices: share their social media posts. Talk about them to friends who might be interested in what they offer. This one is the most important. It’s more important to share content from creators who are closer to us than those that we don’t even know. Help them expand their brand through engagement.

2.     Buy their stuff: this can be through using their discount codes for certain brands they are affiliated with or just buying something they sell through their website. If they have merch, buy that. if they sell a service, try it out.

3.     Write them a review: word of mouth is great, but we all know that people really do read reviews. If they write blogs shoot them a comment of feedback.

These creators put a lot of time and hard work into their craft, whatever that niche may be. It’s important to support them and help them grow their brands just like any other business. For many, this is a full-time gig. They’re very different from influencers in more ways than we can count. Join us in supporting the creator economy around the world!

Content Creator Stats 2023

We were recently doing some content creator research and discovered some interesting statistics on content creation and the creator economy in general. Since this is what we deal with in our business, we thought it would be useful to list some of the eye opening ones that are important and relate to what we do.

1. There are over ~200M content creators in the world (Link Tree)

   1. 139M of those creators have between 1K-10K followers

2. 51% of full-time content creators earn enough to support at least one person (The Tilt)

3. Engagement and clicks are the most important metrics for brands and marketers looking to work with influencers (Influencer Marketing Hub)

4. 64% of creators are women (Convert Kit)

   1. However, women make 1.88x less money than men creators (Influencer Marketing Hub)

5. 70% of creators spend 10 hours or less per week creating content (Link Tree)

The creator economy is on the rise and if you ask an American kid nowadays what they want to be when they grow up,  chances are that they will reply with, an influencer. Actually, it’s 1 in every 4 kids to be exact. The popularity and growth of the creator economy has almost romanticized becoming an influencer. Interestingly enough though, only 11% make between 50K-100K. These numbers can easily be considered a typically “living” in the U.S. for an individual depending on where they’re located. It seems that the shine that comes along with becoming an influencer isn’t related to money and more to do with popularity. Everyone wants their 15 minutes of fame. Seems that some things never change with us humans. This is one reason we love sourcing and licensing content. Most people are more than happy to have their content featured in big brand commercials. We love finding those perfect pieces that fit within our client’s brief. Those clips that they just gotta have! Seeing clips fill our partners creative need are the moments we love the most.

The Side Hustle: Creator Economy

“Side-hustle ideas” jumped 326% since September 2022, according to Momentum Worldwide Trends. I mean, honestly, who doesn’t have a side hustle in today’s economy? Especially now that hybrid work has become something we’re all very familiar with since the COVID-19 pandemic hit. It has enabled a lot of people to pursue other forms of income other than their main stream. Platforms such as TikTok and Instagram are now offering ways to make money as a brand through promotion or as a creator through reels and partnership collaborations. We are certain that this uptick in the side hustle will inevitably lead to an increased content creator economy. Good news for us and good news for those working with us! More content creators = more options for content for your projects. There’s already an infinite amount of content uploaded everyday but with this trend that will increase the amount that we will discover. Bad news is, the more content out there, the more difficult it can be to find those perfect pieces that you’re looking for in your brief. It will pose to be even more difficult for brands that try to do in house found content projects. It’s good that you have a professional like us to do all of the daunting work for you. We can’t tell you the number of times we’ve been told that an agency tried to discover and curate the content themselves only to be left with major headaches. This is sometimes what leads them to us. Sometimes things are easier said than done but this is where we come in. Skip the headache. If you haven’t reached out about your found content projects yet, what are you waiting for? Looking forward to working with you soon :)

When Hiring Content Creators

We all know by now that content marketing has become the top way to generate more leads, keep reader’s attention, improve loyalty and trust. The list goes on and on. Actually, a stat by demand metric research shows that 86% of businesses use B2C content marketing. As they should, it costs 62% less and the benefits are great (as mentioned above). This being said, there are a lot of content creators out there now so how do you know which one(s) to choose for your brand and its campaigns? There are a lot of things that you should look out for but we’ll list those that we feel are the most important.

1.     Drive. Hiring a content creator is no different than hiring anyone else on your team. You want someone with good work ethic. You want someone who’s excited about creating content. They will be good storytellers to create emotional content.

2.     Expertise. Are they experts in their field? If so, they can help your brand by creating the content that is best to engage your consumers.  

3.     Alignment. This one is very important. You want a content creator who aligns with your brand mission. You want their personality, values, and ethics to be similar to that of your brand. This will ensure a smooth collaboration.

4.     Good communication skills. This one goes without saying really. You definitely want a creator you can easily communicate with. Are they personable? Do they have a positive mindset? If they’re not friendly and easy to talk to it’s probably not going to work out. You want someone that you can easily communicate your ideas with and are comfortable speaking with.

5.     Metrics. What do their metrics look like? What’s their engagement? How consistent are they posting?

6.     Unique & authentic style. A unique creator style will always attract audiences. You want someone who’s going to demand attention with their uniqueness. That being said, they must be an authentic personality. People will see right through it if they’re not. You want someone who will be able to bridge that gap of trust with your consumers. Their more likely to trust the recommendations of someone who is a “regular Joe” if their an personality is genuine.

We hope that this list of traits will help you find the best content creators for your brand. We’ve worked with so many different types of creators over the years. Some were fantastic and others, well, let’s just say we probably won’t work with them anytime soon. All the amazing creators we’ve worked with have had every single one of these characteristics listed above. It’s crucial in order to have a successful and fruitful relationship that will excel your brand’s success as a team. We can find the perfect creators to help you craft your brands message. Ask us how!

Friday Feature

This week our feature is an entrepreneur of Hazel Coffee Co., Hailey Polidori. Her coffee shop is an all mobile coffee bar in Austin, TX. Their mission is to bring creatives and community together. They serve locally roasted beans and offer bookings for events. You can request a quote by clicking the link on their website. Not only does she own this cutting-edge coffee shop, she is a content creator, a photographer and YouTuber. We’ve had the pleasure of working with Hailey and hope to do it again in the future.

Friday Feature

This week we turn to one of our furry friends. Our feature this week is of Max the dog from Vancouver, Canada. This fun-loving pup goes on all types of adventures and is absolutely adorable. We previously worked with his owners to license a piece of content during the COVID pandemic where his owner used him for leg presses while the gyms were closed. Captioned with “Only got to do 2 reps of my 40lb leg presses before my makeshift weight gave up.” What a fun way to get creative with your workouts! Big shout out to them for helping make one of our campaigns fun and exciting!

Friday Feature 10/7/22

We’re taking you to the sunny beaches of your living room. Wait what? That’s right! You heard us. This surf video went viral back in March of 2020 of Sailah Nicol and her brother surfing on the rug in their living room. Their father is pro surfer, Yadin Nicol who is also featured in this video pulling the rug up into a wave. This video is probably up there with one our favorites that we’ve licensed over our years here at Locomotive. Head over to Instagram and show the families page some love and support with a follow.

Friday Feature

This week we turn to a producer and director, Christin Baker. She is co-founder of tellofilms.com and proud creator of lesbian content. We worked with her on a Rapinoe spot many moons ago now. It’s our pleasure to showcase her talent. She was great to work with. To read more on the amazing work she produces, visit her IMDb page.

Friday Feature

This week’s content feature goes out to talented movie character, Nick Darnell. We loved working with him to license his dancing video of the #sugechallenge. Not only can he act, he can definitely dance too! As we are watching this video shot in front of a Circle K gas station with the caption, “They kept tryna gas us up all weekend,” you see the gas prices on the sign behind them. WOW! This may give you an idea of how long ago we sourced this video. Give him a follow for fun content.

Friday Feature

This is our first Friday content creator feature. We thought it about time to switch it up a bit from our Friday fun favorite campaigns. If you loved it, don’t worry. It’s not gone. Just taking a break for a while. This week’s creator shout out goes to Vibe Salon in Atlanta. We recently worked with them on one of our campaigns helping source content for an Oreo spot. If you live in the Atlanta area you should check them out! It was a pleasure working with them and it seems they do amazing things with hair! Have a great weekend all!