With the existence of many social media platforms, content creators are spoilt for choice. TikTok is a short-form media app that has proven to be a hotspot for young people.
Instagram reels, YouTube shorts, Pinterest, and Snapchat spotlight all provide content creators with an opportunity to make money. Short-form videos are a growing concept in the content creation world.
As with long-form videos, short videos also need you to put in your time and effort.
“My primary focus is usually Instagram reels, which I repurpose for other platforms including TikTok, YouTube shorts and Pinterest,” says Nancy Mumbo, a lifestyle content creator.
For Kalondu Musyimi, though, creating short-form videos is not an uphill task as she takes interesting bits and parts of the YouTube videos that she creates and uses them for her Instagram reels and YouTube shorts.
How do you earn?
“Brand partnerships have been my major way of making money as a content creator,” Nancy Mumbo tells the BDLife. In 2022, she earned Sh100,000 from Instagram and TikTok partnerships.
“A company hires you to advertise its products on your social media platform. However, Nancy says that she wants to hone her skills to be able to land more brand collaborations.
Kalondu adds that YouTube also pays content creators with at least 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours.
Content creation is all about numbers. The more followers that you have the more brand partnerships you are likely to attract.
With over 39,000 followers on Instagram, Kalondu says it takes patience and consistency to get here.
“I had to consistently upload content on my Instagram and swallow the bitter pill whenever my content did not pick up as much traffic as I had hoped.”
Now with many followers, she has become a brand by herself and companies, especially fashion brands, have approached her to market their products.
The challenges
Content creation comes with its fair share of challenges. Money to create content is one of the main ones.
“Nothing prepares you for how expensive creating content and establishing yourself in the industry is. You have to buy equipment. You have to buy makeup products and brushes, clothes for style videos. Visit places to shoot content that costs money. It’s always one thing or the next that costs money,” says Martha Aluoch, a content creator on Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok.
Kalondu says that staying consistent is also a major challenge. “Your audience needs to have regular content. This is the only way you can retain followers and attract more.” Despite the challenges, these content creators advise anyone to go for it.
