Lets, look back at this time last year.
We were just a couple of days into the nationwide lockdown, the reality of COVID-19 was just sinking in, and the internet was brimming with memes, activities of the new normal, and how 2020 seems like a work of fiction. When the whole nation was locked in their homes to curb the spread of the Coronavirus. It was a dreaded time, but everyone had to adhere to the guidelines and not step out of their houses. Amidst the pandemic, we learned of humanity’s ability to thrive and build a future.
Every sector in the industry was affected in one way or another. The lockdown was a turning point in everyone’s lives. For some, it had a positive impact and for others, it was nothing but a curse. It was estimated that in totality 48.90% of people were not satisfied with work from home lives.
The boom of Content Creation!!!
But thanks to Instagram and Youtube there was this one section of people who bloomed to the fullest in Lockdown. The year 2020 happened to be a blessing in disguise for many of them. They are none other than the social media content creators. These people channelized their whole potential towards content creation and brought out innovative outcomes. While it had its own share of challenges, all the content creators still tried to churn out the best among the lot.
Did you know before the lockdown, social media usage was on average 150 minutes per day? However, in the first week of lockdown, the figures jumped to 280 minutes per day, showed a survey. The survey added that 75% of people were spending more time on social media compared to the week before. This was the greatest opportunity for content creators to grab the biggest share of their audience’s attention and also increase the potentials market for themselves. And most of the content creators started utilizing the time to experiment with variations of video content and tried out multiple things to engage with a new audience and the best that worked out for sure was relatable content!
To support this statement we have a testimonial from Adele of Mumbai, Mallika Mehta, who is a great singer. She quotes that, “Everyone felt mentally low and so did I. But as a songwriter, it brought in a lot of creativity in me. It gave me extra time to polish my skills and release 3 originals in the year 2020. So musically it helped me grow leaps and bounds.”
Also, the audience engagement boosted in these times as all of us were at home and were exposed to a lot of content. Also, they produced relatable and do-able content and that attracted a lot of users. One of our food bloggers Yashvi Agrawal quotes that, “Covid-19 hit the content creators at the right spot. In my case, I curated easy lockdown recipes for my audience. This gave my content a great push. I cooked and savored some delicacies which otherwise I wouldn’t even have thought of.”
Apart from this, there was a section of people who started content creation from scratch. They were amazed by the world of influencers and stepped in to explore more by themselves. They gave in all the efforts to grow and thrive in the industry. One of our artists, Bhuvaneswari recalls that she got a lot of time in hand in lockdown which proved fruitful for her. She adds that she could focus more on her art and that increased her reach over social media.
This is definitely true. Many of us adopted new skills and honed the old ones. It was a great time to explore what lies beyond the horizons.
Everyone moved out of their comfort zone especially content creators.
In a survey with 2000 influencers, 95% of influencers said 2020 would see earnings take a dip due to COVID-19, but 72% remained confident in the revival of influencer marketing once the lockdown is lifted, 78% of them experimented with new ways of creating content at home with extremely relatable scenarios which helped them gain more attraction and moved out of traditional influencer space. Well, to sum up, it was definitely a hell of a ride with fruitful at least for our newage content creators as it broadened their horizon and did things they had never done before.
Well learning from the best of the content creators, we understand here that it’s time for all of us to focus on what we best fit in and start right here right now!
Author – Prapti Shah, Team InMandi
