It is related. Create and promote, create and persuade, create and sell… But creativity is not the same as marketing.
...And unfortunately, much of modern "creativity" is just that - marketing. Content for consumption. Not work for the senses.
I did it myself.
I used to text on Facebook or Instagram just to get attention. I was looking for ways to keep visitors on the page and increase the percentage of subscribers. I A/B tested everything - buttons, texts, headlines... It's important that only my users consume as much content as possible + buy as many of my products as possible.
Creating content for consumption is easy and enjoyable.
It's easy, because the rules are clear - you don't need to be original to get attention - just repeat what's currently in the chatter, mention one other big name, use a few marketing tricks like "Write a CONTINUE in the comments if you want me to write a sequel", and, well, you know what I mean. Facebook and Instagram are full of it. The rest of the internet is too.
It's nice, because good content for consumption also sells. Whatever you want to sell. If you sell yourself, you'll get compliments on how fantastic you are, if you sell books, people will buy your books because they want more of your content and, well, you know what I mean. The internet is full of that.
I'm not saying that content is bad for consumption. Maybe it makes sense. Maybe it's needed. Maybe if it wasn't for this content, there wouldn't be any bullshit to fill the business pages... It would be a pity... (Mmm...)
But creativity, real creativity, is more than that.
- Creativity is personal. Creation is not for the faceless masses. Content is for. Creation, instead, is for the people you see. You know. For the one person you know. Maybe, at most, a few hundred of them. Maybe just for yourself. But certainly not for the whole country and the world. Creativity is personal, and content is about filling in the blank pages of a book in the hope that you'll inadvertently put something creative on them.
- Creativity is brave. It's inevitable, really - if you're determined to focus only on the real people you can help, you'll find 99% people you can't help. Copy-pasted, boilerplate content will help almost everyone. Blunt, trite advice doesn't hurt anyone, and is therefore, if not helpful (in a good case), at least not influential (in a worse case, but obviously not a bad case). But creativity - bold creativity - can hurt. It will hurt. Most people will be offended by your work, by your audacity, by your weirdness and by your stand-offishness. You dare to say what no one else dares to say. And, at the same time, this work will help the one per cent for whom it was intended.
As a content or creative artisan, you can choose to work on content or on creativity.
...Choose one. Take the path that works, or the path that expands society, culture, or whatever you want to expand...
One path caresses and the other pushes away.
Both are beneficial to society. Both are profitable. Don't think that creators don't make money from daring creativity - they do! And don't think that content for consumption means guaranteed profits.
These are just two paths. Which will you choose in the project you are working on today? Which path will you choose for your next work?
(No, it's not a marriage - you can change paths and you can mix paths. Just not at the same time.)
