How to Become a Digital Creator: Your 2025 Guide

What is a digital creator?

Digital creators are professionals who create online content or digital media—such as blogs, videos, and graphic designs—to build a consistent audience or online community around their work. They aim to encourage audience interaction by creating engaging and visually appealing content. If this career sounds interesting, read on to learn about how to become a digital creator, the skills you need to succeed, compensation, and more.

Digital creator vs. content creator vs. influencer

The titles of digital creator and content creator are often used interchangeably, but there are slight differences depending on the role. The main difference between them is that digital creators create content entirely on the Internet, while content creators also create offline content, like newspaper ads or magazine articles.

Both digital creators and content creators may be considered influencers. However, the intent of the content also differs between the roles. Creators focus on the content, while influencers focus on their personality and image. Digital and content creators usually create content to grow an audience around their work and produce content that adds value, such as to educate, entertain, or uplift. Influencers usually work with brands to promote products to increase sales. Both work with businesses to help meet their marketing goals.

Digital creators vs. influencers

A digital or content creator who has built an audience around gardening might make a how-to video on maintaining a patio garden, post photos of beautiful gardens, and create online fliers on the best time to plant vegetables.

A gardening influencer may post videos of themselves working in their garden, promote specific products, and answer questions from their audience about their gardening habits and personal lives.

How to become a digital creator

The field of digital creation is relatively new and frequently changing, so there isn’t one specific way to become a digital creator like there is with more traditional jobs. Many digital creators are self-employed, while others work for a business as part of a larger marketing department. Digital creators employed by businesses are often called content creators because they may be responsible for offline content, but the roles tend to be the same otherwise. Here are a few steps to become a digital creator: 

1. Research niche. If you plan to become a self-employed digital creator, you’ll want to research a niche subject to build an audience. The more specific the subject, the better chance of building a more loyal community. 

2. Gather equipment and materials. To produce content, it’s important to have a camera, microphone, and lighting to record videos. A smartphone can be a great tool to start with.

3. Plan content. Once your subject is decided, it’s time to plan out your content. Whether you’re creating blog posts, photos, or videos, it's important to ensure the material has value to your audience. 

4. Decide on platforms to post on. Research your audience’s demographics before publishing content on the appropriate social media platforms.

5. Have a consistent schedule. To create a returning audience, keep them engaged by posting content regularly.

To get a job as a digital creator for a company or market yourself to clients, you’ll want to create a portfolio and resume demonstrating your experience in creating professional content. 

Education

Your educational background is more important if you’re looking to work for a traditional company. According to Zippia, 76.8 percent of content creators—including digital creators—employed by businesses have a bachelor’s degree [1]. A degree in art or marketing would be helpful, as well as any certificates in social media management or design.

Experience

Demonstrated experience with digital content creation, such as a website, portfolio, or client reviews, can help you build brand relationships or find a position with a company. If you’re just getting started, samples of your work can be a great way to show your skills and abilities. You want to show that you know how to create appealing and professional pieces of content.

Skills

To be a successful digital creator, it’s essential to have technical and workplace skills. Technical skills represent the practical aspects of your role, while workplace skills contribute to how productive you are in a work environment. Some of the helpful skills include:

Workplace skills

• Ability to meet deadlines

• Multitasking

• Networking

• Communication and listening skills

Technical skills

• Research skills

• Search engine optimization (SEO)

• Social media management

• WordPress

• Content creation

How much does a digital creator make?

As a freelance digital creator, your salary often depends on how much content you make, how large your audience is, and what types of partnerships you build with brands or businesses. You’re typically paid per project for companies, or you can monetize your content through different social media platforms. According to the freelancing site Upwork, the average hourly rate for a freelance digital marketer is around $50, but this can scale up based on your experience or project size [2].

According to Glassdoor [3], digital creators employed by businesses in the US earned an average base salary of $54,533 as of January 2025.

Where can digital creators work?

As a freelance digital creator, you can work from almost anywhere with an internet connection. Brands or businesses in your niche may contact you about creating content, or you can pitch to them. If you’re working within a marketing team, you may create digital content for a company’s intended audience. 

Getting started with Coursera

If you want to become a digital creator, consider the Digital Marketing Specialization by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign on Coursera. This beginner-level program is designed for learners with no prior experience. The topics covered include digital marketing analytics, digital media, brand communication, and more. Upon completion, gain a sharable certificate to include in your resume, CV, or LinkedIn profile.