Finding your Competitive Advantage as a Content Creator

Finding your Competitive Advantage as a Creator. This is Part 1 of how Content Creators can use Business Frameworks to help them in their careers.

The goal of this is for YOU, as a CREATOR, to find your competitive advantage. This is what separates you from the rest of the creators.

Fun fact, there is only ONE Mr.Beast. There’s only ONE Mark Rober, there is only ONE True King (see what I did there?). In this space, people will imitate their style of content, copying what they do, but that will only get you so far and the original stays on top.

So, to help y’all out, here are some simple frameworks you can use (with examples) and things to keep in mind when trying to figure out what you should do as a creator. My examples use streaming creators that also do YouTube as the main example, but the frameworks still apply regardless of the kind of creator or size of creator.

Internal and External Analyses

It’s very important to being aware of the different kinds of changes that could affect the content creation industry and things that affect you as a creator. By doing both Internal and External Analyses, it can help you make the best decisions for their career by understanding the bigger picture.

Let’s take a look at the recent Twitch Korea situation. Due to changes in the South Korea legislation, Twitch made the executive decision to remove its services from South Korea by end of February 2024 because of operating costs. While it caught a lot of people by surprise, especially South Korean streamers, Twitch was slowly pulling away their services. Lowering stream quality to 720p in September 2022 and removing the ability to upload VOD content.

As soon as these changes started being implemented, Streamers need to be ready to re-evaluate their Content strategy as a business so that they can continue to grow and not be forced to make rushed decisions.

Here are some Analyses you can use to can use (along with my notes) and apply them to your content creator business.

PEST Analysis

Helps paint a clearer picture of the current environment of the creator space, and what could potentially threaten the growth of the industry. Think about it as a likelihood or influence level of it having drastic changes.

Question to ask yourself: If “x” were to happen or change, how would it affect my business as a creator?

Political/Legal (Influence level: High) – Most of the legal stuff for content creators falls under a grey area but favors the IP of the source (e.g. Gaming companies). For US creators, these could be changes in DMCA regulations, Content ID policy Updates, Platform availability in certain regions (Like South Korea) or Amazon’s influence on Twitch that could lead them shut it down/selling it. With the rise of AI, at some point the Government will update Intellectual property and DMCA laws. Also take into consideration the gaming content the creator makes. The company may end up striking or Copyright claiming videos if they feel like it. Happens with Nintendo occasionally.

Economical (Influence level: Medium to High) – Changes to consumer income, economic growth. With most creators having their income being in terms of Fan Funding (Dono’s, subs, merch buys), The less money they have, the less incentive they have to “Donate” to their favorite streamer.

Social (Influence Level: Medium to High) – Be aware of consumer demographic, changes in consumer behavior, and Industry public image. With Twitch’s main users being in their 20-30’s, maybe in college. Some sources say that 55% of Twitch Users are around 18-34 years old. People also have different perceptions between the words: “influencer”, “streamer”, Content Creator”, “YouTuber”, etc. Think about the social perception people have on creators who are on Twitch, vs Kick, vs YouTube This career is based on clout, social perspective is massive.

Technological (Influence Level: Medium to High) – Changes in Social media Platforms and New Product development. Social media platforms will release new features that can help reach a larger audience (like recently featured clips on Twitch or posting photos on TikTok). There are also new tech products that basically release every month to every other month. But it’s somewhat reached a point where upgrade will only provide a small marginal return. Meaning you don’t need to upgrade that often, not much benefit increased by buying new equipment.

PEST Analysis TL; DR

Watch for changes Twitch or YouTube make (like services it removes or adds, or legal changes), Changes to you audiences’ income can affect you income as well, find ways to rely less on fan funding, know your audience demographic and what they typically like, be aware of changes to social media platforms to reach a wider audience, and upgrade tech only when necessary (how much benefit will the new tech actually provide?).

SWOT Analysis (As a Creator and as a Brand)

One of the most well-known analyses used in business is the SWOT Analysis. It stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. To show you how you can apply it as a creator, I’ll be using OTK as an example.

Strength – What are some positives things you can do well, been doing well, or are known for. These are YOUR strengths.

Strong Brand Presence on Twitch aka “The OTK effect” – OTK holds a very strong position in the Twitch space. When OTK does something, people are aware. Other Streamers that collab or are a part of an OTK event and were well liked by the OTK community will have boosted growth as a streamer because of the OTK exposure. Some examples of these creators are Emiru, ExtraEmily or Sonii. The OTK effect has the power to jump start careers for small to mid-size creators that just need little push, giving them the spotlight to perform and do what they do.

Diversification of Members and Content – While the audience demographic of OTK members have high crossover, each member provides different content for different content preferences. OTK also has the ability to hold large events and tournaments and retain large viewership. For example, Tectone appealing to the anime enjoyers and Gatcha fanbase, while Esfand (with a little bit of NMP) appeal to the sports enjoyers. ExtraEmily with the IRL content, and it keeps going.

Strong consumer loyalty – As mentioned previously, people will watch OTK events, their streamers and support their merch launches. From a personal experience, at the 2023 Las Vegas TwitchCon, Mizkif had one of the biggest lines for his meet and Greet. Mizkif’s personal brand adds to the strong brand presence of OTK as well. It’s not a question of “if people will show up”, it’s a question of “how many will show up?”.

Weaknesses – What are areas that need improvement or don’t have the attention it deserves?

YouTube presence as an organization needs some work – With previous Owner, Jschlatt, leaving OTK, there hasn’t been YouTube content on the Org channel in a few months.

Fully utilizing marketing resources leading up to OTK Events –  According to the Social media Manager of OTK, YungJeff, they want to make the most of the marketing for OTK Events. Since most OTK streamers post recap videos to their YouTube channel, they could add a CTA letting people know that an event is coming up, making an official post on the OTK YouTube channel, along with different marketing videos so people don’t get tired of seeing the same thing over and over again.

Opportunities – Areas of expansion or make better use current resources because of recent external factors (e.g. things from like the PEST analysis)

Resources to top talent for expansion in other areas – As OTK has recently done over the last couple years, they have been creating companies that will benefit creators and fans in this space. OTK helped start Mythic Talents (Talent Agency), Mad Mushroom (Game Publishing Company), StarforgePC (PC building Company). OTK will continue to look into other areas in the creator space where create another business or help facilitate growth for their company as well. Whether they decide to grow their current companies and provide new products and services, or if they want to expand to another area, OTK will continue to explore all possibilities.

Event exclusivity to Streaming platforms (like Twitch) or Multi-streaming along to other platforms – In October, Twitch announced that they will permit multi-streaming. With how many concurrent viewership OTK events get, multi-streaming other platforms like YouTube could increase reach and eventually reach out to these Platforms to sign an exclusivity for all event to be on Twitch for example. If multi-streaming does extraordinarily well, they could continue that over the platform exclusivity and help get sponsors for future events.

Threat – Things that could negatively impact the company business model that are out of your control. (Think changes to Platform guidelines, laws & regulations, or Brand Sponsors lowering budget allocations to creators)

Changes to Twitch regulations – It is no secret that Twitch is making a lot of changes to the site to try and become more profitable. However, those changes could drastically affect the business model that OTK uses. For example, back in June, Twitch announced that they were planning to change the guidelines for branded content. The CEO of OTK, TipsOut, made official OTK announcements saying that if those changes were to be implemented as originally announced, OTK would look to move its business elsewhere because the new guideline make it difficult for OTK to create content on their platform, like their live shows. Twitch will continue to make semi-frequent changes, good or bad, and how much it could affect a creator’s business model should be something every creator should think about and have some thought that if things go south for the platform, what move do they start to make? And as it currently stands, most, if not all, of OTK members stream primarily on Twitch.

Frequency Brand Sponsorships for things like events – It is no secret that it takes a lot of time, money, effort, and resources to run live shows and events. Getting sponsors to help fund these events does help alleviate the cost and make sure more events can be done in the future, but what can be done to be less reliant on these sponsor funding if possible? In a similar context, think Mr.Beast with getting sponsor for his video. At this point, it’s becoming difficult for brands to afford to sponsor just ONE Mr.Beast video. Because of the production costs of Mr.Beast’s videos, he decided to launch a chocolate bar company to help fund his projects. Thus, becoming less reliant on these sponsors for funding.

SWOT Analysis Takeaways

OTK has a very strong presence in the streaming space, both as an organization and individual members. They also have a strong consumer following and loyalty, having merch drops sell within minutes of launching (e.g. First OTK merch drop and recent Emiru merch drop). With all this focus to maintain a strong presence on Twitch, The YouTube presence isn’t as strong as it could be. Using the YouTube channel as more of promotional channel for different events could also benefit marketing purposes (Similar to the Pokemon YouTube channel). In a simpler manner, adding an “Upcoming” section to the OTK website. This allows people to be informed on what events will be happening soon. With OTK expanding to other areas in the creator spaces, the main motive is to find ways to help other creators in the space (StarforgePC provides high quality PCs for creators and fans, Mythic Talents is a creator focused agency, and Mad Mushroom helps game devs find a publish their games for creators to enjoy). A Possible opportunity for expansion is starting venture capitalist firm to find small companies that provide services or solutions to creator problems. OTK and its members should also have some form of planning if Twitch as a platform no longer matches the direction of their business. As mentioned before, twitch is making semi-frequent changes to the platform. Some of them are good, some of them are not so good. Some guidelines or policy changes could negatively impact OTK as an org or members of OTK. Rather than being caught off guard, having something in place for “if this were to happen” could help pivot OTK back in the right direction.

Competitive Advantage Analysis

This one is the Key to finding out what separates you from the rest of other creators. After looking over everything that could affect your content creation internally and externally, the VIRO Analysis will help you find what gives you the edge over your competition or other creators. What makes you unique. I’ll be using OTK member Mizkif, in this analysis as an example.

Value – What kind of value do you bring when making content? This could be something like entertainment value or teaching value. Do you have some kind of expertise that you want to share? Figuring out what kind of value your content provides others and to whom it provides will make a huge difference as a creator.

What makes Mizkif’s content “valuable” is his personality being very distinct, and the friends he has coming on to his stream. Mizkif has the ability to create entertaining content in various ways. We can also look at the dedicated fanbase Mizkif has and brings to OTK. When people ask, “what value does Mizkif provide?” Simply put, the ability to make anything entertaining to watch. By collaborating with close friends, joining or creating a Twitch meta, or just going with the flow.

Rarity – Do you have things that only you or few people have access to when making content? An example of this is MKBHD channel and the Tech Review section. To differentiate his tech review videos even further, MKBHD has a camera robot that allows for some unique recording angles and experience. An expensive investment but worth it for the unique experience only his channel can offer.

Most streamers on Twitch are individuals that tend to be introverted or make content only featuring them and the game. Mizkif’s biggest “rarity” is his connections. Both personal connections and OTK connections. Being able to collaborate with creators and have a unique experience is one of the biggest rarities.  

Imitability – How easily can someone imitate your type of content? When it comes to creating content on the internet, it’s very easy to copy the style of content of others. It happens all the time on YouTube. Many people create similar content like Mr.Beast, but only Mr.Beast has the ability to do it at the scale that he does. For streamers, a large portion of the content on the platform can be imitated. There are only so many ways to play story based games (Like pokemon), and can easily be copied by someone else. While it can be copied by someone else, this is where experience and personality can set you apart.

Mizkif’s main setup doesn’t use crazy equipment, but with the value he provides and the “rarity” of his connections, it makes a unique and entertaining viewing experience on Twitch. Recently, there has been a mass increase in World of Warcraft content on Twitch. Mizkif and his friends created an exclusive guild in WoW that this itself makes it hard to imitate. Anyone can play WoW, but only few can join a guild with High Profile streamers and collaborate in in-game events. Another thing Mizkif has is the sense of relatability and creating the feeling of “I want to be a part of something like that”. OTK is built on friendship over talent, but that build talent as well. With Mizkif being good friends with each member of OTK, it makes the viewers have that feeling of wanting a friend group like that.

Competition and Substitutable – What can people do besides watch your content (can be direct or indirect)? Think FOMO. As a creator, you have direct and indirect competition. Direct competition is what or who can your target audience watch instead of you. For creators like MKBHD, it’s other Tech review channels. For streamers, it’s other streamers that are live. Another thing to think about is what can your target audience do instead of watching your stream? If people want to be entertained, they watch a YouTube video, listen to podcast, or actually go outside. Most viewers have a tier list of streamers they like to watch. If their favorite streamers aren’t live, they probably aren’t watching Twitch or browsing videos on YouTube. Putting it bluntly, find a way to make people have FOMO (fear of missing out). Make people do a double take and make them ask themselves “I really want to know what happened in this video” or “I need to watch this stream live so that I don’t miss out on the awesome and POG moments”. Another key element that successful streamers have is being really good background noise. Most Twitch viewers are power users and will be on the platform for hours a day. They may not be actively participating in chat all the time, but they will have the stream on in the background. They do this because of FOMO and being ready for that POG moment.

Mizkif has gotten exceptionally good at this. You don’t always know what to expect from a Mizkif stream, but you know something funny, or entertaining will happen. And if you don’t catch it live, you will miss the inside jokes the community has established So what the viewers end up doing is having the stream put on a second monitor mostly and occasionally actively participating. This is where the sense of FOMO comes from. While it’s easy to substitute watching live streams with something else, like watching YouTube videos, most people still prefer to watch the event live. The thing is being aware of what people could do to substitute watching his live streams over something else.

Competitive Advantage Analysis Recap

Find what makes your content unique as an experience or things you do will give you a competitive edge over other creators. The harder it is to imitate or replace, the better your content will be. When we looked over Mizkif’s competitive advantage as a creator, the biggest “advantage” is his social circle and having that “content brain”. Being able to make streams entertaining from little to no material is a true skill. And being able to do it with friends is a massive benefit in the streamer industry.

Recommendations for Creators

Using these analyses and applying it to yourself will help you start to figure out what makes you unique in the creator space and factors to consider about where the industry is heading. Also looking at the current landscape of the platforms, it can help you look at signs of when to pivot. One of the worst feeling a creator can feel is having all your hard work on one platform be taken away because of some platform changes, like the Twitch streamers based in South Korea. Those are factors that are outside of their control and will need to make a pretty major pivot if they want to keep their careers alive. So here are my recommendations for different creators.

Small Creators – Find that one thing that makes you differentiate yourself from all the other small creators. Imitating the same type of content for what works for the large creators will not be as effective for you because of that substitutable factor. You need to answer the question of “Why would they watch a smaller creator when they can watch one a larger creator?” This is especially important if your main content is streamed content. Give them an experience that they can get from your content.

Medium Creators – As a medium sized creator, you started building a brand for yourself. Continuing to optimize by being on multiple platforms will help your brand awareness. At this stage, posting weekly recap content or important highlights to YouTube, best daily single moments as TikTok or shorts will help with brand awareness. The more “brand power” you have on these other platforms; the better sponsorship deals will become. Also, start collaborating and networking with people you genuinely like. Not for the clout but for the fun experience and content you cand do together.

Large Creators – Large creators should look at other monetization opportunities as well as optimizing the diversification of their content (same as Medium Creators). The basic profit model for creators is YT ad revenue + Stream Revenue (subs, bits, and ad revenue) and Sponsorships with occasional merch drops. However, there are more ways to make money than just this. If your current income allows investment opportunities, look into launching a product or service for what you think your fans will love. Here’s another example, Dr. Shaquille O’neal. Most people know Shaq as the most dominant NBA player in history. But he knew that his spotlight wasn’t going to last forever. Shaq invested into other franchises like Krispy Kreme, 24 Hour fitness, five guys. While you don’t have to invest in a franchise, you can still find other investment opportunities to make sure your future is secure. Most of the time, the creator’s career is dependent on being in the spotlight, and if it goes out, so does the brand and a good portion of their revenue. It’s very important to be in the present as a creator, but it’s even more important to start building something bigger for the future.

Next Steps

After reading this and how it can apply to you, the next step is using these frameworks and information to make workflow match the wanted outcome. Making sure you have the right tools at your disposal to make the outcome you want happen. And to make that happen, I can help with that process. I offer a consulting service to help strategize and optimize things content creators need for their careers. Feel free to reach out on my consulting instragram page @bralextv or hit the contact button here on bralexrivera.com. 

I understand what it means to be a content creator because he is a creator at heart. Always doing things with both a refined and chaotic nature, as there is beauty in both. I take pride in my work – Regardless of what of what I am working on. You can always expect my best and will never cheat on effort. Always paying high attention to detail. I know what it takes and will always do what’s best for the Creator and Business. If you need something from Bralex, you know he’ll deliver.