Perception of the Profile 'Content Creator' in the Triad of Croatian Marketing Practitioners

Digital marketing strategies that involve engagement with content creators are becoming an increasingly significant element of marketing practice. Given the increasingly prominent presence of content creators in the media landscape and the growing need for their engagement, ensuring and applying relevant insights about sought-after profiles has become a business necessity. Considering the lack of such insights, a study was conducted with the purpose of better understanding how three different types of marketers perceive the profile of content creators. The main objective of this study is to analyze the perception of a “content creator” profile to develop skills for their assessment, selection, and engagement in marketing campaigns. The data were collected through the interviews with thirty marketing practitioners, with ten from each of three categories: marketing clients/advertisers, professionals in marketing agencies, and content creators. The results of this research might serve as valuable guidelines for marketing professionals to make better-informed decisions, as well as a good starting point for further research on the influence of content creators on today's digital marketing strategies. Based on the analysis of research results, recommendations have been formed for the application of new knowledge about the competitive profile of content creators, in order to help marketing agencies and clients optimize their business strategies and achieve more successful collaboration with content creators.