Kia Abrera talks about creativity in communication at the Likha: Creative Entrepreneur Summit

Kia Abrera is an EduCreator and Creative Entrepreneur. She has worked in the communication industry for a decade. Recently, she talked about creativity in communication at the Likha: Creative Entrepreneur Summit through the lens of a TikTok creator.

Likha | Creative Entrepreneurship Summit Photo by Joseph Villena

Kia Abrera talks about creativity in communication at the Likha: Creative Entrepreneur Summit

Creativity in Communication

By the end of the talk, Kia Abrera hoped that creators apply a basic communication model to build, grow and convert an audience. Aside from that, they would not need to worry about algorithm changes, or looking into viral hacks. That way, they won’t let potential get lost in poor communication skills.

Kia acknowledges that people do things on their own terms, they don’t like to be interrupted and skin ads on videos. She also pointed out consume media that they resonate with and buy from those people or creators they trust.

Switching The Lens

Then, she noted that creators are not entitled to time, energy, or money. People’s attention remains limited, and therefore valuable. Aside from that, consumption has the basis of what empowers, educates, and entertains people. She also pointed out that creators need to earn their trust before people spend money on something that they endorse.

“Communication is not about speaking what we think. Communication is about ensuring others hear what we mean.”
Simon Sinek

Linear Communication Model

When she started on TikTok, she had a simple communication model in mind. Who is the sender? What do they want to say? Then, it goes through the platform and an audience receives it. Abrera started learning that as a creator, she needed to find her niche, post valuable content, choose a platform of focus, and know the audience.

Transactional Communication Model

But, then, she realized that the audience gives feedback. They can react differently. It would either result in telling her that she sucked, or they want to know more about what she was talking about, or if they loved her. Kia realized that she needed to calibrate. What are they saying and how can she improve?

For the next month, she posted a video every day consistently. She followed trends, proven prompts, and scripts. Through it, all, only one video crosses the fifty-thousand-mark, random thought, and a story. This went on and on for at least six months. Until, she found her groove.

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Communication doesn’t start with you.

Abrera learned that a message isn’t crafted out of anywhere. A creator doesn’t pick a niche like it’s a fruit from a tree. Going viral isn’t based on luck. Having an ideal client avatar comes after one has already built an audience. So, she simply puts this on another communication model.

Interactive Communication Model

It starts off with the environment. Or, in this case, the TikTok environment as it has region first, interest-based, and edu-tainment. Then, it goes to the creator. The platform studies a person as a creator. It allows space for trial and error. Abrera, then, noted that TikTok does not base recommendations on follower count or on a history of previous high-performing videos. The algorithm follows it with the question: is your content good enough for the For You page of a potential audience? Then, the audience receives it.

How is the audience communication back to the creator via the algorithm? Two words: feedback loops.

The audience communicates back to the creator with user interactions which included shares, likes, saves, and comments. They can hide creators, block them, mark as uninterested, add to favorites, and report. Another thing includes retention and completion rates. It also has content created on its own accounts and interactions with ads.

How is the algorithm communicating back to the creator? Again, feedback loops.

This pushes your content to the For You Page. It stops the distribution of a creator’s video. Then, gives you a warning. Or, they take down your video. Worst, the platform bans your account.

Kia Abrera is only one of the five speakers that spoke during the Likha: Creative Entrepreneurship Summit. Other speakers included AJ Dimarucot, Lyqa Maravilla, Prim Paypon, and the one and only Chris Do. The summit aimed to help out freelancers, agencies, and Filipino creatives. This happened last weekend from September 17 to 18, 2022. It also brought Filipino creative talents to a global scale and pursued community-driven growth and impact as one.