Q: I'm transitioning from making parenting content to making family travel content. But I feel like I've been steadily losing followers since the change. Should I switch back to what I was doing before?
A: If you decided to make such a substantial change in the direction of your content, I'm sure it was for a reason. If I had to guess, you got burned out or bored with making parenting content, and you're looking for a new challenge.
So no, you shouldn't switch back to what you were doing before! Because it was clearly not bringing you joy. And when you're not enjoying something, your audience can tell.
Keep in mind that anytime you change directions in a big way with your content, it takes awhile for your audience to catch up. It's completely normal for your numbers to dip at first as you find your footing in this new style of content.
Also remember that your audience is comprised of many different types of viewers or followers. Some are ride-or-die fans who have a strong emotional connection to you, and for that reason, are happy to watch any type of content you make, because they're there for you.
Others may have started following you because specifically because of your niche or area of expertise. They don't feel as strong of a pull to you personally; they're there for the topic. So if you switch it up on them, you're no longer providing what they wanted in the first place, and they will disengage.
But once you start making this new content, you're also going to start attracting a whole new audience that you hadn't before! It may take some time, but eventually the people who enjoy your family travel content will find you, and you'll be back on a growth trajectory again.
This is something that creators of all sizes struggle with.
Last year, our YouTube audience grew tremendously because of our
21 Resorts in 2021 series. A couple days ago, we just launched our new series for the year,
22 Cities in 2022.
I fully expect to see our numbers dip a bit in the beginning. Not only are we tackling a whole different type of travel (city travel vs resort travel), but we're switching up our content format too. Instead of detailed, informational resort reviews, we're now going to be making documentary-influenced videos of our trip to each city, in which we do a deep dive on one specific aspect of the city. Could be a subculture, a community, a neighborhood, a specific period in the city's history... it'll be a bit different for each destination.
A good number of our viewers subscribed or followed us specifically because they are fans of resort travel. Now that we're no longer covering resorts, some may no longer be interested in our content.
And that's okay, because I also know that we're going to tap into a whole new audience who will enjoy both our new format, as well as our new travel style.
Kara and Nate have one of the biggest travel channels on YouTube, yet they still have to find ways to navigate this issue. I highly encourage you to check out
the 2021 recap they posted yesterday on their Instagram. They are very transparent about the different approaches they tried to take with their content over the course of the year, and how they adapted depending on audience response. It's rare that you see creators be so open about this, so it's definitely worth a read!
Ultimately, change is necessary if you want longevity as a creator. You should constantly be adapting, improving, and stretching yourself. As I often say: if you're not at least slightly embarrassed by the content you were making this time last year, you're probably not improving quickly enough!
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Take care,
Carmen Sognonvi
