What To Do If Your Highest Performing Content Doesn't Feel Like "You"
Maybe it’s because you got famous for something you’re not a part of anymore, maybe it’s because you’ve grown and changed and don’t align with the posts you used to share, maybe it’s because of an influx of followers from a collaboration that wasn’t a good fit, maybe you went viral over one post that is totally different from your usual content. There are lots of things that can lead to the bummer of a situation that is an audience who seems to only hype up the very content you wish you could stop posting altogether.
If you’re in this boat, here are three ideas to try to pivot your audience and start to build more hype around your ideal types of posts:
Share your story
If your top posts don’t feel like “you” there’s a good chance your audience just loves the content and isn’t really well connected to who you are. The more you can help your audience feel close to you as a person, the more consistently your content will perform, even as you go through changes and transitions in your career and life. Your content becomes about the story of your life, rather than just your hilarious impressions, original music or viral past.
A very easy way to incorporate more storytelling is through your captions. Start telling us more about how you came to be who you are today. Let’s say you’re a food creator, but only posts that seem to be doing well are lip syncing meme videos and you want to bring more attention to your original recipes; Try sharing another meme video, but this time in the caption, tell us about the first time you tasted a meal that changed you for the better… What was that meal like? Why did it affect you? Why are you passionate about cooking? Keep dropping stories from your life (current or past!) in your captions, on IG stories, in your main content, and however else you can. Get in the habit of storytelling storytelling storytelling! The more your audience feels connected to you and like there is a long-term story to follow, the more loyal they will become to everything you create.
If you’re struggling to figure out your life story, you can start with a shorter term story. Commit to a challenge or goal that has to do with your passion/ideal content, share it online and invite your audience to tune in to see if you can achieve it. Make sure to choose something that really has some stakes in it so that it is interesting to watch.
Here is a blog post with 30 caption prompts to get you started.
Pivot your content gradually
As hard as it is to feel like you’re selling out, sometimes it’s worth sticking it out with the content that doesn’t feel like you, just for the sake of sending people to the content you love. Try posting whatever works for now, but start to put together a content calendar with a strategic long-term plan of dropping in little bits of your passion content at first, then a little more, then a little more, until eventually your ideal content is your main content. This is a great way to transition without shocking or confusing your audience or losing them completely. The more you think about your content as a business, rather than as just a place to express yourself, the easier this will be!
collaborate
Collaborate with other creators who do have engagement on content that is similar to your ideal! This is a great way to expand your audience, and specifically to gain followers that are interested in what you love to share. Be a guest on someone’s podcast, go live on IG with a creator you find interesting, share other people’s posts and hope for a repost, or plan a project that would benefit both of you and to it together or simultaneously and share each other’s work. Collabs can be super fun and beneficial for everyone if you find the right fit.
Keep in mind: It can be tempting to collaborate only with friends, but it’s often better for your business to collaborate with people you don’t know at all if your goal is to really get exposure to new followers. When you collaborate with a friend, chances are their audience already knows you and already isn’t engaging on your ideal content. There are many other reasons to collaborate with friends (for example… its fun!), but keep in mind that it may not push you toward your goal of reaching your target market.