Aspirations or market forces: What makes content creators look towards other avenues for earning money

A number of well-known content creators who started their journeys almost a decade ago have now switched their primary roles and have entered different fields. While prima facie looks like a good trend, it is not the case for everyone. There are multiple examples today which show that creators were forced to switch to other modes of earning to stay relevant and ensure their survival.

While the success stories of Prajakta Koli, who is an actor now, and Bhuvan Bam, a film producer, are known to all, where are the others? BuzzInContent.com tried to find out the reason behind content creators switching their goal posts. The goal is to find whether it’s a case of natural progression or is it because they were forced to do so because their audience not resonating with them anymore, or something else entirely.

Pranay Swarup

According to Pranay Swarup, Founder and CEO of Chtrbox, “It's not just the content that makes Gen Z love their favourite creators, there are a lot more variables involved. The creators' personalities, their style, what they stand for, so many factors contribute to the reasons why Gen Z choose to open their phones to dive into the world of their creators.” 

“If the content curated is relatable, new generations will still follow creators irrespective of the creators' age. This is why we always suggest to not judge a creator by the cover, you have to take a deeper look at audience demographics and data to really know who a creator is most-loved and watched by. Prajakta Koli, Bhuvan Bam and Kusha Kapila are great examples of setting the precedent in that order. They're not Gen Z themselves, but they're still great at creating content that reaches out to that TG,” he said. 

Dhruv Modwil

Dhruv Modwil, Founder of Nocturnal Media, stated that it’s more about the saturation level that the creator attains after one point in content and to stay relevant they start experimenting with different genres and platforms. “This goes the same with the content that Bollywood used to produce a decade back. Staying with the time and bringing relevancy to the newer and emerging set of audiences have always been the goal of content creators of all forms, from TV to Bollywood to digital content, everything evolved with the time.” 

Rachit Juneja

Rachit Juneja, Co-founder and CEO of Sheeko, said that when a creator starts doing one thing and becomes successful then they come across more money-making avenues. “Traditionally all the singers we know in the industry turn to producers and make albums, but that does not mean they don’t have enough avenues as a singer. I think all of these are a very natural evolution.” 

“It's got nothing to do with age. If the creator is growing, so is their audience. In fact, we have more people in their 30s following creators today than we did earlier, so even those creators are creating mature content for the audiences. Their audiences are more valuable today, they are mature and have more money compared to Gen Z,” Juneja added.

How can creators tackle such challenges? 

Soha Ali

According to Soha Ali, beauty and lifestyle creator, the established creators had to time and again research what clicks with the newer audiences and repeatedly adapt their content to younger age group viewers and the trends they follow. She said that there is always an added pressure of doing something new while staying true to their (creator’s) image and brand.

“Being a creator myself, that is a struggle I can relate to and understand very well,” Ali said. “While I agree that there is definitely a loss in relevance as a creator grows older, it is difficult to understand the mindset of the viewers as the age gap increases. Successful creators know this very well and plan their strategy accordingly.” 

As per Ali, successful creators know how far they can push their content and they also keep trying their hands at new things because this change does not happen suddenly, therefore, it is very important that they plan ahead. She gave examples of personalities like Tanmay Bhat, who has created a very successful career for himself as a streamer on YouTube and has managed to stay relevant with the changing times. As per her, Prajakta Koli and Bhuvan Bam’s shift to movies has more to do with their ambitions and to get more recognition. 

“Creators like Divija Bhasin and Malvika Sitlani who are content with their work and fame continue to be on Instagram and are satisfied with it, which is cool, too. Each social media platform tries to push its own creators so that more people engage with their content and stay on that platform, the term ‘Creators’ itself was coined by Instagram to refer to the content creators of Instagram, like ‘YouTubers’ on YouTube and ‘TikTokers’ on TikTok. So, there is always ample opportunity to do something new on social media and use each platform for what it offers,” explained Ali. 

Are monetary benefits on platforms becoming a challenge? 

Over years, the number of creators and the number of platforms has increased drastically. There was a time when YouTube was the go-to platform when it came to branded content, today the game is being challenged and by some measures even led by Instagram. 

As a result, the spending from brands is becoming more diverse which in turn affects an individual’s earnings. However, according to experts consistency in content creation can go a long way. 

“Money is secondary, the very first objective is to stay relevant and get consistent views. After one point of time, it’s about the audience, the same content that one used to entertain the audience back in 2015, can’t be used in 2022,” said Modwil of Nocturnal Media. 

On the other hand, Swarup of Chtrbox stated that necessity is the mother of invention for many creators.  “It's not just that the platforms aren't giving back as much, it's a natural evolution. Good creators become great creators because they continue to explore their artistic side along the lines of their aspirations, talent, and passions.”