How To Rebrand Your Channel Without Alienating Longtime Viewers

As your channel grows, you may begin to feel pulled in a new direction career-wise. Maybe your content is leaning towards a different niche, or maybe you want to focus on an older target demographic. This is an opportunity to rebrand your channel, but you don’t want to make your OG fans feel like they’re being left behind.

Here’s how to rebrand your channel without alienating longtime viewers.

Create a clear plan for what you want your rebrand to look like.

If you dive headfirst into a channel rebrand without knowing exactly what you plan to do, then your audience won’t know what to expect either. You don’t want to give them whiplash by randomly changing someone integral about your channel every few weeks. Instead, you should work out all the details behind-the-scenes.

Decide on a new color palette and logo. Workshop potential new channel names with your friends. Determine if anything needs to be changed about your upload schedule. Most importantly, you need to be able to describe the kind of content you’re going to create moving forward.

For example, several years ago, Louise Pentland decided to rebrand from a DIY and beauty channel under the name “Sprinkle of Glitter” and focus on vlogs and parenting content under her real name. However, before she announced the change on her channel, she had a plan for what she wanted her channel to look like moving forward.

Start introducing new video topics or formats slowly.

Before you do a full channel rebrand, you need to test the waters. Give your viewers some time to adjust to your new content niche by experimenting with a few new video concepts. Alternate them with your typical content for a few weeks and gauge your audience’s reaction.

For example, when Carrie Dayton first started her channel, she mainly uploaded storytime videos. However, as the years went on, she found that she was more interested in fashion content — and so was her audience. So, overtime, she began uploading fashion videos more often until it became the main focus of her channel.

Be honest with your audience about the changes you want to make with your channel.

The most important part of your channel rebrand is being honest with your audience. If you open up to them about why you’re choosing to make these changes, then they’ll probably be more accepting of your decision then if you simply spring it on them. Your longtime viewers have stuck around for so long because they enjoy watching you, not just your video ideas.

So, you simply need to be honest with them. A text post might feel ingenuous, and on a live stream, you might feel too nervous to fully open up. The best way to share your feelings about your rebrand with your audience is with a video. For example, when Daniel Howell decided to rebrand his channel from “danisnotonfire,” he opened up about the decision in a straightforward video.

Plenty of vloggers rebrand their channels several years in their careers. However, you should be careful not to alienate the longtime fans who helped make your channel successful in the first place. Stay true to yourself and make sure they know how thankful you are for their support.

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Kristen Harris enjoys listening to a wide range of music, from Taylor Swift to, on occasion, Celtic instrumental. She also spends her time writing, reading, and baking.