Here’s why Tech Burner never bases his content on algorithms or current trends

• In today’s episode of Influencer Adda, we will be talking to Shlok Shrivastava aka Tech Burner about content consumption patterns in India, his new brand launches and changes in the influencer marketing landscape.
• He shares his secret to achieving 8.3 million subscribers on YouTube and shares advice for young and aspiring YouTubers.

In an attempt to make technology simpler and more accessible for internet users, Digital Content Creator Shlok Shrivastava started his YouTube page ‘Tech Burner’ in 2014. He wanted to become a designer but the world of technology fascinated him. Today, he boasts a subscriber base of more than 8.3 million for his YouTube channel and over 1.5 million followers on Instagram.

“I started making videos from my father’s laptop, they were not good quality videos but they offered good value to my viewers,” says Shlok.

Since the beginning of his career, Shlok didn’t worry about the ever-changing social media algorithm or his production quality. He focused on offering valuable content to his audience instead.

One Google search on ‘social media algorithm’ and you would find at least 100 articles on how influencers can crack Instagram or YouTube’s ever-changing algorithm. However, Shlok doesn’t base his content on Instagram trends or popular YouTube formats, he hears what his audience has to say about his content.

When asked what worked for him, Shlok says, “People think my page is popular because of my jokes or style of speaking but I think anyone can tell jokes and people phase out of it, so it doesn’t map out in the long-term. A lot of other people can make better jokes or better quality videos [than me], but one thing that we constantly deliver is ‘value.’ We give value to them and they give value to us through their feedback. Algorithms are made keeping this audience in mind, we also make our content keeping them at the core. Be it podcasts or short-form content, we strive to provide what the audience looks for. We keep a close eye on our data and keep evolving with it.”

He says that the audience also likes seeing someone grow in their career and take the industry forward.

Content patterns and trends

To evolve with changing times, stay relevant and connect with his fans, Shlok gradually started realising the importance of listening to his audience. He started offering shorter videos, added humour to his technical content and made videos in Hindi. “As the audience expanded and new groups of people started watching my videos, we went from making very technical videos in English to fun, light-hearted and entertaining content in Hindi.”

With this transition, his audience changed and what drove this change is the ever-decreasing attention span of internet users. It wasn’t just a language switch, Shlok says. He started creating content for a diverse set of audiences across demographics and income groups.

He feels that content creators who have no language barriers like Khaby Lame, will be the game-changers in the influencer marketing landscape. “Influencers like Khaby have no distribution limits, they can cater to a Tamilian or Marathi-speaking driver. Content creators who cross boundaries of countries, ethnicity and languages -- those are going to be big in 2022. It is untapped space right now but offers a huge potential,” opines Shlok.

Shlok’s focus area for this year is pretty simple. “We will take very complex technology and break it for our viewers in a fun and engaging way. And this is not going to change for the next 20-30 years.”

For Shlok, the audience comes first and he has the same advice to offer to young content creators. “Your followers count or subscribers can confuse you. Stay close to your audience and really understand them. Your numbers might increase, platforms will come and go, and algorithms will change every day and the only thing that doesn’t change is your audience. If you are following your audience, you are headed in the right direction.”

He further spoke to us about his experience of working with brands, changing influencer marketing landscape, new brand launches and a lot more.