Translated from Utsudo’s original Chinese column.

Can creators monetize just by having high traffic?Not necessarily. Utsudo believes the conversion rate — the proportion of true fans willing to pay to support you — is the key to survival. Grandstanding only boosts clicks briefly and rarely keeps real fans; showing what makes you unique within what the public can accept, and sticking with it, is what attracts a loyal audience.

Crowds equal money?

　　As the saying goes, crowds equal money. In terms of overall data, higher exposure means it’s easier for people who like your work to find you. Once popularity reaches a certain level, it can even create more “demand,” and the value of your work shoots up.

　　In the creative field, high traffic is naturally a good thing, but the conversion rate also deserves attention. This concerns what proportion of all the onlookers are your real audience — that is,people who like your work enough to pay to support it。

　　I think I’ve mentioned before that feedback from audiences — comments, likes (GP), or people willing to take action to support you — is a very small proportion. Most either just pass by, can’t be bothered, or don’t want to spend money. That’s all human nature.

　　Of course, having to pay for a product, or asking existing fans to move to another platform — like events that require downloading an app or creating an account — does scare off most people. But on the flip side,those few die-hard fans willing to follow you to the ends of the earth (?) are what the “conversion rate” truly consists of.

　　They’re rare, but precious — cherish your little feathers.

The key to high conversion: audience precision

　　Generally, the conversion rate is crucial for us creators — especially when our base isn’t large enough, it may decide our survival. But I’m sure some of you have noticed: why do some creators have especially high conversion rates?

　　I think besides a product’s practicality and whether it lets people interact with others (buzz, trends, fun), which make people want to buy, there’s something crucial in how you run things —audience precision。

　　Some people care too much about traffic and work hard at attention-grabbing stunts — I’ve done it too. But later I found it doesn’t bring conversions, just a momentary spike in clicks. It doesn’t mean much for the long run, because those fans aren’t real fans and are unlikely to stay.

　　Even if you try hard to maintain that exposure, if you’re not doing what you can truly do or want to do, it gets very hard to keep going. Without passion, results may get worse and worse, and you might even lose your original fans along the way — not worth it.

　　Someday when you want to go back to being yourself, the fans you worked so hard to accumulate may notice you’ve changed and leave — and in the end you do neither well.

Be yourself to attract your real audience

　　So I believe you should differentiate yourself within what the public can accept — that is, show what makes you special and stick with it. That way you can be yourself while reaching your real audience. People who appreciate your uniqueness will naturally become loyal fans, more willing to support creators with concrete action. That’s the right way to raise your conversion rate.

　　Objectively speaking, traffic matters, but the conversion rate is the key to survival. Besides exposure, I hope everyone also thinks about what makes them unique and brings it into their creations and management, so they can attract the right audience more efficiently.

　　Finding the right direction and consistently showing your true self may be hard in the short term, but in the long run, it’s the right way to survive.

FAQ

Further reading (in Chinese)

• Previous: #90 (in Chinese)
• Next: #92 (in Chinese)
• Start from the beginning: #01 — Utsudo’s debut
• Column introduction
• Utsudo’s books

About the author

Utsudo is a Taiwanese light novelist and novelist VTuber with more than ten years in the industry and 40 commercially published print books. Her novel 《遺失的情書》 received a 2022 Ministry of Culture youth creative award. The 《嘿！聽說妳在鬼島當作家》 series records her experiences as a novelist in Taiwan.