You’re not bad at this. The rules just changed — and nobody handed you the new ones.

If you’ve been creating content and watching it flop — or you repost something that used to crush and now it barely gets seen — this episode is for you. Erika breaks down exactly what shifted between 2022 and 2026, and why the way you create content now matters more than anything else.

Inside this episode:

 – Why the market isn’t oversaturated (the real problem is your audience’s fried attention span)

 – The shift from social media to interest-based media — and why your content is now being shown to total strangers

 – The one question that fixes 90% of your content: “Why would someone who doesn’t know me care about this?”

 – What good content actually requires in 2026: context, curiosity, and the right format

 – Why the Canva graphic that used to get 200 likes now gets 10 — and what to do instead

 – Why this is especially good news if you already have a business or expertise (your gap isn’t your knowledge — it’s your format and delivery)

Mentioned in this episode:

🎙️ FREE LIVE TRAINING — Three Secrets to Grow 5,000 Followers in 90 Days — Wednesday, September 23rd, 5PM PST. Erika shows real before-and-after content examples of what used to work vs. what works now.

Save your spot: https://theerikacruz.com/training

Stay to the end of the training for live hook & content audits — first few people only.

Transcript:

Hello, hello, welcome to this week’s episode of Chingona Revolution Podcast. This is your host, Erika Cruz. And if you have ever felt frustrated with content creation, maybe you have been creating content for a little while and you spend a ton of hours on something and then you post it only for it to completely flop. Or maybe you repost something that performed really well and now it doesn’t. Well, I want you to know that if you’re experiencing this, you are not alone. It is not that.

It is not that you’re no longer important. It is that the game of social media has evolved and it has changed, especially in the last year, especially in the last couple of years. And if you are somebody who wants to get started with social media, but you are so overwhelmed because it looks like everybody who’s creating content has a whole videography team behind them and all these amazing editing skills, this podcast episode is going to be for you as well.

What I’m going to cover is how the game has changed. And if you’re still playing by the old rules, it can feel like you’re falling behind. But it is not too late. I do think that.

I do still think that there’s a lot of opportunity. And today I’m breaking down exactly what has changed when it comes to social media and why the way that you create content now matters more than anything else. At the end, I’ll tell you all about how you can go deeper into this. But first, let’s get this myth out of the way that the market is just oversaturated and that you are too late. I know that I’ve talked about this in previous episodes, but I really do want to nail this in your brain that yes, there are more people than ever creating content.

But the opportunity that exists with content is so much bigger than those individual creators. You are not too late, you’re not too old, and there’s still so much opportunity. The creator economy is worth between 250 billion to 310 billion. This is the future of marketing. This is a future of connecting. This is the future of shopping. I mean, we see it with TikTok shop. We see it with how many brands are working with creators? We are seeing less and less TV commercials. Actually, I don’t know. I should have probably looked this up. I literally do not own a TV because the only screen I really spend time on is my phone when I’m creating content or my computer when I’m on Zoom calls, or right now that I am recording a podcast episode for you lovely people. But I assume that more modern brands are getting away from things like radio and from television ads, and they’re spending more on social media ads. They’re spending more on working with creators who already have a brand that is aligned with theirs. Because when you have a brand and you have attention from an audience, brands want that attention. They want to borrow your likeness. They want to borrow the no, the no like and trust factor that you that you have. So the problem is not that there are too many creators. It’s that our attention spans as a society are completely fried.

People are scrolling faster and faster. I mean, imagine just 10 years ago when we were browsing YouTube, or even just when we were browsing Instagram, there was no such thing as like a crazy hook. Yeah, maybe on YouTube we had things like the cover images, right, for the videos. But we would look through something, we had the patience to sit through it. Now we literally decide in the first second by that first frame if we’re going to continue to watch or not. So if you don’t capture somebody’s attention between the first one to three seconds, people are going to scroll. So what has changed isn’t the oversaturation, it is the audience’s attention span. But if you learn how to capture the attention, then you will be winning at the game. And I don’t say this in a way where it’s like, yeah, you know, like let’s be sleazy and let’s capture people’s attention and let’s use psychology to manipulate people. No, no, no. I don’t mean that at all. If you’re listening to this podcast, then I know that you have a purpose-driven reason to want to start a business, to want to build a brand. There’s something here for you where you want to make an impact. And you’re not going to make an impact by staying quiet. And if you have to learn how hooks work, if you have to learn what kind of content is working now to capture people’s attention.

But you know that once they watch your video, they’re going to learn about mental health. They’re going to learn about how they’re not the only people struggling with this. They’re going to learn how to start healing. That is worth it, right? That is worth it because there are brands out there, there are creators who aren’t in alignment with our values that we’re just discussing here. And they’re capturing people’s attention for not the best stuff. So if you are purpose-driven, don’t feel bad about capturing people’s attention because what you want to do is you want to serve and you want to give back.

So let’s break down what exactly has evolved and what has changed from a few years ago to now. When social media started, it was a place to connect with our friends and with our family. It was social. It’s literally what we call social media. It’s why we called it social media. But now actually, let me say one more thing about that. When you posted, your family, your friends, everybody you kind of followed would see it and you would see their stuff. And unless you followed somebody, their stuff didn’t really come on your feed very much. Now, TikTok completely changed this six years ago when they completely blew up. They created this short form video that allowed for discoverability, meaning every time you open the app, you weren’t necessarily seeing your friends’ posts or people you followed, you weren’t seeing their post. You were seeing whatever was viral, whatever was trending, or whatever was in your algorithm because you were interested in it. So, like for example, I have a cousin who just had twins, and she was telling me that her algorithm was full of twins and full of girl daughters because that’s what she was having. But she was very careful not to like anything, not to engage with anything, because she didn’t want other people to find out before she made her announcement. So this is a great testament to how, even if you’re not engaging with something, the algorithm knows what you’re interested in by many different factors.

Your watch time, maybe if you sent it to somebody, maybe if you saved it, right? So maybe other people can’t necessarily see this unless you sent it to somebody. Then obviously the person that you have sent it to can see that you sent it to them. But people can’t see the things that you saved. They can see the things that you’ve liked, maybe. But the point is that my cousin was being shown the things that were of interest to her. Now imagine if we were still in the social media algorithm and all she had around her feed were her friends and family. She wouldn’t be seeing any of that content. So whether you like it or not, this is the new algorithm. The algorithm is constantly going to show you whatever it is that you are paying more attention to. If you’ve searched for something, I mean, I won’t get into like the details of the algorithm because I don’t know all of them, right? I don’t work at I don’t work at Instagram, I don’t work at TikTok. I don’t know around like where they get their data from, but I do know that whether you like something or don’t like something, the more you’re paying attention to it, the more you’re going to get these these videos. Because for example, there was a video that I had seen about like a like if this was a marine situation like in the water, and dolphins are my favorite animal. And there was this this video trigger warning. This is definitely not something that like I want on my feed at all. But because I was watching it, it kept throwing it on my feed, which was killer whales hunting and I didn’t want to see the killer whales hunting but I was so intrigued to because I was so triggered by it. I was watching and I immediately kind of closed it. I didn’t even watch all the way through. But I think my algorithm was like she paid attention to this. So they kept giving me more of it. And I just literally had to close the app every time I started seeing that or like hit the not interested option and then it went away. But all of this to say that interest based algorithms are what is working now. So, what this means for you as a creator is that people are going to see the content that’s relevant to them. So it’s not just about you documenting your life anymore. Now it’s about you documenting your life in a way, in a way that is valuable for other people, in a way that’s giving other people insight. And this doesn’t mean that you have to go be an expert, but it does mean that maybe when you share your recent trip.

Maybe you share about here are the five mistakes that we made that I don’t want you to make. So here, let me share them with you. That becomes very valuable. That becomes very interesting for people. Versus, we went to Cancun, here’s our five photos. Or maybe you say, hey, here’s all the food that was totally worth it. This is what we recommend. And it’s still your experience, it’s still about your trip, but you have taken it from just like a documenting your trip for your friends and family to see to making it really valuable. And that is how you make interest based pieces of content.

Remember that this new algorithm is constantly showing your content to strangers. So if your content isn’t appealing to strangers right away, you’re not going to grow. Because if you, let’s say you start your video off with like, hey guys, so as you know, it’s like imagine that you saw a video of me saying that and you have no idea who I am. You’d be like, why do I care about this random person? But now imagine if I started that video with like, here’s the psychology behind why Latinas are such great entrepreneurs. And then I went into it, right? That is you’re like, let me lean in, lean in. What do you what does she mean? She looks like she’s Latina. I’m Latina, or maybe I’m not Latina, but I am a child of immigrants. So I want to know what she has to say here. And it creates curiosity.

So why does this algorithm thing, this algorithm change, literally change everything for you as a creator? And that is because you can no longer post like you’re updating people that already know you. You literally have to create for people who have no idea who you are.

The question that you can ask yourself that is going to fix 90% of your content is why would somebody who doesn’t know me care about this? And if you can’t answer that, then you need to change your content. It could be literally the same footage, but maybe your hook is different. Maybe your caption is different. Maybe the song choice is a little different.

So let’s talk about what good content requires today. What makes good content in 2026? And I’m only gonna give you what I can here just because we don’t have all the time in the world, because I need to pack for San Diego because I’m going to go see some clients and I’m so excited. And I leave tomorrow, so I definitely need to pack. But if you are enjoying this episode and you want to learn exactly the strategies that I recommend, that work in 2026 and I think will continue to work through 2020, then come to my free training. I’m hosting it on Wednesday, the 23rd. So I believe it’s happening literally the day after this episode is released. So if you are enjoying what I’m covering in this episode, join us because I’m actually going to be giving you visual demonstrations of content that used to work, but content that’s working now. And I’m going over my three secrets to how you can grow 5,000 followers in 90 days and how my clients have done that and how they’ve also monetized. So if you want to sign up, it’s completely free. Go to the link down below. And at the end of the training, I will also be doing some.

And at the end of the training, I will also be doing some Instagram audits. So I’ll be looking at your hooks, at your content formats to see what’s working and what could be improved. So you want to be there live. Okay, so what makes good content? Good content. The first thing is it has to give context. A stranger needs to understand what exactly you are going to tell them and why it’s for them.

So again, no no starting off your content with like, hey guys, or as you all know, don’t assume people know who you are. You have to set the the context. So it could be like five things I I knew, five things I wish I knew in my 30s, not my forties. Or maybe like the I think one of the ones I’ve used is four Instagram rules that just don’t work anymore. Or maybe you are sharing your your journey, right? With like join me while I document five days of trying, I don’t know, a specific habit of waking up at 5 a.m. so you don’t have to. Like that, those types of content do so well, and you’re giving them exactly the the promise right at the beginning. You’re giving them context. It also has to invoke curiosity. So something that makes them lean in and they want to know more. They’re my gosh, wait, she’s gonna wake up at five. Is it actually worth it?

Or maybe it could be like trying a specific supplement. Or maybe it could be a specific skin treatment. Like, hey, I’m going to try this skin serum for the next 30 days and let you know if it’s worth it before you spend your money on it. That is a lot of curiosity, right? With like, wait, I don’t want to necessarily spend my money. I want to follow this series. What it what’s going to happen? And last but not least, it has to be in the correct format. While before Canva Graphics worked, that is so not what’s working anymore. People buy from people, and this like faceless account thing, I don’t think is going to continue on. I’m sure there will be some, but they they probably won’t grow very much. And I really do think that if you want to make an impact and if you want to make money, you have to show your face. So the what I mean about the format is we can’t just keep doing these little Canva graphics and call it a day and say that’s showing up. It’s now requiring us to maybe show a little clip of ourselves, maybe some photos of ourself in a carousel or doing reels, right? So like reels are working, carousels are working, as well as why do I feel like I’m missing one? No, those are pretty much it. Reels and carousels. I’ll go more into this in the training, so be sure to join us for that because I’ll show you the actual, I’ll show you the mistakes I was making and the what my context content looked like then and how I fixed it and what my content looks like now.

And I remember seeing this in real time where I would post a Canva graphic and it would get like 50, 60, 100 likes, maybe 200 likes. And then I would post that same one a year later and literally maybe 10 likes. And I have 40,000 followers. So I have seen from as a creator, I have seen the evolution. And I literally was still playing by the old rules last year, and that is why I was losing so many followers.

And I have finally cracked the code and I am passionate about not gatekeeping. And that is exactly why I’m hosting my free training. That’s why my podcast episodes have been about these different things. Because this is what I wish somebody would have told me.

So if you are a business owner, maybe you already have a coaching business or another type of business, or maybe you’ve already been creating content, I want you to know that this is actually good news for you. I know it can feel like, no, I’m just so behind. Other people who just started definitely know what they’re doing. They’re having more success than I am, even though I’m more qualified. But what I want you to know is that you already have the expertise.

You already have an offer. You already have the substance. You already know what it’s like to post and not see the results you want. So you have resiliency. Most people, especially new people, people who are maybe very young and kind of born into this, they don’t have that. They do understand how content works and that’s why they’re having so much success. But you’re just missing the how. And the how what you have been missing is the how. And what I mean by that is how to package what you already know so that it gets seen. Because if nobody sees your content, it’s not impacting anybody. So that’s why it’s important for us to learn what is working now and do that. The gap for you isn’t your knowledge, it’s not your experience. It’s literally the format that you are using to create content and your delivery. And that is such a fast fix. Now, let’s say that you are eyeing people who are killing it on social media and you’re like, dang, I really want that. Well, this is also good news for you because it means you’re not going to learn outdated or bad habits that maybe aren’t helpful for you now. You get to get started literally with the blueprint and the playbook for what is working today. So whether you identify as somebody who’s already been creating content or somebody who’s just getting started, my training that I’m putting together on Wednesday, the 23rd, was built for you.

So let’s summarize this. The market is not oversaturated. It is not too late. You aren’t too old. You’re not too young. You’re not bad at this. The rules have simply changed and evolved. And nobody has handed you the new ones. And that is what I hope to do in my training. So once you understand that content now has to give context, has to invoke curiosity and has to come in the right format. Literally everything shifts.

And you’ll stop posting and getting literally the same five, 10 people liking your stuff. And maybe one of those is your mom. that that’s why I’ve commonly said, is your mom your number one Instagram fan? Because our moms are gonna love us no matter what, right? Even our like best friends, our friends are gonna love our content no matter what. But the goal is to reach more people with your content because the more people you reach, the more impact you’ll make, the bigger personal brand you have, and the more opportunities you will attract as well.

Okay, y’all, thank you so much for hanging out with me. I definitely do not take your time for granted. So I appreciate you sticking with me here at Chingona Revolution Podcast. I will see you in the live training and I will also see you next week. Bye.