Influencer Session with Andrew Cranswick

Socially Powerful interviewed Andrew Cranswick (@.theretrobyte) about his journey in retro-gaming content creation. Andrew launched his YouTube and Twitter accounts to share his story after rediscovering his love for retro gaming in 2018. He grew up in the 80s and 90s, that is why he is deeply captivated by the history of video games, computers, and consoles. His TikTok showcases short hardware clips, while his YouTube offers retrospectives on gaming history. Andrew views influencer marketing as an evolving tool for companies to reach vast audiences. His goal is to increase his online presence in gaming and supplement his family income through content creation.

Andrew Cranswick @.theretrobyte

We caught up with Andrew Cranswick, known as @.theretrobyte on TikTok and YouTube. Keep reading to find out about building an audience in a retro-gaming niche, and creating a social media presence based on a lifelong interest and nostalgia.

1. Tell us about your background and how you started to build your following.

It was around 2018 when I started my journey back into the retro scene after watching many YouTube videos and realising how much nostalgia I had for retro gaming. It was at this time that I started my own YouTube and Twitter account as I felt through these 2 platforms I could start to narrate my own story.

2. What is it about retro gaming that holds you captivated by it, even in a modern world full of new technology?

Being a child of the 80s and 90s I grew up right in the middle of the 8 bit and 16 bit era. My first experience with video games was when I found the family Pong game in the cupboard. I must have only been around 4 or 5 but I was fascinated. I feel that the history of video games, computers and consoles has significant historical importance and needs to be kept alive.

3. Which platforms do you predominantly use? Which is your favourite?

My favourite platform would probably be YouTube. However, creating on this platform tends to take more time to write and produce and I have had very little success on this platform so far. In 2022 I started posting on TikTok and many of my videos were only clipping videos of vintage content that I felt had a big nostalgic appeal. Although I do also create my own content too as this has been an area I have been focusing on.

4. What type of content do you create, and which type works best for your audience?

The content I create is dependent on the platform. On YouTube I tend to write retrospectives on video games, software houses and genres. On TikTok my videos tend to be short show and tell hardware and “did you know” 2 minute shorts based on retro computers.

5. How would you define “influencer marketing”?

For me influencer marketing is simply marketing products through social media such as an endorsement or mention allowing companies to get their products in front of thousands of people.

6. How do you think influencer marketing will change over the next 12 months?

I think influencer marketing is just going to continue to grow as more and more companies selling their products become more savvy in this area.

7. How has influencer marketing changed since you began working within social media?

I believe influencer marketing has become a more accepted mainstream form of advertising especially for smaller companies that may already have a presence on social media thus allowing them to grow their visibility.

8. Do you use any software to help create and edit your content?

For creating content I use DaVinci Resolve however I often use CapCut on my phone.

9. How do you balance your online and offline lives?

For me this is always a work in progress but I tend to do my social media work during the day. This also includes my streaming and the evening tends to be my family time although this may change as I hope to start an evening stream soon at least once a week.

10. Which influencers inspire you?

I have always taken a close interest in people such as @nostalgianerd, @rmcretro and @tristabytes.

11. Where would you like to take your career as an influencer?

My aim recently would be to explore the possibility of heightening my profile presence especially in the gaming area to a level where I can supplement the family income.