How MKBHD's Team Introduces New Faces Without Losing Viewers
Growing your team means putting new people on camera. But audiences are loyal to faces they know. So how do you introduce someone new without tanking retention?
The Framework: "Trust Handoff"
Eric Villa, Head of Content Strategy at The Studio (MKBHD's behind-the-scenes channel), shared how the MKBHD team solves this problem with what he calls the Trust Handoff.
The concept is simple: use established faces to platform new talent. The audience trusts people they don't know yet because someone they already trust vouches for them.
Here's how it works at MKBHD:
- Marques appears briefly at the start to establish trust, then hands off to a team member to tell the story
- Established talent introduces new faces through collaborative formats, never cold introductions
- Chemistry builds credibility. Pair the new person with someone who has traction
Eric gave a specific example: when the MKBHD team made an EV market video, they paired Miles (the car guy with an established following) with Jonno (a business analyst the audience didn't know yet). The chemistry between them transferred trust to Jonno instantly.
The result: MKBHD can platform anyone from their 18-person team without starting from zero every time.
How to Use This
- Map your trust hierarchy. Who does your audience already trust? List them in order of established credibility.
- Never cold-introduce new talent. The first time someone appears, pair them with an established face, even if it's just for the intro.
- Find the chemistry match. Not every pairing works. Look for complementary expertise (Miles knows cars, Jonno knows business) that creates natural back-and-forth.
- Make the handoff explicit. Don't just have two people appear together. Have the trusted person actively introduce and validate the new person.
- Repeat until trust transfers. After 3-4 appearances with an established face, the new person can carry content solo.
What Else Eric Revealed
- The metric Marques uses to define success (and why views aren't it)
- Why The Studio scrapped more than half their videos at one point (and what changed)
- The "100% coverage" hiring philosophy that lets them scale without burning out their star
- Eric's path from 7K-subscriber YouTuber to content strategy lead—and the video that started it all
