The complete guide to monetizing your videos online
Videos are a powerful medium for creators to express their ideas and creativity. According to Statista, 3.48 billion people are watching digital videos in 2023 so far and 89% of people reported that their decision to purchase a product or service was influenced by watching a video related to that product indicating that video is an engaging medium turning viewers to consumers. Also, 52% of people share videos over other types of content. These figures indicate that there is a greater demand for videos, and monetizing videos with such a large audience is profitable. However, figuring out how to monetize your video online can be difficult, especially if you are a beginner.
In this article, we will break down the process of monetizing video into simple strategies.
Step-by-step guide
Select your niche
Kevin Kelly, founding executive editor of WIRED magazine introduced the concept of "1,000 True Fans". It's a theory that has changed how we view success in the digital age. This concept is straightforward yet profound: if you can find 1,000 devoted followers who will support you financially, you can create a stable lifestyle. The question is: where do you discover these loyal followers? The answer lies in the power of niche.
Your niche is the area of your interest and competence; it serves as the foundation for your complete sales strategy. When you specialize in a particular industry, you increase your chances of attracting a loyal audience. This not only increases your chances of having dedicated followers but also makes it easy for you to connect on a personal level with your viewers. For example, if you're a fitness enthusiast making training videos, you'll most likely attract fitness-conscious viewers who are truly interested in your content. This focused audience is more likely to support your content by purchasing it.
Important points you should consider while focusing on your niche:
- Always follow your passion and work towards an area you are good at.
- Find the right type of audience who are willing to pay for your content. Go to platforms such as YouTube and other video-sharing platforms to see whether there are enough people who enjoy the content you are planning to create.
- Think differently from what other creators are doing.
- Research about the profitable niche that you can monetize - Some of the trending niches include makeup, gaming, food, tech review, etc
Content Mapping
In simple words, content mapping involves planning and organizing your content to align with the needs and preferences of your target audience.
Following are the steps you should follow in content mapping:
Understand the buyer or viewer persona
A buyer persona is an intricate portrayal of your audience. This persona is not real but is based on extensive market research and data about your target audience. According to digitalscholar, 71% of companies that were getting their customers did so through the use of buyer persona. There are many free buyer persona templates available such as HubSpot, MailChimp, and Xtensio.
Understand the buyer's stage
According to Hubspot, there are three buyers' stages -
- Awareness: In this stage, a buyer realizes their need, problem, or opportunity and researches it to determine if it's a priority. You can do competitive analysis and keyword research to determine what your audience is looking for depending on your niche. You can use tools such as Ubersuggest, Semrush, and Google Trends.
- Consideration: In the second stage, the buyer has clearly defined their need, problem, or opportunity and has committed to addressing it. As a video creator, your role is to provide informative and in-depth videos that will help viewers gain a deeper understanding of the subject. Consider creating tutorial videos, educational series, or in-depth analyses to meet their needs.
- Purchase: At the last stage, the buyer decides on a solution or the type of content they want. At this stage, it's crucial to establish your credibility and trustworthiness as a video creator. Highlight your expertise, share testimonials or reviews, and make it easy for viewers to subscribe and buy your content.
Brainstorming
To understand your buyers or viewers better it’s important to brainstorm on the type of content they will be interested in, the length of the videos, and the platform where they can watch the videos including the content format that you will be using for eg.- Podcasts, Tutorials, Product Reviews, Interviews, or Courses.
Some of the powerful content mapping tools that you can use are: LucidChart, Hubspot, Trello, and Google Search Console.
Choose a platform for selling video
After choosing your niche and planning your content, you must select a platform for uploading the video. When selecting a platform, it’s important to take into account the security features such as enterprise-level security features like hotlinking protection, network control, and SSL encryption. Consider the type of platform that will best suit your video content strategy such as video sharing, video on demand, or video streaming.
Focusing on a study conducted by Arun Kumar, Ebad Ur Rahman et al. in India we get an understanding about the quality of content on the ‘’video streaming platform’’. The research showed that video streaming had long-term positive effects on the viewers ease of use, accessibility, and flexibility of consuming video content. Video streaming has made it easier for consumers to watch content wherever and whenever they want to. Additionally, the research revealed how video streaming is effective and popular among youth as it is cost effective. These findings indicate that video streaming is becoming increasingly popular when it comes to consuming video content online especially among youths.
In addition to the platform's type, several other factors should be carefully considered when selecting the best platform to monetize your video. Similarly, a thorough examination of the monetization model should be done. Furthermore, understanding the policies of the platform and pricing your content accordingly is also important.
Choose the right monetization strategy
Subscriptions, ads, and pay-per-views are the three ways to monetize your content. According to Maximilian Wuhr, CGO and Co-Founder at FINN, subscriptions stand out as a lucrative choice, as they offer a consistent line of communication with your audience.
Although ad-based revenue is common, it can be off-putting or annoying to viewers. Andrea Tapalaga, a writer at Better Marketing, suggests that some websites opt for subscriptions as it allows creators to showcase their work in a quality-focused environment without intrusive ads , enhancing the overall viewing experience.
Overall, the best way to choose the monetization model is to experiment and understand what works best for you.
Pricing your video content
When pricing your videos, it is important to set your revenue goals. Start by charging a lower price for larger audiences and a higher price for specific niche audiences. Analyze the cost of your video by observing the hourly rate for the time spent in creating a video, the customer acquisition cost, and the equipment required to record your videos. In addition to this, monthly and annual subscriptions are the most profitable way to price your content. A monthly billing subscription charges users on the same day each month whereas, an annual billing charges users the full balance for a yearly subscription.
Based on our research, we could identify some sweet spots that you can use as your pricing point.
According to startup Bonsai, a business resource site, many creators charge around $10 per video. However, for very short videos/stock footage sold under non-exclusive licenses, you might charge as little as $1 or less and for a full feature-length movie, you can charge upwards of $20 per video. If you’re renting your videos, rather than selling them, you might want to price them lower around $2-$4.
According to Vimeo, the average sweet spot for the majority of video creators who upload their content at least once a week is between $7.99 and $9.99.
Pricing your content according to your niche is very important. For example, You can charge between $4.99 and $6.99 per month for entertainment content and charge a little more between $9.99 and $14.99 per month for fitness content.
Faith is also a niche where video creators may benefit the maximum. You can charge $8.50-$19.99 a month for content related to faith. If you are offering bonus content you can charge 30% to 60% more. If you are selling your videos as a package you can give 20% – 25% discount to your subscribers.
Vimeo suggests setting the rate for an annual subscription at 20% – 25% less than monthly subscriptions irrespective of the genre.
Create your video and start promoting
Once you have created and set the pricing for your video, you can start marketing it to get the potential audience who are willing to pay for your content. An annual survey on the state of video done by demand metrics showed that 90% of participants considered video marketing to be important.
The mere exposure effect by Robert Zajonc shows that people often tend to like something more when they are repeatedly exposed to it. Therefore, as a creator, you should try to market your video to as many platforms as you can so that your audience is repeatedly exposed to it. Try to engage with your audience on social networking sites and build a community. You can run a video campaign on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. You can post a summary of your video with a good call to action on your social handles that will redirect the audience to your video.
Email marketing is also an effective way to sell your videos. Animoto reports that incorporating the word "video" in an email subject line increases the rate at which emails are opened by 19%. Additionally, twitter is another effective way to market your video. You can do so by pinning your video at the top of the Twitter feed so it doesn’t get lost amidst the many tweets you send. Buffer, a social media management platform discovered that pinning a Twitter card resulted in a tenfold increase in conversions.
Video analysis and monitoring
Once the video is uploaded and you start receiving views, it’s important to analyze how your video is performing. Some of the metrics that you can use to gauge your engagement include the number of impressions, total number of views, view length, engagement rate, video shares, and conversions. With the help of this metric, you can track your performance and tailor content as per your audience's needs. Some of the tools that can be used for video analysis are -
Start your video membership with Skara
Skara is a no-code platform that helps video creators, publishers, and businesses to build, launch, and sell their videos streaming apps and websites within minutes. Creators can monetize their videos immediately, at a low tiered platform fee and a tiered per subscriber fee. It doesn’t matter if you are a beginner or an experienced creator, Skara guides you in every step of your video creation journey. It is a platform that will -
- Help you build your customizable app and website in 2-3 minutes.
- Monetize your content via annual and monthly subscription.
- Give you complete control over pricing your content.
- Helps you track video performance and analytics.
If you want to start monetizing your videos today, Skara is the great place to start your journey. Remember that owning your video platform built on Skara, gives you unlimited flexibility, better SEO rankings, and a technical group of members who are there for you at every step.
Conclusion
Although we understand that selling videos can be challenging, however, with the right methods and tools you will be able to increase your revenue early. No matter what niche or industry you pick, these strategies will help you stand out in the video industry. Remember to use the most effective monetization option for your content. Stay responsive to your audience and be informed and updated about the video creation industry.
FAQs
Q: Where can I monetize my video online?
You can monetize videos to your target audience through platforms like Skara which help you build your app and website in minutes.
Q: Can I sell my videos on YouTube?
No, YouTube does not have the option to sell videos. But, you can use Youtube as a tool for marketing your videos, For eg- You can upload short clips, behind the scenes from your paid content on Youtube. You can provide a call to action (CTA) in the description section of your video that redirects your viewers to purchasing the full content on platforms such as Skara.
Q: Can I monetize any video footage?
Yes, you can monetize video footage as long as it is done with precision. If you want to make more money, then creating people and lifestyle footage is the way to go. You can also sell aerials or time-lapse videos.
