Video apps see route to monetization as rural users spend
MONETIZATION HAS BEEN AN AREA OF CONCERN FOR SUCH PLATFORMS DESPITE HUGE USER BASES
NEW DELHI: Live video applications, which rushed to fill the void left by TikTok after it was banned, are starting to entice their target audiences to spend more on these platforms. According to industry stakeholders, some platforms have seen spending from rural users double since January 2021.
Monetization has been an area of concern for such platforms, which have only been able to enhance their user base so far. Influencer marketing experts have often said that they discourage brands from spending on these platforms because they’re new and don’t have evolved monetization tools and mechanisms like Instagram or even TikTok.
“Even in terms of monetisation, the more established platforms are way ahead of the smaller ones. Neither brands and nor creators have voluntarily mandated being on these apps, and a big reason for that is the lack of detailed analytics and data in terms of audience engagement and returns,” said Shudeep Majumdar, co-founder and chief executive officer of influencer marketing firm Zefmo.
According to Varun Saxena, the co-founder of Bolo Live, a live video platform, the average daily spends by users from tier II cities grew from ₹35 per day to ₹80 between January 2021 and now. He added that over three lakh users are spending money to watch live streams from creators on his platform, and over 85% of these users are from tier II and III cities.
On Bolo Live, users can buy digital gifts to send to creators. The revenue from these gifts is split between the platform and creators in a 70-30% ratio. The gifts are priced in the range of ₹10 to ₹500, and Saxena claimed that some users spend more than ₹10,000 on the platform on a monthly basis.
Further, Mansi Jain, general manager of Roposo, the short video platform owned by InMobi’s Glance platform, also said that 70% of the company’s 150,000 to 200,000 users come from tier II and III cities. She said that about 15% of the audience “actively engage” with the company’s products. Like Bolo Live, Roposo also offers users a virtual asset called Roposo Coins.
Virtual assets on short video platforms are not to be confused with cryptocurrencies. Unlike crypto, they cannot be traded and are usually not built on blockchain platforms.
Saxena said that as a result of this, top creators on the platform earn up to ₹1.4 lakh, while most earn at least ₹1,500 per month from Bolo Live. Jain, on the other hand, said that viewers are spending at least ₹500 per user per month on their platform and about 20% of creators take home over ₹1 lakh every month.