Even Major Media Properties Are Launching New Video Series Online—What’s Your Content Strategy?
The online gold rush today is in video, and if you’re looking to cash in it’s time to get started. Over the last year, YouTube has spent $100 million to help kickstart the careers of its content partners. Twitch.tv, a streaming video site that spun-off from Justin.tv to let video gamers stream live feeds and interact with fans just raised $15 million to build up its site and services which already reach an estimated 20 million monthly viewers. Mobile video app Socialcam recently sold to Autodesk for $60 million, which should help it reach the ever expanding audience of people who want to create and watch videos on their iPhones or Android devices.
This money isn’t just for the companies hosting these videos—by running ads or seeking sponsorships, video producers are able to monetize their videos on these various platforms. Even Vimeo long known as a great place to share cutting-edge videos in HD but also as a place without intrusive ads—is now allowing its content producers to accept tips on their videos.
What A Backstreet Boy, A Tech Journalist, A Social Media CEO, and A Facebook Employee Say About The Future Of Mobile And Social Media
From left to right: Me, Backstreet Boy AJ McLean, Mashable’s Andrea Smith, Duracell Powermat CEO Ron Rabinowitz, and Facebook’s Kevin Knight
I recently had the chance to chair a phenomenal panel in New York City where I was able to talk with a wide variety of entrepreneurs, business professionals, and social media experts about where we are today with mobile and social media and what’s coming in the future. While this event wasn’t televised, I was able to get some great quotes and invaluable content from the panelists to share with you today.
How a Backstreet Boy uses social media to connect with his fans
The most interesting panelist had to be Backstreet Boy AJ McLean, who has a major social presence on Twitter, Socialcam and Instagram. Using social media, AJ has created Internet memes like #booomb videos on Socialcam, and has cultivated a huge online audience almost 20 years after the band he was originally known for rose to fame.
While the Backstreet Boys are still recording and selling millions of albums, AJ has created a strong brand for himself as Mr. Skulleeroz (pronounced “Skull-e-rose”) on social media channels. What’s his secret? According to AJ:
Someone like myself who’s in the music industry, we’re not always that accessible to our fans and to the media except when we do [things like] a press event. [With social media you] get a direct contact and get an immediate response. That’s something that I’ve never seen before… It just brings my fans, my personal fans and the Backstreet Boys fans, closer to us as people. Bringing them into our homes, our everyday life. Not just backstage or onstage, but like ‘come take a ride with me down the street to the 7-11.
You don’t have to be a Backstreet Boy to see the value in what AJ is saying. No matter what your business or brand, social media and video allow you to connect with people when you can’t be there in person. If you can get even a few hundred views on an online video, the time you take to make it is immediately more valuable than trying to meet with those same hundred people in person. If you can get a few thousand views, you’re suddenly an online content producer capable of monetizing your content because your online audience is now suddenly as valuable as your real-world audience.
The online gold rush today is in video, and if you’re looking to cash in it’s time to get started. Over the last year, YouTube has spent $100 million to help kickstart the careers of its content partners. Twitch.tv, a streaming video site that spun-off from Justin.tv to let video gamers stream live feeds and interact with fans just raised $15 million to build up its site and services which already reach an estimated 20 million monthly viewers. Mobile video app Socialcam recently sold to Autodesk for $60 million, which should help it reach the ever expanding audience of people who want to create and watch videos on their iPhones or Android devices.