Since we have almost 30,000 users and a great deal of demographic and viewership data, we are increasingly receiving phone calls from companies looking for “brand integration” (product placement) deals with popular new media shows and vloggers. Often, these companies have a specific demographic in mind and are looking for a popular show with a niche audience (perfect for online video). For instance, we recently connected Church & Dwight, who were looking to promote their new product, OxiClean Baby, with Dad Labs (produced by For Your Imagination), a show that showcases Austin, Texas-based dads talking shop about fatherhood.
We recently categorized all of our users (which now number over 25,000). The categorization was undertaken at the request of several specialty video sites that we deploy videos to that have strict editorial standards (Howcast only wants how-to videos, Crackle professionally-produced content, YouTube everything under the sun, etc.). While the tiering was qualitative, it yielded some interesting quantitative insights:
Tier One (i.e. CBS Interactive, NextNewNetworks): 47% of all views; 3% of all users
Tier Two (i.e. popular vloggers, filmmakers, less-knowns but popular): 23% of all views; 20% of all users
Tier Three (i.e. promotional material–movie trailers, corporate-seeded viral videos): 13% of all views; 7% of all users
Tier Four (i.e. unknowns, family videos): 18% of all views; 70% of all users
Since this data is about TubeMogul users, there’s a clear selection bias here in favor of savvier content creators (i.e. networks, marketers), who are probably more likely to know about TubeMogul than the casual video uploader. In any case, interesting (we hope).
In writing a recent article for Alley Insider, Michael asked us if there are any stealth viral video campaigns floating around out there that he could force out of the closet. After consulting our database (which houses over 25,000 content creators) and clicking around, we think (but aren’t certain) that this video, which conspicuously features Stella Artois (owned by mega-conglomerate InBev), is a total shill (not that that’s a bad thing):
The easiest way to start monetizing videos today is to opt-in to existing revenue sharing programs on the various video sharing sites. This is probably the least profitable of the myriad of monetization options out there, but best for the vast majority of people who don’t have a large enough audience to support their own advertising. Casual users just posting videos for fun have nothing to lose by checking the opt-in boxes on these sites.
Video sharing sites with revenue-sharing include:
MetaCafe Producer Rewards Program
$5 per 1,000 views; payments start when a video hits 20,000 views within a six month period, with the caveat that its rating cannot average below 3.0.
Tag-Based. Users pick which of their meta-tags to sponsor, and ads are peppered in the player along with comments.
Tags are sponsored in two ways: advertisers can buy keywords at auction, or relevant Amazon product links will appear.
Viddler will split the affiliate revenue if someone clicks through to buy a product on Amazon; in the case of ads, they will split the cost-per-click fee they collect (they are planning to switch to cost-per-thousand, or CPM, later).
The original site to offer revenue sharing (hence their namesake)
50/50 Split of advertising revenue to those who add “revtag” to their videos. Works whether video is downloaded, embedded or viewed on Revver.com
YouTube
By application/invite only; terms vary. YouTube does not disclose specifics, but we hear it’s in the 75% range. YouTube paid out $1 million in 2007, although it’s fair to infer that Universal Music Group is getting a much larger piece of that than Mondo Media cartoons. More here.
Since I blogged about William F. Buckley last week our blog is slanting right, which needs to be addressed (TubeMogul was founded in Berkeley, after all, where intolerance is not tolerated). Enter International Fund for Animal Welfare, a nonprofit dating back 30 years that is embracing new media and distributing videos via TubeMogul. No matter how you feel about animal rights, some of these videos are truly humbling and worth checking out, if only to fully countenance reality.
Many independent filmmakers utilize TubeMogul as a tool to deploy their movie trailers, behind-the-scenes filmmaker vlogs, shorts and even feature films, often increasing their viewership and learning more about their audience in the process. Shotgun Stories is an acclaimed film I recently discovered when a user unofficially deployed the film’s trailer via TubeMogul. Interestingly, this trailer is everywhere, posted and re-posted by many passionate fans, attesting to the viral nature of both online video and independent film. Described by Roger Ebert as “a great discovery,” the movie is currently wrapping up a limited theater tour of the U.S. and is also available on DVD.
Film-oriented readers might also be interested in our partnership with IndieGoGo, an online social marketplace that connects filmmakers and fans to make independent film happen.
Michael Learmonth of Silicon Alley Insider has a great post on “Special Delivery,” a popular MySpace-sponsored hidden camera show that is a huge success on MySpace (in part thanks to promotion there), and a total flop on YouTube, where the show also has a channel. This attests to a common refrain we say a lot around here (because it’s true): since each video sharing site has different demographics and promotional opportunities, distribution to multiple sites not only increases viewership, but also helps in finding an audience and starting to build a community around content.
Increasingly we find ourselves playing matchmaker between video producers and advertisers, investors and video-sharing sites (i.e., “the money”). Sometimes we are simply helping a friend, and other times we consider this an unofficial service for top content creators. It makes sense that TubeMogul would informally fill this role as we are at the nexus of online video – content creators are our customers, video sites are our partners, and advertisers increasingly rely upon our aggregated analytics.
Today, a well known video producer approached us to see if we could help him get a new project funded – a short web series with committed celebrity talent. The project is not yet public, but suffice to say that the celebrity in question would draw a large and targeted audience. Given this, the proven track record of the producer, and the relative low cost to sponsor the series, is anyone else surprised that the project has been difficult to get funded? Get in touch with us if you are “the money” and want a sneak peak at the project.
