Livestream

How to Monetize Your Video Content without Depending on YouTube

April 13, 2021 4 min read

You are producing valuable video content but struggling to find the best solution to monetize the videos you have? Well, you are not the only one.

The process of making videos or livestreams can take up a lot of time and effort from the team before they can reach the viewer’s screens. That’s why monetizing video content is crucial for any team to be able to keep producing videos, livestreams, and engaging content for the viewers.

One of the most common ways to get an income for video creators is creating a channel on YouTube and earning ad revenue. However, this might not be the best option for businesses or organizations to leverage video content.

There are many other ways to start earning money from videos and livestreaming, giving you total control over the business models. Having your own streaming platform helps you decide how to interact with your audiences, stay engaged with them, and keep making valued content.

What is video monetization?

Video monetization is how you decide to earn income using the video content you create to publish and share on the internet for revenue. Video content is a great asset to attract viewers, the community, or brands.

In other words, monetizing your video is charging users for access either to your unique content, your viewers, or your platform. Depending on the scale of your project, the strategy for monetizing video content will vary and mix between different techniques and methods to offer the best service for the audiences.

With that being said, the most common practices for earning revenue with video are advertising, direct transactions, or channel interactions: watch time, like count, and subscriptions. As your followers grow, you can earn money by granting viewing access or advertising opportunities to get to your audience.

How to Earn Money with Videos Online: The Three Models

There are three monetizing models to help you or your business to make income using your video content. Depending on your content and target audiences, the business model that you choose to monetize videos will bring a different viewing experience for the users.

The three most effective monetization models for video content are:

Subscription Video On Demand (SVOD)

The SVOD model is usually applied to streaming services that have extensive VOD storage. In this model, your users will subscribe to your platform and pay a recurring fee monthly or annually. A subscription model gives your users unlimited access to the video content they enjoy within a comfortable price that they are willing to pay for.

The number of SVOD based platforms has recently increased, with big names starting to join the online streaming industry. Netflix and Hulu are leading the market with rapidly growing subscribers. Some of the newer platforms are Disney+ and Apple TV, offering shows produced under their names to attract new users.

The advantages of the SVOD model:

A recurring stream of revenue using the existing VOD content on your platform
Focus more on creating engaging content and add value to attract and retain paying subscribers
Subscribers are flexible to access content whenever and wherever without limits

Transactional Video On Demand (TVOD)

If you have downloaded videos from Google Play Store or iTunes, you have made a TVOD purchase on their platform. The TVOD model means that the users will pay for the amount of content they watch. Typically, it’s a pay-per-video or pay-per-series basis.

This model is the best fit for you if you have video content covering different topics and industries that are not focused on anything specific. The TVOD model gives you the flexibility to offer services on your platform. You can either offer a video through a one-time payment with permanent access or rent the piece of content for a lower price, yet with limited time.

Advertising Video On Demand (AVOD)

AVOD is the typical monetization model for video content on YouTube. When you have to wait for an ad to end before watching the video on YouTube, that is the advertising video on demand model.

In other words, AVOD is the model in which brands pay the money to send their messages to your audience. In this case, your viewers can watch videos for free, but they also have to watch advertising content. Another way to monetize with AVOD is to let the users pay for not having to watch ads – like the YouTube Premium model.

The AVOD model makes use of your audiences and their interests to advertise and sell products. This is the best monetization for platforms with a large number of users and creators compelling content.

How Castr Helps You and Your Business Earn Money with Livestreaming

Castr is a livestreaming platform that allows you to broadcast live on more than 30 different social media sites and on your own stream player for any website. We are rolling out the new Paywall feature to give our users even more options to make full use of live streaming with no extra setup.

With Paywall, you can livestream with ease and earn money simultaneously while providing valuable content for your audiences. Stay tuned for more updates from the Castr team and our Paywall release in the Livestream solutions.

Meanwhile, check out other exciting updates in Castr streaming services: