Wochit: Publishers optimistic about social video monetisation
June 14, 2017
Seventy-five per cent of social video publishers are optimistic about the revenue-generating potential of their assets, according to a survey conducted by Wochit. Based on responses from representatives of publishers, brands, agencies and other content creators, the findings demonstrate the increasing importance of social video as a path to monetisation while also offering insights on the tactics and strategies companies plan to leverage in the months and years ahead.
“People are consuming more and more videos, so video monetisation is the way to go,” said the head of social media at an international social news network.
The findings of the survey include:
Revenue Sources:
- Seventy-five per cent of publishers feel optimistic about social video monetisation in 2017
- Most popular revenue sources for publishers are YouTube (68.35 per cent), Facebook (55.70 per cent) and owned and operated websites (51.90 per cent)
- Publishers were more than twice as likely to employ pre-roll ads on owned and operated websites (68.35 per cent vs 33.96 per cent),
- Sponsored videos were used nearly equally across the board (49.06 per cent)
Future Plans:
- Publishers overwhelmingly plan to increase the number of videos they produce (75.95 per cent)
- Other revenue growth options under consideration are: expanding distribution networks (60.76 per cent), creating sponsored videos (56.96 per cent) and partnering with content sponsors (50.64 per cent)
- Increasing the number of ads per video is the least popular option, considered by only 15.91 per cent of respondents
- Two-thirds of all participants plan to experiment with Facebook’s mid-roll option this year
Kyle Ivins, co-founder of ad network Monumetric, which is a beta tester for Facebook’s video pre-bid said, “There is a ton of demand, but advertisers are just starting to catch on to the right tech. Once those two align, it will be awesome.” On the other hand, some publishers remain skeptical about Facebook monetisation promise. Said Matt Gnaizda, Vice President at New Tang Dynasty Television, “It’s hard to trust Facebook’s promises of monetisation. They always change the rules.”
Perceived Barriers to Monetisation:
- Declining consumer attention spans topped the list, with 68.18 per cent of all respondents identifying it as among the top three worries
- Ad blockers and dependency on social network policies were the next most prevalent concerns, each indicated by 50 per cent of participants.
“Insights like these give us an important view into the realities faced by content producers today. Based on these results, it’s clear that having the ability to create video at scale is imperative to our customers’ bottom lines,” said co-founder and CEO Dror Ginzberg. “Along with the additional data we’re collecting on issues like factors that contribute to virality, we can ensure we’re helping companies to get the most from their social video strategies, whether that be engagement, brand lift or monetisation.”