There are three main ways that companies can approach video monetisation today – via social platforms, such as YouTube and Facebook, using syndication methods and also on their own sites. Most organisations will employ a range of these approaches simultaneously.

It is generally accepted that the most money is made from online video on a company or organisation’s own sites at the current time, but an investigation into the future of online video monetisation suggests that revenue is, and will continue to be, driven to social platforms over the next few years.

Recent study delves deeper into video monetisation

Recently, a video creation platform created a survey that asked 132 media and publishing professionals where they thought ‘the money was’ in their online video, what their concerns were for the future, and how they planned to continue.

The results offered an interesting insight into how video monetisation revenue is achieved, and gave a valuable view of how the professionals feel about the work they produce, how they make their decisions and how they are thinking ahead. Let’s take a closer look at those results:

• 68% of participants make money from their own sites
• 55% get revenue from YouTube
• 52% from Facebook
• 33% from syndicated content
• 20% from Instagram
• 8% via Snapchat

What are the main concerns of survey participants?

Almost 70% of the survey participants expressed a concern about viewer attention span, and cited a need to produce short content to engage the viewer for a short time. This is conflicting slightly with other evidence in the industry that longer content for certain sectors, such as the fashion or DIY industries, is creating better engagement.

Another concern is the occurrence of ads within video content, with some participants feeling that their viewers will become annoyed or irritated with them.
Satisfying the core audience is an area which sometimes falls short in the video industry, particularly when the focus is placed too much on the creation of branded or sponsored content, which is also one of the top video monetisation methods. With split revenues offered by some social platforms, often further complicated by ‘suggested video’ features, many participants were concerned about maintaining the production of quality content.

What about the future of video monetisation?

67% of those surveyed, plan to increase the number of videos they produce or distribute, with more than half planning to increase views by loading to additional channels and platforms. Almost three-quarters of participants do remain optimistic about video monetisation, despite the concerns they have and challenges they believe they will face.

The general consensus of the survey gave an optimistic outlook for video monetisation on social platforms, and believe that opportunities are increasing. While some remain concerned about quality of online video as producers spread themselves thin, creating so much content to meet the growing demands of viewers, many look forward to the coming changes expected in social platforms and the better opportunities for video monetisation as the year wears on.