Life Beyond YouTube – The Shift to Creator-Owned Platforms and What It Means for the Creator Economy

The creator economy is at a crossroads. While you like traditional platforms Instagram, Tik Tok, twitchand YouTube Social media still provides the best opportunities for aspiring creators to build their brand and get in front of potential fans, but more established creators are finding it increasingly difficult to sustain their careers on social media alone. As a result, a number of popular creators have begun investing in their own subscription streaming platforms (D2C or DTC), citing frustration with YouTube’s algorithm and how difficult it is to maintain the level of success they’ve achieved. On one platform. However, fan feedback about these endeavors has been mixed. Having grown accustomed to accessing their favorite creator’s content for free on social media, some fans are having a hard time seeing the value of these newly released platforms.

Despite these initial growing difficulties, a new content distribution strategy is beginning to take shape, and the future of the creator economy may be one of a more complex, windowed approach. The hybrid/free-to-fan subscription model means that initial content is released exclusively via the creator’s subscription service, potentially alongside additional content (live behind-the-scenes footage, archived vintage videos, and live streams), for superfans who pay for the privilege of being the first Users who watch new videos. The content can then be later released to social media platforms, such as YouTube, to leverage their existing social audience and discovery algorithms to generate advertising revenue from more casual fans.

While it is too early to say whether or not this emerging model will continue to exist in its current form, what is clear is that creator-owned D2C platforms will continue to play an important role in the distribution strategies of major online content creators as more and more of them grow. It is looking to diversify its revenue sources beyond YouTube and other platforms.

The cost of social media

For good reasons, YouTube remains the go-to platform for content creators. There are very few places left on the internet where a content creator can start from scratch and quickly build their business with their own creativity. For those who can properly harness the YouTube algorithm, content creators can get their work in front of millions of users on one of the largest social media platforms. Additionally, YouTube offers creators a built-in way to monetize this new audience through an ad-based revenue sharing program.

These benefits can become a double-edged sword for content creators after their initial growth begins to stagnate. First, content creators quickly became beholden to the algorithm they had previously used to great effect in growing their audience. When growth starts to slow, creators can find themselves harnessing their creative vision to chase views while the algorithm constantly changes beneath their feet. This makes achieving consistent revenue difficult, as ad revenue is calculated based on video views. The lack of predictable revenue makes it difficult to run a business centered around producing quality content multiple times a week.

The ad-based revenue sharing model treats the value of each fan equally. Every view has the same value on YouTube. It doesn’t matter whether or not the viewer came from someone who religiously follows a channel and watches every video as they come out, or from a casual viewer who found one video and never came back. This leaves money on the table because creators are unable to extract the full value for their most active supporters.

Finally, content creators don’t own the relationship between themselves and their audience on social media. Despite the fact that fans subscribe and follow to get closer to their favorite creator, the reality is that the platforms themselves are the ones controlling those interactions. Communications between creators and their fans are still algorithmically regulated, and creators are often asked to pay for access to their entire fan base on those platforms in the form of targeted ad purchases.

D2C early movers

In response to these challenges, many prominent content creators have launched new projects aimed at taking their content directly to their fan base. In the past six months, Watcher, Critical Role and Try Guys have all launched their own direct-to-consumer subscription platforms. Although the three launches were slightly different in form and function, all recognized the benefits of adding D2C to their distribution strategies.

First, D2C platforms provide a way for creators to form a deeper connection with their fans. By removing third-party social platforms from the relationship, creators now have the ability to reach their entire audience directly and collect and use fan data to make more informed business decisions.

Second, creator-owned platforms will allow creators complete creative control. With no algorithm to cater to their needs and without the threat of arbitrary demonization, creators will only need to respond to their audience leading to more creative freedom.

Finally, creators will finally be able to properly monetize their super fans. Creators will be able to generate additional revenue by giving their super fans an outlet through which they can express their fandom, while also fully engaging with this passionate subset of their larger audience.

Window opportunity

Despite the clear benefits of creator-owned platforms, creators have realized that replacing a single-threaded social media strategy with a single-threaded D2C approach is not the answer. Although the D2C model does a good job of capturing the value of superfans, leaving YouTube completely removes all of the growth benefits associated with the algorithm. While the revenue generated from advertising revenue may be unpredictable, it can also be significant, and the D2C model has not yet proven that it can fully replace this income. Going exclusively to a gated distribution model may alienate more casual fans who still want access to the content but not enough to pay for it.

What life after YouTube may still be like is unclear to most creators. But what these early experiments at creator-owned platforms show is that while YouTube is still important for building jobs, direct-to-consumer distribution will help shape the future of the creator economy.

[Editor’s note: This is a contributed article from Kiswe. Streaming Media accepts vendor bylines based solely on their value to our readers.]

Related articles

Why do specialized programmers rank first in FAST?

Since the early days of FAST, the flexibility and strategic innovation that are hallmarks of startups and niche content companies has been critical to success in the world of FAST. As the Independent Broadcast Alliance (ISA) emerges to bolster its endorsement of niche FAST providers, ESHAP’s Evan Shapiro, TMB’s Cameron Sills, and Gusto TV’s Chris Knight discuss how the FAST market took off and matured around smart startups in this clip from Streaming Media Connect 2023.

January 31, 2024

YouTube tests its advertising leverage – side criteria, winning budgets

YouTube may be too big to ignore. The question for advertisers might be: Is it too big to play by the rules? Lotame’s Hunter Terry discusses the many unusual and unexpected advertising advantages that YouTube currently has and what that means for the CTV ad industry overall.

September 29, 2023

Why are streamers and content creators turning to virtual production?

Over the past few years, we’ve seen more advances in virtual production and animation technology than ever before. These tools have never been easier to access or offer so many options for creating engaging content and entertaining a wide range of audiences.

October 21, 2022