It’s no secret that a battle is being waged between the main social networks to dominate vertical video, the trendy format that most engages viewers, but who will win the war? The one that popularized the format? The one with the most users? Or the one where content creators receive the most income? Let’s analyze this phenomenon to try to answer those questions.
When Instagram replicated Snapchat’s ephemeral publication format back in 2016, by launching Stories, the floodgates opened for functionality copies. Now it is no longer important to be the first social network to launch a novelty, but to be the one that gets the most users to use it. Popularity gives legitimacy.
We are at a time when the main platforms want to lead the format, originally popularized by TikTok, of short vertical video, which uses effects, fast transitions or filters and in which trends and music play a prominent role. It is what we know as Reels on Instagram or Shorts on YouTube. These videos are completely addictive, because they are fast, short and easy to consume; so much so that, without realizing it, you have been watching one, two, ten… And in the end you have spent hours in the application, which is precisely the objective of all social networks.
How each Platform Tries to Attract Influencers
One of their main strategies is to get the largest number of influencers to use their social network and attract their hordes of followers with them. And they are trying to do this through two channels.
On the one hand, modifying their algorithms to give greater visibility to creators who use this format, suggesting videos based on interests and not on who you follow on the platform. This has been the key to TikTok’s success, since it is the social network in which it is easiest to get followers and views, which motivates users to continue uploading videos, because they see results in the very short term, since anyone can get to have viral videos. Now, on both Instagram and YouTube, short videos are promoted in a similar way to that platform.
On the other hand, they have also opted to reward creators financially. So far, both TikTok and YouTube have had their corresponding funds for creators, economic investments that they distributed among those who published these videos on their platform; and Instagram has distributed bonuses to certain selected creators in the United States. However, the reality is that the income generated by these methods has not been stable or especially profitable in most cases.
But that may change very soon, because YouTube has made a statement, and since February 1, 2023, creators can participate in the distribution of advertising revenue from Shorts, as has been done on the platform for years with long videos.
As YouTube explains, the income obtained each month from the ads shown in the Shorts feed will be accumulated and used to reward Shorts creators, who will keep 45% of the income and which will be distributed based on the number of views their Shorts receive in each country.
This option may be very attractive for content creators and may make a difference with other social networks. We are already seeing how well-known TikTokers are opening accounts on YouTube to upload their short vertical videos; with the clear intention of reaching the minimums required by the platform to generate income.
If this is a topic that interests you, here you can learn everything about how to create and monetize content on YouTube Shorts.
The Advantages of YouTube when Making Campaigns with Brands
A differential characteristic of YouTube over the rest of social networks is the depth of its statistics, which allow you to analyze the performance of a video in a much more detailed way. Let’s not kid ourselves, most influencers don’t care about this, but this is not the case for brands that hire these creators to promote their products. In the case of advertisers, access to detailed statistics may make them prefer that creators carry out campaigns on YouTube.
And, in this same line, the fact that on YouTube you can add links in the description of the video, something that neither in Reels nor in TikTok can be done right now, is also an added value for advertisers, who can measure the real conversion of their campaigns.
Will this be enough for YouTube to emerge as the leader of the format? We will have to wait a few months to find out and, perhaps by that time, TikTok and Instagram have made a counterattack because, for example, it is rumored that the “TikTok Shop” that will arrive in 2023 will revolutionize the influencer marketing sector… We at 2btube bet that the platform in which content creators get the most income will win, whatever it may be.
And it is that social networks have ceased to be a mere entertainment for content creators. Now they are a job and the “salary” is a factor that can tip the balance for a specific platform. It is what is known as the creator economy, a new millionaire industry in which, through different forms of monetization (by views, by fan funding, by brand sponsorships…) creators can live off their content. We at the agency estimate that in Spain there are more than 9,000 professional influencers, who have made their content their profession.