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By Tuhin Menon
The future of content is regional and individual creator driven, as we witness the ever-intensifying rise in internet consumption across the length and breadth of India. With rural internet usage growing at a rate that is three times faster than that in urban areas, quite justifiably, an obvious consequence of that would be the increased consumption and creation of regional content. In the next five years, 90% of total internet users will be vernacular language users and by the year 2030, the primary languages for media and entertainment will be regional languages!
The pandemic has spurred the imaginations of content creators across the globe. And India is no exception. This period, marked by unprecedented loss and uncertainty, also saw an unbridled and broad-based resurgence of creativity. As first-time creators, particularly in the vernacular languages, flocked online to showcase their talent, an organic network effect was unleashed. Across verticals like entertainment, beauty, fashion, technology, food, travel and a host of others, creators have succeeded in building out large communities with dedicated content offerings. They have been able to do this in a largely platform agnostic manner, leveraging their reach via platforms like YouTube, Facebook, Instagram as well as their regional language focused counterparts.
While the ability to build a large audience is certainly within reach, the problem of creators monetising their content continues to loom large. Did you know that there are 80 million content creators in India, with an average monthly earning is a mere $200? Thus, we see that monetisation of content is the foremost challenge faced by the creator economy. Existing platforms largely leverage programmatic or branded content revenue, all of which rely on advertising, which typically accrues to the top 1% of creators. The longtail of creators, which account for the majority of vernacular language creators, is still cut off from the prospect of building meaningful monetisation of their content.
Creators today are fully empowered to produce and distribute their content across platforms, however, innovative solutions integrating social commerce will solve a much-needed gap in the eco system, allowing creators to build parallel sources of income. Synchronised e-commerce and content creation is a combination that is rarely seen in the Indian market, however there is a fundamental shift taking place, which empowers creators to move away from the minimal commissions earned through affiliate marketing. Millions of creators and knowledge professionals will now pursue micro entrepreneurship as monetisation models continue to mature. Integrating technology and e-commerce in a perfect blend, creators can establish long-term collaborative associations with retail houses, so that the end consumers are enables to buy goods and services directly from their favourite creators. Deeper relationships will be built between creators and their fans, powered by the collaborative efforts.
Direct monetisation avenues will be commonplace, with creators offering direct fan subscriptions with access to exclusive content, one-on-one communication between creators and fans, facilitating close-knit group interactions, tipping and donation, and more.
Creators can utilise easy-to-use state-of-the-art SaaS tools to help them create and upload unique content, thus saving them time and energy and opening up avenues of imagination and income generation.
What influencers and content creators have accomplished in a short span of time to set a stage for themselves, and gain global recognition for their particular category of work that has immense potential for business opportunities, is commendable.
The author is CEO and co-founder of Asiaville. Views expressed are personal.
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