How to Sell Your Videos Online: Streaming and Monetization Methods

March 31, 2023
Contents

Videos have always been our first choice when the word "entertainment" comes to our minds. People get easy access to videos on the internet than before. Videos have had their historical timeline. 

From watching our favorite cartoons on our TV sets as kids to binge-watching on Netflix, we grew up. As the world becomes faster and smarter, videos are getting increasingly popular. And videos aren't limited to entertainment alone. 

You also can make money by selling your videos as well. Videos can work wonders for you if you know how to make them. 

If you're wondering how to do it, we have you covered. Read along to learn what to do and how to sell your videos.

Why Selling Videos Online Makes Sense

Selling videos has been through a lot of changes for a decade now. We have come a long way in transitioning from buying or renting CDs and DVDs to paying money to purchase streaming site subscriptions. Given below are a few statistics from Dacast that show why selling videos online makes sense:

  • 45% of viewers would pay for a live video of a special event. 
  • More than a third of professional broadcasters use a subscription model to monetize their content.
  • 90% of people watch videos over the internet. 
  • Two-thirds of marketers that target consumers use live streaming for marketing.
  •  About one in five people discover new products and brands through social media live streams. 

Different Types of Online Streaming

When it comes to selling videos online, it's important to understand the different types of online streaming available. Two of the main types are live streaming videos and on-demand videos.

Live Streaming Videos

Live streaming is the process of broadcasting real-time content over the internet. This type of streaming is ideal for sporting events, concerts, conferences, meetings, and other similar gatherings.
Live streaming can be a great way to engage with your audience in real-time and create a sense of community around your content.

On-Demand Videos

Meanwhile, on-demand video content refers to videos that are available to watch at any time on streaming sites like YouTube or Netflix.

This type of streaming allows viewers to choose what, how, and when they want to watch according to their preferences and convenience.

With a vast array of content available, viewers can easily find videos that interest them and watch them at their own pace.

No matter what type of streaming you choose, it's important to create high-quality and engaging content that appeals to your target audience.

Video Monetization by Industry

One of the crucial things to remember while selling your videos is to know what niche your videos will be in since it helps you cater your videos to specific demography and make content targeted towards them. 

Given below are some ideas for making and monetizing content in different industries

1. Fitness and Health

Working out from home with the help of your favorite trainer is a win for busy people and fitness coaches alike. 

Livestreaming yourself while working out and sharing your fitness regime with your audience is an excellent choice for content creation.  

Fitness coaches can make and monetize their content. You can encourage your students to work out live with you; then, you can make the session video available for on-demand playback after the class has ended.

You can also create your fitness app with a subscription for your services, like live workout sessions, tailored fitness videos, and even diet plans.  

2. Sports Broadcasting

Livestreaming sports matches is also currently a profitable trend. Sports fans can tune in to online streaming platforms for easy access to their favorite sports teams on the go, anytime, anywhere. 

Be it the Olympics or a world cup match of your favorite sports with your favorite teams on it. Sports live streaming will always be profitable as there always would be more sports enthusiasts.

3. Online Education

Independent educators in all subjects are digging into the online learning space. 

They offer non-accredited courses for a fee less than what colleges and other post-secondary institutions charge. 

Sometimes, this content can work as a substitute for college classes, and other times it is designed to teach skills to people who can't attend college altogether.

4. Entertainment

Online streaming your favorite movies and TV series is got to be one of the best uses of video streaming. 

You just pay your OTT platforms like Netflix, Amazon prime, or Hulu and watch your favorite shows conveniently. 

These platforms use a subscription-based approach and provide access to massive content libraries. 

5. Live Events Streaming

Live event streaming is a very profitable option right now since people are trying to find ways to stay connected while maintaining a physical distance. 

This helped a lot of people to communicate during the pandemic. Businesses can charge admission fees to virtual events like concerts, motivational speaking events, and webinars.

3 Video Monetization Methods

There are three ways in which you can monetize your videos:

  • Pay per view
  • Subscription
  • Advertisements

1. Pay-Per-View

There used to be a time when we could watch movies on demand on our set-top boxes after paying for access. 

This is the earliest example of how pay-per-view works, and this now evolved into a legit monetization method you can use to sell your videos. 

As the name speaks for itself here, in this given method, the viewers can buy access to video content for a limited amount of time. It is also known as transactional video on demand (TVOD).

2. Subscription

In the subscription-based video monetization method, the streamers charge the viewers for unlimited access to their video platform. 

Subscriptions can be charged weekly, monthly, quarterly, or even annually. It is an excellent choice if you have a plethora of content your audience will find interesting or entertaining.

3. Advertisements

Advertisements involve a payment method that uses short video clips from sponsors to pay for the video content.  

There is no monetary transaction involved between the streamer and the viewer. But, viewers must watch a few minutes of ads throughout the stream from the streamer's sponsor. 

This is the best method for content that can be readily available on other platforms. 

Advertisement is also widely used by streamers who may still need to gain more attention or just starting new and are too shy to ask their viewers to pay to access their content directly.

How To Sell Videos Online In 2023

Worry no more if you are wondering how to sell videos online now because we have you covered. Given below are a few ideas about how to do the same:

Find Your Video Niche Topic

This means you must look at what genre you want to make your videos in, and what demography you want to cater to. 

When it comes to video, the possibilities are endless. To feed the right video content to your audience, you must first know who your audience is. Every video has to have an aim and a clear intention. 

Here are some of the most popular and profitable niche ideas to make your videos about:

  1. Tech Videos.
  2. Gaming.
  3. Product Reviews.
  4. Makeup tutorials.
  5. Storytime Videos.
  6. Vlogs.
  7. Food.
  8. Fashion and many more

You'll need a niche that lets you do the things you're passionate about and gets you the views you need. 

The best niche to base your videos on will be something your audience is already looking for, not with a lot of competition, and will still allow you to show your love, passion, and knowledge about the topic.

Know Your Target Market

You must get your audience targeting right. It takes research, planning, and strategizing to know who your audience is and what kind of content you need to put out so they will buy it. 

The purpose of your video will dictate a large part of who your audience will be. 

Use a combination of all the information you have, i.e., your target audience, goals, monetizing strategy, and more, to formulate a plan to widen your reach. 

And, with a target market specified, you can reap greater rewards, including more views, more impressions, better engagement, and, ultimately, more sales. Here are a few points to keep in mind to determine your target market:

  • Shape your end goal:

Know what goal you want to achieve with your videos, both price-wise and content-wise. Proper planning and knowing what to stream will go a long way

  • Do your research:

Find out about your audience's choices and preferences, cater your videos, and price them accordingly. Know about your competitors in the same niche.

Plan Your Content

It would be best if you had an idea about what you will show your viewers. This is where planning out your content will help. Here are a few things to keep in mind when you plan your content:

  • Outline your objectives.
  • Understand your target audience.
  • Focus on your core message. 
  • Plan the specifics like monetization methods and price.
  • Write a video production brief.

Find Your Video Hosting Platform

The next thing you should keep in your mind is to find the right hosting platform or the place where you upload your videos or go live. Once you know what type of videos you'll sell online, you can further concentrate on your content. But, before you choose the platform, there are several factors that you should take into consideration:

  • Ease of use

You need to find an all-in-one hosting platform that allows you to deliver your content in just a few minutes and where you can use it easily. The user interface should be beginner-friendly. 

  • Costs

You must be careful about calculating the overall costs. Make sure that the platform doesn't charge transaction fees. Make sure the platform fees are something you can afford. 

  • Digital downloads and video streaming:

Choose a platform that offers both video streaming and digital downloads so that you can make more money with your videos.

  • Customization

Use a platform that offers an easy-to-use customization tool and some pre-designed themes and designs. 

  • Built-in marketing features

Choose a platform with the most built-in marketing tools to help you sell more videos in the long run. It should have email marketing features and social media marketing tools to improve your video promotions. 

Pick A Payment Structure

With the right platform, you can start thinking about how to monetize and sell your videos. Picking the proper payment structure will depend on your audience type and content. 

This is the most crucial step toward learning how to sell videos online.

There are three payment structures to choose from when selling videos online:

  • Subscription video-on-demand (SVOD): This gives subscribers full access to a video library for a recurring monthly or annual fee, like Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Disney plus Hotstar. 
  • Transactional video-on-demand (TVOD): This uses a pay-per-view format. Customers have to make one-time purchases to access specific content. 
  • Advertising video-on-demand (AVOD): This is usually free for viewers because there's no upfront cost to watch, but you get advertisements throughout. Youtube uses this strategy. 

Create Your High-Quality Video Content

Content is at the focal point of your videos. You cannot just upload or stream random stuff and wait for it to go viral and be received well. 

If you can produce and edit your own video, you can ideally create your own video material. Emphasize your audience's preferences when creating your video, and consider elements like:

  • Where will the viewer be watching this video?
  • What equipment do they need to watch?
  • What other stuff can you provide to improve their results?

Upload Your Videos 

Once you have created enough videos to start selling, you'll need to upload them to the video streaming platform of your choice and ensure that you are consistent in your content uploading. 

Remember to keep an eye on the analytics about which video is doing good and which is not and thus cater to your audience's needs in the upcoming video.

Organize Your Content

Remember to organize your content catalog when you're done uploading your videos. This means categorizing and displaying your videos in an organized way to boost sales and improve user experience. 

Ensuring your catalog is optimized and easy to use has benefits for both your marketing efforts and your existing paying customers. 

This is because an organized catalog tells your potential customers about your platform. 

And when videos are easy to find and watch, it can increase customer retention. There are three points you can keep in mind while organizing your content:

  1. Divide your videos into categories: Organize your videos category-wise. For example, you can make playlists on Youtube. 
  2. Feature your newest and most popular videos separately: Show your viewers what they like and focus on your consistency and what you are up to. The featured videos on your platform should be the most popular ones. 
  3. Make your free content visible: Keep the free content easily accessible and where it can be seen and found easily to tease your audience's interest.

Customize Your Video Website

You can customize your website and add your branding.  

Make your video website stand out to your target audience. Which tools you choose to customize your video streaming website is up to you, but one of the main things to remember is brand consistency across your online presence. 

You need to consider the following points while customizing the videos you use on other platforms like social media or YouTube and ensure everything matches up nicely. 

  • The brand logo should appear on all social media and streaming videos. 
  • Choose brand colors that add to your brand's personality
  • Add high-quality, relevant images to your website. 
  • You should choose a specific font across all your brand websites. 

Setup Your Marketing Tools

When your site is all good to go, get ready with the right marketing tools so that you can earn from your videos. You can set up these three marketing tools before you launch:

  1. Email list: A tool that allows you to collect the email addresses of your potential customers 
  2. Membership upsell: A tool that allows you to offer point-of-purchase upsells of your subscriptions to customers.
  3. Abandoned cart tool: A tool that automatically contacts people who leave the sales process before completing their purchase. 

These tools will help you create a solid backbone for the long-term marketing of your business, as well as recollect any potential lost income from your customers.

Promote Your Videos to Drive More Sales

Another impactful way to successfully sell your videos is brand exposure, allowing you to reach more users and increase your revenue. 

To value the videos you intend to sell, the content you offer for free should only serve as an eye-catching preview of what to expect from your paid ones. 

To further promote your videos to drive more sales, you can:

  • Be active on social media

You can use social media marketing as a free way to drive traffic after you create a website. 

Use your own social media handles, create one for your business updates, and interact with your audience. 

  • Utilize your email list

Email marketing is one marketing strategy that gives you access to a reader's most personal space, making it the most efficient source of communication. 

Reach your audience and keep them updated about your uploads by mailing your customers occasionally.

Add Emotional Experiences With Live Streaming

Live streams can be significant emotional experiences. They build a stronger connection between you and your audience and create opportunities for them to engage in your community through live chats.

 Live streams get more minutes watched with an average of 24 minutes, compared to video-on-demand with 18 minutes. 

The emotional quotient will help retain customers more if they find your content relatable and valuable. 

This sum of togetherness, emotion, and engagement is perfect for ensuring your business's long-term success.

Plan for the Future

Even if your website has had a good headstart, you still need to continue to establish yourself on the platform in the future by developing apps for mobile streaming on smartphones and tablets. 

Smart TV apps are a great addition as well. Your main priority should be to make your content as accessible to your target audience as much as possible. And make sure your video content is future-proof. 

FAQs: How to Sell Your Videos

Can you make money selling videos online in 2023?

Yes, anyone can create and sell videos online in 2023. If you’re thinking about selling your videos online, now is the best time to start.

What is the best way to sell video content?

To sell your video content you need to:

  1. Determine your target market
  2. Create a plan
  3. Film your videos.
  4. Choose a video monetization platform.
  5. Promote your videos. 
  6. Engage with your audience.

How do I price my video?

You can price your videos in three ways:

  1. Pay-Per-View
  2. Subscription
  3. Advertisements

You can choose any of the above three depending on your content, goal and video streaming platform. 

How do you sell video lessons?

To sell video lessons online you can:

  1. Launch your video lessons on apps like Udemy and Coursera etc
  2. Share short videos as ads.
  3. Do Social media Marketing.
  4. Give certificates at the end.
  5. Display Main Headings in Summary.
  6. Display reviews.
  7. Update your lessons.

Conclusion: How to Sell Your Videos

By understanding your market, audience, and their needs, you can create compelling video content that entices potential customers to purchase from you. 

Video marketing is a powerful tool to help you reach a wider audience, increase sales, and build brand awareness.

If you're looking to sell your videos, it's vital to take the time to research and understand your target audience. Identify what they're looking for and create videos that cater to their needs.

Additionally, consider utilizing various marketing techniques, like social media and email marketing, to reach a wider audience.

With the right strategies and approach, selling videos online can be successful and rewarding. So why wait? Start creating and selling your videos today!

Written By
Ankita

Create Stunning Videos Easily

Skyrocket your video marketing efforts today

OFFEO Video Templates

Create stunning animated social media videos in afew clicks

Related articles