Content creators know that video can drive discovery, discussion, and consumption in authentic and innovative ways where other forms of content can fall short. These videocentric, highly-engaged audiences are highly prized by brands and publishers alike. They are influencers, they have disposable income and their appetite for compelling stimuli is insatiable.
Creators that can reach these audiences are in an incredible position to generate revenue from those brands, if they can align a brand with the right content and the right audience in a way that delivers influencer value as well as monetary value.
Where YouTube was once the leader and trend-setter of all things video, we’re seeing blockchain-based platforms and technology driving a period of evolution. These new technologies are pushing video towards decentralised marketplaces allowing everyone – users, advertisers, publishers and content creators – to win the monetised-video game.
In this new era, why should content creators and advertisers look to blockchain-based video platforms? Here are three reasons to consider:
Smart contracts
Before blockchain-based video platforms, content creators had little or no control over the monetisation models used to sell their work. This issue is addressed through smart contract technology, which is the backbone of how videos are monetised and shared on blockchain technology.
Depending on the platform, creators can be compensated in many different ways including pay-per-view, subscription, donations, or a combination of these options. Creators can also reward users for usage, such as embedding or seeding their video.
What makes smart contracts so attractive to creators? They have the power to decide how they’re compensated, and the revenue from pay-per-view (PPV), subscriptions, etc. goes directly to their wallets. Additionally, due to encryption, there is a high level of security associated with blockchain and smart contract technology, which is important when video content is shared globally via a decentralised market.
The Interactive Video and Experience Protocol (IVEP) is one such platform. An interactive video technology built on blockchain. It enables audiences to engage with video to shop, chat, click, and share, using overlaying layers filled with interactive elements. It also allows and creators and advertisers to monetise and measure video content using the aforementioned layers. It provides free foundational smart contracts for creators and users within its core Layer. This includes the creation and use of digital currencies for transfer and settlement, registration of the IVEP experiences, and participant registration contracts that include trust scores and token accounting. The latter ensures reliable data minimises abuse of the system by disreputable advertisers and content creators alike.
This trust approach negates the need for the wide ranging demonetisation of channels that major streaming platforms have had to implement to avoid advertisers being inadvertently aligned with a small number of disreputable and offensive video types.
Decentralized marketplace
Another significant benefit of blockchain-based video platforms is that members dictate the use of the protocol, apps, and/or services to benefit all participants, something that is contrary to current dominant video platforms that continue to alter rules, demonetise select videos and channels, and favor key stakeholders; Audiences, and content creators, are not getting their fair share of the value they provide to publishers and advertisers who capture most of the gains while retention and engagement are decreasing.
Creation of decentralised marketplaces ensure content creators have a voice in video distribution and consumption – not just in its creation.
Smart objects
As retention and engagement decrease, new metrics and methods to assess video performance are necessary. Real human engagement metrics represent a significant improvement to existing attention-based metrics and can warrant a much higher premium for the participants who embrace such an approach.
Technologies such as IVEP can capture better metrics on interactions through the use of programmable smart objects and functions. IVEP can be used as a trusted and independent source by publishers, advertisers, and ad networks. It can be used to capture real human viewing data, engagement metrics, and user data.
One engagement feature offered through IVEP is a polling function. Surveying the audience right inside a video that is not tied to any one distribution platform allows marketers to access real-time insights from the audience and better identify customer needs, preferences and trends.
In addition to measurement enhancements, the IVEP’s programmable smart objects and functions also offer advanced monetisation features. One such feature available through its digital application (dApp) Store is a product placement tool for the digital world. IVEP allows digital products to be inserted into any video available on the open web, as well as into new digital experiences such as augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and live gaming. Video on-demand (VOD) services on all devices can benefit from digital product placement.
The community can also develop its own features, making use of the open architecture of the platform.
For content creators, the pros to joining a blockchain-based video platforms significantly outweigh the cons. From smart contracts allowing creators to have more say in how they’re compensated and how their work is distributed, to tools that are developed for the creator and marketer alike, everybody has a say.
While we’ve covered just three, more benefits will present themselves as content creators continue to shift their focus to video and monetisation features and as marketers continue to look for innovative video content and user experiences.
- by Fred Dionne
