All About YouTube's New Feature That Allows Creators to Share Exclusive Shorts With Paid Viewers
TikTok has been dominating the market among short-video platforms for a while, but as it faces a ban, content creators and marketers are concerned. Amidst such speculation about TikTok's future, YouTube recently announced its new feature that will allow members to share short-form videos exclusively with their paid viewers. This new feature allows paying viewers to get access to additional and exclusive content on top of their already available perks like custom emojis, livestreams, badges, and more. As per YouTube, creators will be able to use this new feature to make special announcements, launch product lines, and more. Creators will also be able to drop limited-time deals and announce giveaways only for their paid viewers.
YouTube's announcement said, "You can create members-only shorts, an easy way to provide, regular light-weight content, you can go to visibility and select members only, or you can also turn an existing shorts as 'members-only.'" The company also added that creators will have the option to schedule the shorts for members only and then the public. This will allow the paying viewers to get early access to the content that the world will watch later. The company also encouraged creators to use the members-only option for Q&A and behind-the-scenes videos.
"[Members Only Shorts] lets you take advantage of your already-planned content and can be especially beneficial for your members if your Short features a special announcement product drop or limited-time deal. Try using members-only Shorts for Q&As behind-the-scenes looks or clips of upcoming content," the video said.
YouTube has announced more features to get additional traffic on the platform and has made "Embracing AI to empower human creativity" one of its top priorities in 2024. The company is working towards creating an optimized viewing experience on TVs and expanding subscription services like YouTube TV and Music Premium.
YouTube recently announced that creators using RSS feeds to distribute their audio could now directly upload that feed to YouTube to then upload their podcast as static-image videos on their YouTube channel. The announcement came just after TikTok talked about its subscription offers to more creators.
As industry analyst Krysten Stein said, "'TikTok is now thinking, ‘We need to show advertisers that we can keep people staying on one video longer.'" The journey of TikTok which was launched in the States back in 2016, has been nothing short of remarkable. The company surpassed a whopping 1 billion monthly active users back in 2021 and has been growing ever since.
Meanwhile, YouTube says that Shorts averages over 70 billion daily views with over 25% of channels in YouTube’s Partner Program monetizing their videos through revenue-sharing on Shorts, via TechCrunch.
YouTube launched Shorts, the 60-second or less format for videos, back in 2021, and since introducing it, more than 25% of channels in YPP are now earning through this new revenue stream. "Revenue sharing on Shorts has changed the game for me and my channel. As a Shorts-first creator and one of the most-viewed channels in the US, I’ve seen what’s possible creatively through the format," said Alan Chikin Chow.