How to Monetise Your Video Content

How to create a video content with potential for monetisation (keeping fans engaged and sponsors happy)?

Summer 2020, post-lockdown. Some sports clubs and leagues already resumed activities. Matches are played in almost empty stadiums, but there is a warm breeze of optimism in the air, right? I mean, sports are slowly starting to come back and fans are starved for action and entertainment.

You’re probably thinking about your own sports organisation, wondering how to keep your fans interested and engaged if they won’t go to matches and mainly consume content in their digital spaces.

Maybe you’re trying to figure out how to produce fresh and engaging professional video content on a tight post-quarantine budget. Or maybe you’re considering some alternative video content strategies for the worst-case scenario of a possible second wave of lockdown.

Whichever the level of COVID related restrictions imposed on your sports organisation, the question is:

• What are you currently doing to engage your fans and fulfill your sponsorship agreements?

How well is it working out for you? And how long are you going to use this formula before it runs out?

The good thing is that you are looking for new solutions and you’re in the right place. In this article I’ll give you some low-cost & high-creativity ideas you can use to create attractive and effective re-video content.

WHAT IS RE-VIDEO CONTENT

You open the fridge, there are some eggs, some leftovers of the chili con carne from yesterday, a few tomatoes, an avocado… so you make dinner with what you have on hand. Often re-heated food tastes even better on the next day.

Re-video content is like this delicious meal. A surprising mix of flavors, combined in a new, exciting way. It’s video content recycled from existing materials, recreated around a concept, with a new theme, style and feel, enhanced with elements like voice over, music, animation.

It’s basically archival video content served in an attractive, new package. But it goes beyond simple recycling. It’s about reinventing, about combining the power of creativity with strategic goal-oriented thinking. And the main advantage? Since it doesn’t have to be produced and shot, it’s so very low budget compared with produced professional video content.

HOW TO CREATE RE-VIDEO CONTENT

Let’s keep it simple. Step after step: Your archive is the fridge. Open it and…

1. Look into your archive. See what you’ve got.
2. Don’t look at your video content for what it is (e.g. a league match from the 90s = Meh). Look at it in terms of what it could be (e.g. a dynamic cut of bloopers and funny moments of favorite athletes = Entertainment).
3. Think outside the box. (I know, I know, such a cliché… but it’s essential in this context – working with limited resources).
4. If you can’t think outside the box, hire someone who can. (Or ask your marketing assistant, who always wanted to work in advertising).
5. Brainstorm. Get crazy creative. Or get a team of creatives to do it for you.
6. Develop concepts that fit your fans interests and your sponsors expectations.
7. Test your concepts. Run an online focus group. Ask your teenage daughter / sales assistant / father-in-law (or whoever represents your target audience) if they would watch it. Why? Why not? What would they like to watch instead?
8. Choose the best concepts. (Maybe you want to try out several different ideas, test them for effectiveness).
9. Hire true post production wizards. (They will make the difference between a good, great or amazingly brilliant re-video). They will do the magic. They are going to:

• edit (cut your material and assemble the pieces into shiny new re-videos)
• do image & color correction (think Photoshop for moving pictures)
• add visual effects (titles, transitions, motion graphics, CGI, etc.)
• do sound design & effects, mix the sound
• create the soundtrack

10. Invest in additional eye/ear-catching elements like

• animation
• voice overs of popular actors
• memorable songs

They will make your content stand out! However, the main question remains: how to monetise you content?

HOW TO MONETISE YOUR CONTENT

Monetisation – the magical word, the supreme state of money generating nirvana, the most desired process that everybody with even the slightest presence in the digital world craves and is figuring out how to make it happen.

It’s well known that video content is one of the best instruments in the monetization tool-kit, but the question is: how to monetise high-quality video content on a tight post-covid budget, in these uncertain times?

I guess that’s one of your current concerns, right? You’re probably looking for ways for your sports organisation to boost fan engagement and fulfill your sponsors’ expectations with far less professional video content after the months of coronavirus-enforced break.

Furthermore, in this article I’ll give you some tips you can use to monetise re-video content, add value for your fans and sponsors and maybe get new sponsors on board.

HOW TO ADD VALUE TO RE-VIDEO CONTENT

Let’s assume you followed my advice and had some brilliant ideas to recycle video material from your archive, and with a team of post-production superheroes created spectacular re-video content (= video content recreated around a concept, served in an attractive, new package). Congratulations!

But now the pertinent question is: does your re-video content fulfill your objectives? For sure, it’s visually appealing, but is it also entertaining and effective?

In order to find answers, first, we have to ask some more specific questions: Entertaining for whom? Who is your audience? And what does it mean for re-video content to be effective?

HOW TO ADD VALUE FOR FANS

Think about your fans, their motivations and interactions with your brand. Dive into your data, or if you don’t have a structured fan database (which you definitely should!), analyse your fan base, do some deep research.  Divide your fans into groups (yes, segmentation). What kind of content do they consume normally? What’s exciting for them?

Of course, you won’t be able to meet 100% of your fans’ preferences when working within the limitations of recycled material, but you can choose formats, topics and styles which resonate with particular target groups.

For example, carefully selected historical content wrapped in nostalgia for the good old times, traditional values, music from times past, etc. might captivate viewers from older generations, while archival materials presented in lighter formats, put together in themed packages, e.g. sharp strategic sport analysis for Gen Z / game theory applied to favorite athletes / funniest bloopers / pop-culture heroes, etc. might resonate with youth.

Archival content doesn’t have to be limited to old games and interviews, it doesn’t have to feel like visiting a museum. It really is possible to create something fresh out of old classics, it’s just like a traditional cocktail with a new exciting twist (Watermelon Gin Tonic? Strawberry Mojito?). It’s pure mixology: you can mix archival materials with current commentary of influencers, celebrities, creating new exciting re-video content, or mix sport material with lifestyle content. Anything that works for you and is thrilling, fun and attractive for your fans.

Obviously, the narrower your target audience, the better you’ll be able to respond to their needs and tastes. Just evaluate how specific you want to be about it, and don’t lose sight of your goal. You want them to consume your content, enjoy it and come back for more. (Yes, it does sound like a drug dealing business model, but that’s the basic mechanism for fan engagement).

HOW TO ADD VALUE FOR SPONSORS

Think about your sponsors. (Seriously, even if they’re your established partners, take time to practice empathic thinking) What are their core values? Their pain points? Their current needs? What do they want their brand to be associated with? In general terms? And now, in post-quarantine times?

Now imagine your material as clay: you can mold it into any shape and give it any color which suits your sponsor’s needs best. How? Designing individual videos and cycles of re-video content around a specific value or emotion representative for the sponsor’s brand.

For example, if your sponsor is a bank and one of their core values is trust, you can create a series of historical matches, let’s say, the greatest goals of your team, where trust and cooperation between teammates were key to success.

If your sponsor is promoting a new energy drink, you can assemble a series of funny musical videos, with all-star athletes in a “what if” series (they were great back then, living legends, but imagine what they could have accomplished if they had this energy drink).

Add some cool motion graphics, popular songs, maybe a voice over of a famous actor, add the sponsor’s logo… and there you have it: a piece of juicy re-video content, ready for monetisation.

WAYS TO MONETISE RE-VIDEO CONTENT

So, you already have some great re-video content which is entertaining for fans and can be tailored to the needs of your sponsors. What now? Monetise it. Let’s break it down to some simple concepts.

Sponsors want exposure for their brands and they are willing to pay for it. You can offer them:

• attractive and effective re-video content
• possibility to customise it to reflect the values of their brand
• the prestige of being associated with your sport organisation
• fan base / high levels of fan engagement
• your distribution channels (website, app, social media, any other platform)

Now, there are basically unlimited possibilities of presenting the sponsor’s brand:

• presence of their logo, tagline, banner, the name of their new product / service / campaign, etc.
• these chosen elements can appear in the video itself, in all your re-video content, directly on your platform, channel, social media, website, app, etc.
• a brand can appear as the sponsor of a video, a themed series, a campaign over a period of time, etc.

As you see, it’s very flexible. You can give your sponsors different options for different prices. See how much they are willing to pay for distinct levels of exposure of their brand. Negotiate.

Once you have a deal with your current sponsor, it’s not the end of the process. Your fabulous re-video content is out there and maybe you’re already thinking about getting new sponsors onboard. Whatever your prospects, you can do the smart thing and follow these steps:

1. Publish your re-video content on different distribution channels.
2. Analyze its reach and popularity and fans’ interactions with your content.
3. Draw conclusions. Improve your process / re-video content / distribution.
4. Propose your successful model to new potential sponsors.

It’s not impossible to get new sponsors, even in the current post-covid landscape of suspended projects and reduced budgets. Besides, you don’t risk much, since you’re working with your own archival material. So why don’t you give re-video content a try?

Are you looking for more information about digital transformation in the sports industry? Visit our website to learn more about dedicated products and innovation designed for sports. To find out more about how TISA can help your organisation thrive in the digital world, contact us directly – we will be happy to talk about your case. And if you’d like to join our team and help us create the best digital solutions for the world of sports, check out our current career opportunities.