Here’s the situation: You have something to say, something to show the world. So, you create video content, post it, and then what? How do you make sure people see said content? What’s more, how do you make money off of said content? Let’s discuss.
What is Video Syndication?
Video syndication is the process of distributing your video content across multiple digital and social media channels to capture a wider audience. You want your videos to be seen, shared, engaged with. You want to convert these viewers into subscribers, repeat fans, website visitors, and shoppers (if you have an ecommerce platform).
Syndicating your video content has many benefits. For one, you can resonate with new, diverse audiences across various platforms. A video that started with your existing fans on YouTube, can reach a creative Gen Z audience on TikTok, and a family-focused Millennial audience on Facebook. Think beyond your existing fanbase and grow your community among the viewers you want to reach. The more viewers, the more exposure, and the more traffic generated.
Video syndication also helps with SEO and improves your search rankings. Your videos should include a catchy title, an accurate description, and meta description. Make sure you incorporate important keywords and backlinks leading to your website or original channel. As various search engines index this beautifully constructed text, you should see your organic search rankings improve.
Your search rankings will also improve through the inherent link-building video syndication creates. If your video is syndicated across multiple social media channels, shared by viewers across their channels, and then picked up by top-tier, high-authority sites—each linking back to your original content channel—you will get noticed by Google and other search engine sites, thereby increasing your content’s findability and overall brand recognition.
Linking your syndicated content back to the original source is important. Google has been known to penalize content creators if it perceives your intent is to manipulate rankings. It’s rare, but if Google deems your duplicative content as deceptive, your site might be removed from the Google index and will no longer appear in search results.
How to Monetize
With your syndicated videos reaching a larger audience, there is greater opportunity to make money doing what you love. Content creators and influencers typically monetize their videos through the platforms themselves, in addition to paid ads and brand partnerships, paid subscriptions, or one-off transactions.
Each platform has different criteria for monetization. For YouTube, you need to have at least 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of watch time in the last year. Monetizing video content on Facebook requires creators to have 10,000 page-followers, a minimum of five videos available to watch, and 600,000 minutes of video content watched within 60 days. TikTok has its Creator Fund that requires more than 10,000 followers and a minimum of 10,000 video views within the past 30 days. If you’re making high-quality content, it makes sense to syndicate content to multiple platforms to increase your earnings, and tap into experts who are familiar with each individual platform to navigate their nuances and maximize reach.
Paid ads and brand partnerships are when the content creator partners with a brand who is trying to reach a shared audience. Your subscribers access your content for free, but in turn, will either view a brand ad before a video starts to play, or see a piece of original content in which the creator mentions the product or brand. The content creator should always be transparent that the content developed is, in fact, an ad. This is usually identified verbally within the video and in the text using #ad.
Paid subscription is another way to monetize video content. Most people associate this method with Netflix, Hulu, and the like. Subscribers pay a fee, usually monthly or annually, to enjoy unlimited access to your content. To gain paid subscribers, content creators often syndicate a few free videos, and then make the rest of the channel accessible by paid subscription only.
One-off transactions are when a viewer gains permanent access to a piece of video content by paying a one-time fee. Think the iTunes model. Often, there is a free teaser syndicated and the rest of the video is only accessible by payment.
Making it All Work
Content syndication is one of the most effective strategies to expand your audience and promote your products, services, or point of view—all while boosting your site/channel’s authority organically. Before you syndicate, do your homework. Think of the video’s subject matter, who you are trying to reach, who you want as your long-term followers, and where they are congregating online.
Once you have maintained a sizeable, dedicated following, it will become easier to monetize your content and establish favorable, mutually beneficially partnerships.
The authors of this article are Mike Bienstock, CEO of Semaphore, an influencer marketing agency, and Cassandra Bankson who is a social media influencer, focusing on skincare education, acne positivity, and beauty empowerment.
