YouTube has introduced an innovative feature designed to enrich the experience for both creators and their paying subscribers: Members Only Shorts.
This update allows creators to offer exclusive short-form videos to their subscribers, adding a new layer of content beyond the standard membership benefits such as custom emojis, badges, and livestreams.
Creators can leverage Members Only Shorts for a variety of purposes, including sharing special announcements, product drops, limited-time deals, Q&As, behind-the-scenes footage, or previews of upcoming content.
This feature comes at a time when competition in the social media landscape is heating up, with TikTok recently expanding its subscription services to include more creators, allowing them to post exclusive content for their subscribers.
How Creators Can Leverage Members Only Shorts
YouTube’s new offering enables creators to select the “members only” option under the “visibility” section when uploading a Short. This flexibility extends to existing Shorts, which can be designated as members only, and creators can even schedule Shorts to transition from exclusive to public access, giving their subscribers early viewing privileges.
The platform advises creators to maintain a casual and organic tone for these exclusive Shorts, presumably to foster a more personal and intimate connection between creators and their subscribers.
Exclusive Shorts will be easily identifiable to subscribers through a star icon and will be accessible via the Shorts tab, the Subscriptions feed, and on the creator’s channel page.
Supporting Creators and Driving Monetization
The introduction of Members Only Shorts is part of YouTube’s broader strategy to support creators and incentivize content monetization through the platform’s Partner Program.
With Shorts garnering over 70 billion daily views and over a quarter of YouTube’s Partner Program channels monetizing their videos through Shorts revenue-sharing, this feature could play a significant role in driving subscription growth and enhancing the community aspect of the platform.
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