Providing innovative solutions to bridge the gaps in the growing creator economy, Tuhin Menon, the CEO and Co-Founder of Asiaville, empowers content creators to build effective communities and generate novel monetization avenues via their creator-focused app, AyeVee. The app supports regional content creators and is currently live in Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi, with the goal of expanding into multiple vernacular languages in the next 12-18 months. With the integration of content commerce into the app, creators are able to monetize their content via shoppable video links which drive transactions across 100+ affiliate partner stores, thus formulating much-needed alternate income flows for creators.
The future of content is regional and individual creator-driven as we witness the ever-intensifying rise in internet consumption across the length and breadth of India. With rural internet usage growing three times faster than urban areas, quite justifiably, an obvious consequence would be the increased consumption and creation of regional content. In the next five years, 90 % of total internet users will be vernacular language users, and by the year 2030, the primary languages for media and entertainment will be regional languages!
The pandemic has spurred the imaginations of content creators across the globe. And India is no exception. This period, marked by unprecedented loss and uncertainty, also saw an unbridled and broad-based resurgence of creativity. As first-time creators, particularly in the vernacular languages, flocked online to showcase their talent, an organic network effect was unleashed. Across verticals like entertainment, beauty, fashion, technology, food, travel, and a host of others, creators have successfully built large communities with dedicated content offerings. They have been able to do this in a platform agnostic manner, leveraging their reach via platforms like YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and their regional language-focused counterparts.
While the ability to build a large audience is certainly within reach, the problem of creators monetizing their content continues to loom large. Did you know that there are 80 million content creators in India, with an average monthly earning is a mere $200? Thus, content monetisation is the foremost challenge the creator economy faces. Existing platforms primarily leverage programmatic or branded content revenue, which relies on advertising and typically accrues to the top 1% of creators. The longtail of creators, which accounts for most vernacular language creators, is still cut off from the prospect of building meaningful monetization of their content. This is the problem area that Asiaville’s creator-focused app, AyeVee, is focused on addressing. Created to engage and empower the creator economy with effective community building and monetization avenues, AyeVee allows its creator base to monetize their content through shoppable video links that drive transactions across 100 + affiliate partner stores. On the roadmap are several more features targeted specifically to help vernacular language creators across regions monetize their content effectively.
Creators today are fully empowered to produce and distribute their content across platforms. However, innovative solutions integrating social commerce will solve a much-needed gap in the ecosystem, allowing creators to build parallel sources of income. With the breadth and depth of the creator economy set to surge further through the rollout of 5G and the upward trajectory of internet connectivity, AyeVee seeks to become the hub for the vernacular language creator economy. Synchronized e-commerce and content creation is a combination that is rarely seen in the Indian market, however, there is a fundamental shift taking place, which empowers creators to move away from the minimal commissions earned through affiliate marketing. Millions of creators and knowledge professionals will pursue micro-entrepreneurship as monetisation models mature. By integrating technology and e-commerce in a perfect blend, creators can establish long-term collaborative associations with retail houses so that the end consumers can buy goods and services directly from their favourite creators. Deeper relationships will be built between creators and their fans, powered by collaborative efforts.
Direct monetization avenues will be commonplace, with creators offering direct fan subscriptions with access to exclusive content, one-on-one communication between creators and fans, facilitating close-knit group interactions, tipping and donation, and more.
Creators can utilize easy-to-use state-of-the-art SaaS tools to help them create and upload unique content, thus saving them time and energy and opening up avenues of imagination and income generation.
What influencers and content creators have accomplished in a short period to set a stage for themselves and gain global recognition for their particular category of work with immense potential for business opportunities, is commendable. That is why we have set up AyeVee. This short-form video app supports India’s premium regional content creator community while also providing live commerce features across popular and significant categories. Catering to the next billion regional language internet users is the objective.