3 Things: Marketplace for Video Editing, Get Paid for Data Aggregator, Talk to a Reviewer

Happy Sunday and a very warm welcome to all the new subscribers! I’m thrilled and honored to have you as readers and truly appreciate your thoughts and feedback 🙏. Each edition of 3 Things will contain a dive into 3 rabbit holes I’ve found myself going down recently. Subscribe to get each week’s edition straight to your inbox and if you enjoy it, please share (I suck at self-promotion so can use your help)! This past week I’ve been thinking a lot about:

• Marketplace for Video Editing

• Get Paid for Data Aggregator

• Talk to a Reviewer

1. Marketplace for Video Editing

Video is now everywhere. There are currently over 51 million YouTube channels (up 36% in 2021), nearly 90% of digital marketers use video content (and report that it has the best ROI of any medium), TikTok has over 1 billion monthly active users, and the other social platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Snap, and even LinkedIn all have video offerings. We have finally gotten to a point where the bandwidth is sufficient and mobile phones and wifi have ubiquitous coverage, so naturally, there has been an explosion of video content. To create all of these videos, today most people rely on outsourced video editors. Whether you’re an influencer that pays someone to edit your YouTube videos, an entrepreneur/small business owner who uses UpWork or a local company to find an inexpensive solution for video needs, or a tech company marketing leader who leverages a creative agency, most people who are using the videos are not the ones editing them.

A company could build a marketplace specifically for quick turnaround, high quality video editing. You’d fill out a simple intake brief on the project including timeline, budget, and all requirements and you’d get matched with an editor (or team depending on size and complexity of the project). You could offer 3 different vertical solutions: Creator, SMB, and Enterprise and aggregate editors around the globe for 24/7 coverage and access to various price points. Each vertical would offer nuanced skillsets and packages targeted at the needs of each group. For example, enterprise customers might need product videos edited or animated videos created while a creator might need expertise in YouTube or TikTok style content. Many creators who are still trying to “make it” and struggling to grow a following and monetize have taught themselves how to do professional video editing and can earn money as well by becoming part of the marketplace supply. Especially in a market downturn when more of the millions of people who tried their hand at being a Creator during the pandemic will feel the pain. Solutions already exist for content and design like Writer Finder and Awesomic so places to learn from and take the best pieces.

2. Get Paid for Data Aggregator

It feels like every week, I’m pitched another “get paid for your data” tech play. This isn’t a new concept as legacy companies like Comscore, Nielsen, and many more have been doing this for decades, but there is a modern and updated instantiation. The solutions are mostly similar — consumers typically download an app and/or Chrome extension to their computers and phones which collects their first party data and then lets them monetize it by packaging it up, selling it to brands, and splitting the purse with the data owner. There are now an abundance of both web2 and web3 solutions like Datacy, Tiki or Snickerdoodle to name a few. The timing makes sense as marketers are scrambling to deal with the impending “cookiepocalypse” when Google stops allowing websites to use 3rd party cookies in Chrome in 2023. On top of that, changes to iOS last year mean that users can opt out of apps tracking them on Apple devices. Layer in GDPR, CCPA, and other privacy requirements, and brands are a bit SOL when it comes to their traditional advertising channels.

Since what worked before definitely won’t work in the future, brands are going to need to figure out how to reallocate budgets to get the requisite data to acquire and retain new users. One of the most logical ways to do that is to just pay for the data in a legal and compliant way. This will likely cause the continued influx of apps that promise to pay you for your data. As opposed to installing 27 different extensions and apps, a single solution could aggregate all of the providers and offer end users one single place to go and a significantly larger pool of money each month. On the backend, they’d sell the data to the dozens of companies who then turn around and package it to sell to their brand customers. This would then mean that one company could focus on consumer acquisition while the others could nail the B2B play of acquiring brands and knowing how to manipulate and provide the data to them in ways that provide value. This makes more sense to me given how different B2C vs B2B go-to-market motions are.

3. Talk to a Reviewer

Checking reviews has become a natural part of any purchasing decision. Whether you’re looking to buy a new pair of shoes, find a hairdresser, hire a plumber, or pick a restaurant to order delivery on DoorDash, you’re more likely than not to check the reviews before making a choice. According to Qualtrics, 93% of consumers read reviews before pulling out their wallets which means that robust reviews are an absolutely critical feature for brands to have. The problem is, most people only leave reviews when they are exceptionally happy or exceptionally pissed which is the minority of purchasers/customers and dramatically skews the reviews, missing the majority of people who fall in the middle. There are also plenty of ways to game the system; from creating tons of fake accounts, to asking friends and family to leave reviews, to flat out paying people to provide positive feedback.

The vast majority of reviews today are pure text with the ability to add images to your entry. Additionally, some influencers are getting paid to “review” products on their video channels. One thing I haven’t seen tried yet is offering purchasers the ability to earn money by taking short calls with a prospective customer. This obviously won’t make a lot of sense if you were purchasing, let’s say, a $15 t-shirt… but for larger ticket items or higher cost of failure things like choosing a wedding planner, contractor, or even hair stylist, paying $20 for a short call to help inform your decision and provide peace of mind could be an easy sell. A company could offer software to brands that onboards their customers to a panel where they can get paid to anonymously provide their honest product or services feedback on a call. You’d be able to select a bunch of criteria to ensure you’re matched with a relevant reviewer, and since the reviews would be anonymous, customers wouldn’t feel pressure to just say positive things. Since you can only get so much info from one person, you would be able to use the aggregated reviews on the website in addition to a call to provide better data.

That’s all for today! If you have thoughts, comments, or want to get in touch, find me on Twitter at @ezelby and if you enjoyed this, please subscribe and share with a friend or two!

~ Elaine