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By Keyur Patel

The Answer to all your questions about Developing a video-sharing social platform

Now that people are spending more time at home than ever, the relevancy of video creation and sharing apps are increasing by the day. Users have more time to indulge their whims and fancies, and spend a lot of that time active on social media, and increasingly, video creation and sharing apps.

The reason for the explosive growth of these apps is not that hard to see, and a natural consequence of our developing technology. Video apps are easy to use, provide an unlimited feed of fresh content, and are a source of endless entertainment for their users.

The result of this is a huge demand for video creation and sharing platforms, as can be seen by the meteoric growth of the video-sharing platform TikTok, which grew from 0 to 500 million users in the 4 years from its launch in 2016. This has made it one of the fastest-growing apps in history, and one of the most downloaded apps of the decade, even in comparison with some of the biggest social media apps on the app store.

The opportunity for the video platform market is quite ripe and is growing rapidly, making developing such an app an enticing proposition. If you are considering the development of a video-sharing and creation platform, read on to find out how you can, and how much it costs.

  • How much does it cost to develop a Video Creation and Sharing Platform?

The real answer is…it depends. The price of development is heavily influenced by the decisions that go into the design of the app. The three major factors that govern the eventual price are the feature set, the technology stack, and the resulting design complexity. Far from just the interface itself, each facet of the app has to be designed with care to ensure that users have an ideal, lag free experience, and keep coming back for more. Small actions like a “pull to refresh” feature or inline video playing can heavily boost user engagement, keeping them coming back for more.

Assuming you do want to make a full featured, well designed intuitive app, expect to pay anywhere between ***USD (FREE Estimation) for a minimum viable product. In addition, there will also be maintenance and upkeep costs for servers, content delivery networks, and other related costs. Additional technology like AI algorithms can also increase the costs, but may also pay off exponentially in revenue. To get a more accurate estimate, contact App Development Company who can help you wireframe a final product.

  • But How do I make money?

That is the first question that you should answer before you make any decisions! The revenue model of your app decides:

    • Your profits
    • Your demographic
    • Choice of Platform

As you can see, the majority of users for video-sharing platforms (using TikTok as a benchmark) are young people, overwhelmingly between the age of 13-34, commanding almost 85% of the total market share. This means that in your revenue model, these are the users you should account for.

  • When it comes to revenue models, there are several that you can choose from,
  • 1.    In-App purchases: Pro features like editing or sticker packs that can be unlocked for a price are a great way to get users to spend.
  • 2.    Advertisements: Putting Ads on a platform that sees millions of users a day is a wise decision as well, with brands ready to pay huge amounts for prime spots in video feeds.
  • 3.    Subscriptions: charging an up-front fee periodically for a premium experience is also a viable model, and can result in a higher quality, ad-free UX for the users.

It doesn’t have to be an either/or situation either, as you can use multiple methods in sync with one another for the best possible results. The younger demographic typically shies away from spending up front, however, and advertising models are your best bet depending on your demographic.

So, There you have it. This article has taken you start to finish through an exploration of the video app market, including a study of the demographics, app development costs, and revenue models. It should have all the information you need to get you started on your entrepreneurship journey, and will be a great reference along the way.

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