Homegrown Short-Form Video (SFV) platforms, which currently have a user base of over 250 million, are a major hit among tier-II cities and beyond, accounting for 65 per cent of the total user base, states a report by Redseer Strategy Consultants.  

The SFV platforms offer bite-sized entertainment for diverse audiences and are paving the way for a newer and more nuanced form of advertising and content consumption. 

While global SFV platforms may be popular among urban users, Indian SFV platforms have witnessed greater uptake among audiences in non-metropolitan and semi-urban areas, mostly owing to the availability of quality regional-language content created by local talent.

In fact, the research reveals that 45 per cent of Indian SFV users reside in semi-urban and rural centres and interact with a diverse set of internet platforms ranging from gaming to e-commerce. 

In addition, today, 40 per cent of the users are conducting online transactions on these platforms, so the opportunities for monetisation are manifold. It has been observed that monetisation facilities across e-commerce, online gaming, and OTT video streaming sites are gaining popularity among users.

“With the rise in disposable income among the dominantly tier-II+ users, India’s SFV landscape holds multiple possibilities for monetisation. New-age models like live commerce and live gifting can prove to be feasible in raising the bar for monetisation,” said Mukesh Kumar, Associate Partner at Redseer.

On performing a demographic assessment, the research report also revealed that 64 per cent of the user base on Indian SFV platforms is comprised of individuals up to the age of 25. Less than 3 per cent of Indian SFV users are mature users.

Additionally, India’s SFV platforms are investing in content moderation processes, which has led to inflammatory material taking up less than 0.5 per cent of the total share of content. Provisions to prevent the repetition of content and to promote diversity across genres have directly contributed to increased engagement rates among audiences. Moreover, Indian SFV platforms have seen an increase in Net Promoter Score to 55 per cent, making them an attractive tool for advertisers.

Users have rated the SFV platforms highly along many experience parameters, including content quality, UI/UX, data privacy, loading time, and quality of influencer, among others. The leading performer in the ecosystem exhibited ratings between 8.2 and 8.6 on an 8.6-point scale, with its competition following closely behind.  

The rising popularity of user-generated content (UGC) platforms has led to the creation of an ecosystem of 3.5 million influencers or new-age celebrities who serve as the growth engine of SFV platforms. These influencers can be classified into four archetypes namely Micro, Macro, Mega, and Elite who can earn more than ₹1.5-2 lakh per month through advertising and live commerce.  

Currently, beauty and personal care (BPC) and fashion are already collaborating with new-age influencers to tap into larger audiences. Despite an ongoing funding winter in the start-up landscape, advertising spending is gradually stabilising across SFV platforms, and experimentation is underway to identify the model of advertising that can provide the maximum return on investment.  

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