Make money with short videos on social media, how do you do it?

According to Saud, through his account, he uploads various content in the form of Reels (a term for short videos on Facebook) to more than 7,800 of his followers. The content includes his experiences while exercising as well as reviews of soccer matches.

“I have already monetized. The advertising feature on Reels has been accepted by me. How much can I earn from one video? It’s uncertain, depending on the number of viewers. One of my videos, which has been viewed 4,500 times, only earned 0.9 US dollars (around Rp 14,000) from its advertisement,” said Saud.

Saud said that the total commission he has received from Facebook Pro is still relatively small. It’s far from the minimum requirement to be able to cash it out, which is 100 US dollars. However, for him, it’s already enough motivation to keep creating content.

Currently, Mel’s Tiktok account already has close to 3,000 followers. The content that Mel creates on Tiktok is relatively simple, namely selfie videos plus background music that she just has to choose for free on the application.

Also read: Honest and Intimate Content Attracts Consumers

A month ago, she was accepted to apply for monetization programs on Tiktok, namely Video Gifts and Tiktok Shop for Creators. Through the Video Gifts program, Mel can receive cashable gifts from viewers of her videos. Meanwhile, the Tiktok Shop for Creators program allows her to become an affiliate for product sales.

“Now, in the video I can put a product link. If someone buys from there, I can get a commission. I have also submitted a request for free product samples which were given by the shop owner on Tiktok. The condition is, later I will make a video when using the product. “Hopefully it will be sent,” said Mel, who plans to improve the content.

The Indonesian Internet Service Providers Association (APJII) recorded that the number of internet users in Indonesia during the period of 2022-2023 amounted to 215.63 million people or 78.19% of the country’s population (Kompas.id, October 3, 2023).

The high number of internet users in Indonesia is also accompanied by the large number of people accessing social media. According to data from Statista.com, in April 2024, as many as 119.5 million Facebook users in Indonesia accessed their accounts.

Then, there are 127.5 million Tiktok users in Indonesia accessing their accounts during the same period. Meanwhile, for YouTube, Stasita.com notes that there are 139 million users in Indonesia accessing their accounts.

How to start?

The high number of internet and social media users in Indonesia is increasingly opening up opportunities for those who want to make money, as is being done by Saud and Mel. So, how do you get started?

Of course, the first thing is to register on each of these social media. Currently, with just an electronic address, such as Google Mail, users can register on Tiktok or create a channel on YouTube. Likewise with Facebook, which in the new user registration section includes the phrase “this is fast and easy”, it’s so easy to register there.

Usually, there will be a request to complete other data, such as name, birth data and gender. At the end, there is a verification request via a link sent to the e-mail address during registration.

After creating an account, users simply upload their first video on the platform, including short videos recorded from smartphones. Nowadays, the creation of short videos is increasingly popular. Because, besides their short duration, making short videos doesn’t require high editing skills.

Most social media platforms are now also competing to provide features that make it easier for their users to access various content. Tiktok users, for example, just record a video, then when they want to upload it, just select the autocut feature which will cut the video automatically with the right music.

Also read: Top Video Content to Attract Netizens

If the first result isn’t quite right, there are various templates that you can also select directly before the video is uploaded. These Templates not only offer different music, but also transitions and other effects on users’ videos.

If you are not satisfied with the results of autocut, users can still add other songs according to their wishes using the search feature, both songs that are rarely used and those that are currently viral. Users can also add writing, stickers and more.

Kompas tried to upload a 12 second video of a motor sport tour group in Lombok to Tiktok. When using the autocut feature, Tiktok immediately offers various video editing results with fast-paced supporting music and effects suitable for such content.

Despite not being as comprehensive as Tiktok, short video features like Reels on Facebook and Short on Youtube also offer a similar approach. After inputting the video, whether from the gallery or direct recording, users simply choose effects, stickers, text, and audio before uploading it.

Features that spoil users are certainly very helpful, especially for those who are too lazy to edit. However, there is certainly no harm in combining these features with a little effort to edit the video so that it can be more appealing and attract more viewers. Moreover, there are many free video editing applications available.

One of my videos, which has been watched 4,500 times, only earned 0.9 US dollars (around Rp. 14,000) from the advertisement.

Consistency

After making a video, some users often hope that their video will immediately go viral and be watched by many. However, can having just one video result in a large audience?

This has often been a topic of debate in various forums. Some joke by saying, “If you are not Raffi Ahmad or Fuji, don’t expect one video to instantly become popular. Especially not able to monetize it immediately.”

Also read: Guide to avoid making the mistake of buying a used cellphone when THR is disbursed

In Kompas‘s observations, several new accounts can easily get a lot of viewers even though the content looks random. Junaidi (33), a resident of Mataram City, NTB, for example, was able to get 12,000 viewers on Tiktok just by uploading a video of clear water in one of the city’s sewers. “But, there are other videos that don’t reach 200 viewers,” said Junaidi.

Although it has the potential to be popular, uploading one or two videos certainly won’t be enough. Users must be able to maintain consistency in their content. This applies not only to the quantity of videos uploaded per day, but also the consistency in the topics they cover.

In various social media content creator forums, discussions have highlighted the importance of consistency. One of the goals is to increase the content creators’ visibility to the algorithm of the platform.

Because the more often users upload videos with the same topic, the greater the chance for algorithms to recommend that content to viewers, both in search and related content.

However, consistency alone is not enough. In line with that, there must also be an improvement in the quality of content. That was the suggestion put forward by Mr. Beast, a YouTuber with 277 million followers and the most numerous currently.

”For people who haven’t uploaded videos, but have dreams of becoming a YouTuber, the thing to do is make 100 videos and improve something every time. Putting more effort into the script, learning new editing tricks, making your voice better, and learning new preview photos,” said Mr Beast in a podcast.

Monetization

Consistency in video production and topics is believed to attract more people to watch and follow a content creator. These two factors are also important if you want to meet the requirements for monetization or getting paid for the content that is created.

“In addition to advertisements in Reels videos, I have also been able to monetize from the star feature of other users. Now I am just waiting for the advertisement feature in long videos, which is still under review,” said Saud.

Apart from requiring a minimum age of 18 years old, Facebook also mandates users to have at least 500 followers for a minimum of 30 days if they wish to earn money from the star feature where one star equals Rp 156.

The requirement is to increase to 5,000 followers if you want to receive payment from advertisements on uploaded videos, and 10,000 followers for live broadcast monetization.

Meanwhile on Tiktok, the monetization program for Video Gifts, affiliates, and collaboration features with artists requires a minimum of 1,000 account followers. Meanwhile, if you want to take part in a collaboration program with a brand, you must have a minimum of 100,000 followers.

YouTube also enforces channel monetization requirements through the Short feature. To be able to take part in the audience reward program, the requirements are to have 500 followers, upload three videos in the last 90 days, and get 3,000 public viewing hours in 365 days or short views three million times in the last 90 days.

If you want to get gifts and profit from advertising on videos, the requirements are increased, namely having 1,000 followers and having around 4,000 broadcast hours within 365 days or 10 million Short viewers within 90 days.

After fulfilling the requirements, the next step is to continue creating interesting content for viewers. The more viewers, the greater the chance of earning revenue from ads placed on videos or other monetization features.

In addition, there is also an option to collaborate with product owners through a payment system outside of the application. However, of course, this is not an easy task because product owners surely have various considerations.

Meanwhile, disbursement of income from social media platforms is usually done every month. However, each platform requires a minimum limit. YouTube channel owners, for example, can only withdraw their earnings after collecting a balance of 100 US dollars or around Rp. 1.3 million.

“Saud said that Facebook also charges 100 US dollars if using a bank account. However, if using Paypal, it can be withdrawn after reaching 50 US dollars.”

Shortcut

The increasing openness and ease of making money through short videos often encourages users to take shortcuts, especially in order to meet monetization requirements.

In Kompas‘s observations, the thing that occurs most often is the practice of buying followers and broadcast time. Moreover, not a few service sellers offer things like that. Although sometimes successful, such practices are clearly risky because the content creator could potentially be subject to a strike that could result in account deletion.

“I once monetized on YouTube in a day by buying followers and views. However, within a day, my account was deleted for allegedly violating community guidelines. It was my mistake because the new account only had one video. So, it was definitely suspicious to suddenly meet the monetization requirements,” said AS (44), a YouTuber from Mataram.

On the other hand, there are many followers and viewers who are bought to boost the performance of that content, which is actually controlled by robots. However, the platform algorithm usually struggles to recommend content to fake viewers.

Another practice that new users sometimes take to quickly monetize is by reposting other users’ content, especially viral content. In fact, many users create hoaxes content to meet the monetization requirements.

Methods like that are certainly risky. The original content owner can report to the platform provider, which is usually followed by a warning and account removal. For hoax content, other users can also report it. In fact, platform administrators can delete content and user accounts that spread hoaxes.

Making money from short videos on social media is both challenging and easy. All platforms provide features that make it easier, but there are also requirements for keeping the account healthy and safe. Good luck trying it out!