Is Carrier Billing Designed for Social Media Editing Apps?
10 March 2022
Social Content is Getting More Creative
Photo and Video Editing apps are increasing in popularity. It’s no surprise given today’s social app habits. TikTok was the number 1 most downloaded app in 2021, followed by Instagram and Facebook. The growth is set to continue, with TikTok forecast to exceed “1.5 billion monthly active users in 2022.”
Social app users are getting more creative with their content. Often looking to photo and video editing apps as the answer to becoming more innovative and standing out from other content creators, as well as being a fun way to spend free time. The pandemic is also a driving factor for these habits. Although consumers have been spending more time on apps like YouTube and TikTok, interestingly, consumers are turning previously what was their ‘non-mobile’ time, into time spent on apps.
Long gone are the days where specialist photo or video editing training is needed. Today’s audiences have the accessibility of easy-to-use apps at their fingertips. This means that it’s not only paid influencers and content creators who are using editing apps for their content but includes regular users amongst the wider audience too.
In fact, CapCut – “a free editing tool for TikTok (the two apps are made by ByteDance)”- was the number 9 most downloaded app of 2021, after a successful global rollout in April 2020.
Photo and Video App Market Overview
7 out of every 10 Minutes on Mobile in 2021 was spent in Social, Photo & Video Apps, especially amongst Gen Z.
In 2022:
- Photo & Video revenue is set to reach US$18,974m, with in-app purchase revenue expected to reach US$6,062m
- Total revenue is “expected to show an annual growth rate (CAGR 2022-2026) of 8.78%, resulting in a projected market volume of US$26,563m by 2026”
- Paid app revenue in the Photo & Video segment is expected to reach US$2,091m
- Photo & Video app downloads are set to reach 26,397.7m
Designing New App Payment Methods
Many social media editing apps offer freemium models where users pay nothing to download and use the app with basic or limited features. Once app users become familiar and enjoy using the app, they can unlock additional premium features via in-app one-off payments, or a monthly or yearly subscription.
Given the increasing popularity of social, photo and video editing apps, it is important to consider payment methods that are designed for these apps and their consumers, giving them the choice and flexibility of payments.
Carrier billing offers a seamless, secure and instant payment method for social, photo or video apps, removing the friction of card payments, allowing users can pay with ease.
With 1 in 5 digital content sales expected to account for carrier billing by 2024, now is a great time to consider adding carrier billing to your goods and services.
