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Photo editing platform Visual Supply Company (pronounced vis-co), is digging deeper into the ad-selling game with the hope of more effectively monetizing its user base.
The decade-old platform said it has 60 million unique monthly visitors, and over 200 million registered users, (those who have signed up with an email address). The user base skews towards photographers, graphic designers, creators, and people who follow their work, (over 80% are female). Previously, 99% of VSCO’s revenue came from subscriptions to VSCO+, which costs $29.99 per year, and VSCO Pro, which costs $59.99 a year. The platform said it has 160,000 Pro subscribers.
In August, electrolyte drink mix Liquid IV ran a targeted ad campaign on the platform to reach VSCO’s creator network, a community of artists, photographers, and motion graphic designers VSCO offers access to creative tools and showcases their work to help them build business connections. The campaign promoted Liquid IV’s summer drink flavors, such as sugar-free rainbow sherbet, with the brand goal of engaging with creative professionals and using their work in its marketing.
“What we have found a lot from our community is one of the bigger challenges they have, especially with the changes to Instagram [algorithm] and just where social media has landed, is it’s really hard to get exposure and get their work out there,” Eric Wittman, CEO, VSCO, told ADWEEK.
In the month-long campaign, Liquid IV ran interstitial ads—which appear on user profiles when people click into content—and generated 40 million impressions with 600,000 clicks on the ad, (equating to a 1.42% CTR), said Wittman. These ads are sold on a CPM-based pricing model, ranging from mid-to-low single-digit rates for static display ads and up to double-digits for rich media or video ads.
As part of its VSCO campaign, Liquid IV launched custom filters, called presets, with warm, pastel tones and branded challenges (similar to TikTok challenges), encouraging users to edit and post photos using its filters.
The presets generated 225 million impressions in a month, with people sharing images using the Liquid IV product under the #LiquidIVChallenge. Liquid IV selected four winners whose photos aligned with the brand’s creative vision, licensing six images in total. Each winner received $500 from VSCO.
