Six Ways New Social Companies Will Monetize | Andreessen Horowitz

Payments and built-in monetization models – Just as ads have become the predominant monetization model for social platforms, we believe member subscriptions are promising for communities. Because people are more likely to consume a product when they pay for it, subscriptions can incentivize engagement.

But increasingly, creators with loyal followings are creating their own independent offerings—ranging from paid courses to niche communities to vertical social networks—with the basis of competition shifting to curated content and community, trust in a particular creator, and alignment to specific topics.

One last thought here: having said earlier that money comes into the ecosystem either from advertisers or from viewers, I’m excited to see how the two can work together to have a compounding effect. For instance, Maybelline could sponsor a beauty creator’s memberships business, sending members regular make-up samples or discount codes.