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A 19yo made 2.7M$ in a month using Snapchat 🔥

The creator Economy is still a "winner takes all" economy where a couple of creators make extremely outside returns relative to their peers.

A month ago, Snapchat launched its new feature "spotlight" to tackle this challenge.

A 19yo TikToker named Cam Casey made 2.7M$ in less than a month thanks to Snapchat's new feature.

Cam Casey explained that by uploading 100 videos/day, one each 5mins, he made 1.5M$ in his third week using Spotlight, with 70 of his videos ranked in the top 100 videos on Spotlight. Snapchat pays the creators of the 100 videos with the more views submitted to Spotlight each day.

A successful video on Spotlight is made up of a combination of high watch time, likes, screenshots and shares.

Here are some tips for succeeding on Spotlight (Source):

  • Hashtags are critical
    We recommend loading up the content with as many relevant hashtags as possible. You can currently add up to 100 hashtags on a Spotlight submission, but it's not recommended to go overboard. Videos submitted with unrelated hashtags have a higher chance of being rejected.

  • Use native snapchat features
    Native Snapchat text added to the video most likely provides additional context for the video in the Spotlight algorithm. Most videos you come across in the Spotlight feed have Snapchat text added or other native Snapchat features.

  • Don't overdo it
    Viral moments captured on camera and creative content creators are going to have an advantage here. Content that is overproduced does not seem to be featured prominently in the Spotlight feed.

  • Don't disqualify yourself
    The content moderation is real. Nothing with outside music, copyrighted footage, TikTok logos, Instagram fonts, Boomerangs, or identifiable Superzoom effects will be accepted. If it is easily identifiable as content made for another platform, it will most likely get rejected.

  • Don't give up
    While Snapchat limits how frequently you can submit there does not appear to be a penalty for how many Snaps you submit to Spotlight.

David Dobrik has interviewed Cam Casey in his Podcast and Taylor Lorenz wrote an article about this story. If you are interested to know more, I highly suggest you read those!

With this type of story, Snap might win his bet to build an engine to create a culture that benefits thousands of people rather than hundreds. I hope it will encourage other creators to seize the opportunity.

Do you think they can have a long-lasting impact and help building the middle-class of the Creator Economy ?

  1. 5

    Oh amazing, thanks for sharing.

    I'm not jealous one bit. Nope. Ok, maybe just a little? 😭

    1. 1

      Ahah! I tried for a week to post on Spotlight but I didn't get the same results... 🙃

  2. 2

    Wow. Might have to try it

  3. 2

    Wow. 100 videos/day?! Crazy dedication there.

    1. 2

      I guess it's worth it ahah!

  4. 2

    It's probably worth noting that the creator had a pre-existing following on Tik Tok (7 million).

    1. 1

      Hey, as mention in the Verge's article : "It doesn’t matter whether that person has a massive number of subscribers; the amount people receive is primarily based on unique views compared to other snaps that day." & "Once you tap into Spotlight, you’ll see snaps programmed to what Snapchat’s algorithm thinks you might enjoy. It bases this decision mostly on what you’ve viewed in the past and how long you’ve watched."

      The real value from Spotlights compared to TikTok is a chance for everyone to blow up.

      1. 1

        I think it's very relevant information.

        Having 7 million followers on a comparable platform absolutely implies this creator is far from "ordinary". It sounds like you're claiming that talent and experience aren't important in content creation and anyone with a phone is equal to a person with a clear skillset.

        My grampa's results are not going to meet that of a dude knowing how to grind the algo.

        1. 1

          It's an interesting point of view, and I agree with you, talent and experience are important. I think there are multiple barriers to earn income as a creator, and Snap tried to remove one of those. Even though it's not perfect, I still think it's a good initiative.

  5. 2

    Holy s*** 🤯

  6. 1

    Amazing. I had briefly heard of the TikTok creator fund, but I didn't know that Snapchat had a TikTok like feature ('Spotlight') or that they were compensating creators. Really interesting to see the creator economy heat up as these platforms compete to attract talent. Wondering how long until Insta Reels also starts paying out for top content?

    1. 1

      I think Instagram is really focused on transforming its platform into an e-commerce marketplace, which is, as Snapchat's Spotlights, an interesting bet. I'm not sure we'll see this kind of initiative soon there!

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