Photographer-Heavy Platform VSCO Starts Selling Ads With Liquid I.V. Campaign

Photo editing platform Visual Supply Company (VSCO, 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. The user base skews toward photographers, graphic designers, creators, and people who follow their work, and is over 80% 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 I.V. ran a targeted ad campaign on the platform to reach VSCO's creator network, a community of artists, photographers, and motion graphic designers who use VSCO's creative tools and showcase their work to help them build business connections. The campaign promoted Liquid I.V.’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 of VSCO, told ADWEEK. VSCO ran targeted ads, branded presets and brand challenge on VSCO to drum brand awareness for its Summer flavors. In the month-long campaign, Liquid I.V. 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 I.V. 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 I.V. product under the #LiquidIVChallenge. Liquid I.V. selected four winners whose photos best aligned with the brand's creative vision, licensing six images in total. Each winner received $500 from VSCO. To buy these ads—paid members won't see ads—brands need to buy a broader package that includes its other products, like custom branded filters, which the platform has been offering since 2014, and branded challenges. Previously, brands like Marriott, Levi’s, Nike, and Gymshark have tapped into VSCO’s creator-driven community through limited edition co-branded filters. The company recently became profitable, per Bloomberg, with 25% of its revenue stemming from VSCO Pro. Sensor Tower estimates VSCO’s revenue to be around $3 million as of August (though the platform doesn't have access to complete revenue data). VSCO has secured $100 million in funding to date, with investors including Accel, Glynn Capital, Icon Ventures, Goldcrest Capital, and Obvious Ventures, according to Bloomberg.

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Photographer-Heavy Platform VSCO Starts Selling Ads With Liquid I.V. Campaign

The decade-old platform said it has 60 million unique monthly visitors and over 200 million registered users

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Trishla Ostwal