Is Exclusive Content On Its Way Out?

[Lee]

By that i mean now that the economy is starting to tank and we're seeing a lot of the major straight PPS sponsors not updating or shooting new stuff as often as they once did, do you think we're going to see a gradual drift away from exclusive shoots online being used on paysite updates?

TopBucks for example, have launched a couple of new sites lately that were not using exclusive (read as shot exclusively for the new site) content but that actually uses content they have already had produced or licensed from other sources.

Do you think with the state of the economy right now that we're going to see more and more companies starting to re-use their existing exclusive content on newer sites rather than having new exclusive content shot for them?

Regards,

Lee

[Maryflixxx]

A program owner I know once said:

"There is enough content already filmed that we could all stop filming and the surfers wouldn't notice for 10 years"

I also know another program owner who films very little new content and rotates the existing content on a 4 month cycle. They've found that doing that with only a few new scenes per month is all they need to keep their members happy with their rebill cycle.

Every day there are new adult customers, for whom all of this content is new.

As webmasters, we can often forget that because we see much more than the average customer.

[HunkyLuke]

when we went to exclusive content our conversions and retention rates skyrocketed and we haven't looked back. Sure, we still use dvd content to bulk out our sites and offer variety, but I have prolly 100 emails from horny members that prove that exclusive content does way better!

[Maryflixxx]

I think this is one of those questions where the real answer is... "it depends".

It depends on your traffic, your rebills, your niche.

I would guess that the average straight company doesn't need much new exclusive content any more. But I've been told by more than one gay program owner that the exclusive content boosts memberships...

[Lee]

But I've been told by more than one gay program owner that the exclusive content boosts memberships...

But are those membership increases because of the *content* itself OR because more affiliates start pushing the sites with exclusive content?

We all know affiliates dont have a clue what the surfer actually wants, only what they *think* the surfer wants and in the past few years the message affiliates have had drummed in to their heads by program owners is that 'exclusive content boosts members signups' but in reality... Does it?

Isnt it more likely that more traffic from affiliates is affecting the increase in sales, rather than the content itself?

In my mind if a surfer see's a model they think are hot, the surfer is going to join that site, whether the site has exclusive content or not does not matter, just so long as in the surfers mind there is a model on the sites tour that appeals to their sexual interest.

Regards,

Lee

[basschick]

like mary says, it depends.

in a general niche, you might do better with DVD content, but that hasn't changed. in a smaller niche or fetish where more of the potential members and members will have seen more of the content because they surf their particular niche, or there's just less content in general, exclusive is the way to go. also if a photographer has a certain style or type of model that is part of the site's brand, exclusive is nearly always the way to go.

[DrChango]

Speaking as a Topbucks staff member, the launch of sites, both gay and straight, that used existing content to hit niches we had not previously exploited, was not a sign of the end of exclusive content.

We still have many sites that get specific episodes shot for them (Teens for Cash and its twin Twinks for Cash being prime examples), but for niches like redheads in the straight program, or pure ebony in the gay program, it wasn't necessary to start a whole new production line to churn out content for it. It makes more sense just to choose from the two dozen updates we are already doing those scenes that fit the bill. "Oh, and when you upload that episode for Her First Lesbian Sex make sure you also upload it to We Love Redheads" or "Is that the new scene for His First Huge Cock with the guy with the crazy tattoos? Pop that one on Top Shelf Studs." It works insofar as it is just addressing one of the big problems mega-sites face: keeping members happy by helping them find what they're looking for within the hundreds or even thousands of episodes made available to them.

I know it sounds like a good idea having the member searching through your database for redheads or black guys or bareback or threesomes or whatever, it would make sense that they will rebill and stick around to keep searching for scenes that fit certain niches, but in my personal experience, it is as annoying as hell. When I'm in the mood for X, I don't want to have to search through scene after scene of Y, Z, Q, A, W, M and so forth.
As an "end user", I find appealing the idea of a stable of themed sites as well as the ability to find general niche content pulled from all of them included in the same program.

Another thing I think such an approach for some sites in a program (not all) is to avoid hasty castings/shootings. If you are on a weekly production schedule for something specific, sometimes quality gets put on the back burner for the sake of getting an episode shot, cut, and posted ASAP. This goes for every damn paysite I have ever had a membership on or even seriously perused!
Being able to select scenes from multiple production teams helps avoid incidents like "damn, she's a wildebeest, but she's a redhead and we've got a schedule to keep pace with...sorry, Steve, but you're going to have to take one for the team, buddy..."
I think sites like Gay Blind Date Sex doesn't face that sort of problem as much as something as specific as a pure ebony scene, if that makes any sense? You can get any two attractive models and have them pretend they are on a date, but you have to use whatever models you can get your filthy mitts on if it's a specific appearance niche (ethnicity, build, etc)


/rant

[CatmanLA]

I think Mary hit the nail on the head... over just the past couple of years our industry has changed more drastically in a short period of time than ever before. Those webmasters who are doing the same things over and over again and expecting different results, will be short lived, if they're not gone already. As are the ones who throw up anything and everything to the user and hopes something will stick.

If a webmaster doesnt take the time to tailor their content / product to the users they seek, then they're doing a disservice to themselves.

I tell our wm's... they don't have to recreate the wheel, they just have to recreate how they sell or present it! There will ALWAYS be "new" users who have never seen that specific content.

On the flip side, nothing will ever take the place of exclusive and original content. In this sense you're retaining your base PLUS have unique material to use to market to / attract new traffic.

Straight content/users require different strategies than gay content / users. Advertising agencies specialize in targeting the Gay demographic often as a sub contractor to a major mainstream agency. The gay demo is much more discriminating, thus the target is smaller. In my opinion, it's much easier with straight content / sites.

[Rich]

i think a lot of people are using custom content because they can do more with it than use it on the websites like put it on dvd discs