Gifted subs are coming to Patreon. The creator funding platform announced its new monetization option amidst a flurry of updates.
Patreon conveyed several changes through a blog post it published one day before the start of VidCon Anaheim. The most notable update concerns gifted subs, a key revenue source for creators on Twitch that has been copied by platforms across the social web. Patreon’s take on gifted subscriptions is part of its plan to convert patrons with free memberships into paying customers.
“Gifting is one of the all-time most requested tools for creators on Patreon — and now it’s in the works. We’re testing the ability to gift membership to fans for a set amount of time,” reads the blog post. “Gifting will live in a new, dedicated Promotions tab alongside other new tools for discounting digital products and automating offers.”
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Tools for converting patrons are currently the name of the game for Patreon, which announced a year ago that it would allow non-paying patrons to access some content for free. In its latest update, Patreon revealed positive results from its shift. 30 million free memberships have been acquired over the past year, and more than half of those freeloaders have said they could be interested in upgrading to a paid option.
Patreon also noted that 90% of creators who have “highly active communities” earn at least $1,000 per month. To encourage the development of even more active communities, Patreon will let creators count down to the release of new content by hosting a live chat alongside patrons. (YouTube’s Premieres, anyone?) Free patrons will soon have access to community chats as well, and creators will be able to bundle posts in sellable collections as a means of upselling those non-paying supporters.
Though an exact timeline for the rollout of these new features isn’t available, Patreon has said that its gifted subs and chat countdowns are “coming next.” Updates about the platform’s incoming products can be found here.
