Love bites: Tapping into the short drama app opportunity

In what seems like no time at all, TikTok has become one of the most successful mobile services in the world. One reason behind its success was how it gave ordinary people a platform to showcase one-of-a-kind talents. Another reason is that TikTok’s content is unequivocally made for mobile: vertical format and, crucially, short-form. Users can snack on content with just minutes to spare (even if these users typically watch video after video after video for much longer than a few minutes).

But TikTok isn’t the only platform creating made-for-mobile content. The format has found a new form of expression in short drama apps. Short drama is best described as soap opera on mobile. These engaging stories, created in the style of a typical TV drama, are produced with smartphone viewing in mind.

Short drama 101

Short drama episodes vary between one and three minutes in length—more substantial than a TikTok video, but following the model of delivering entertainment in bite-sized chunks. 

Dramas are delivered in a series format. Content themes include personal and family relationships, or might dabble in fantasy elements like werewolves and vampires. The leading short drama apps feature both locally produced and translated dramas. Compelling narratives and strong visual appeal make them exceptionally engaging to modern audiences.

Women make up 70% of the short drama audience, with the majority aged between 25-44. These viewers are typically busy with household duties, childcare, and social activities. They seek brief escapes into romance and fantasy through engaging snippets that fit their fragmented schedules.

Short drama apps are growing in popularity. According to Sensor Tower, there was a 220% increase in downloads of short drama apps between September 2023 and February 2024. The US is a key market, contributing 60-70% of total revenue, as American users are more willing and able to pay for entertainment. According to app analytics firm Sensor Tower, the average revenue per download for two short drama apps, ReelShort and DramaBox, in the US is six times higher than in other markets.

Southeast Asia is also a hot market. ShortTV is particularly popular in the Philippines, Thailand, and Indonesia, with Southeast Asia accounting for 46% of its total downloads. Sensor Tower also report that, in January 2024, ShortTV's downloads in Southeast Asia increased sixfold month-over-month. A report from mobile measurement provider Adjust suggests that the short drama market in China alone was worth over $5bn in 2023. And more figures from Sensor Tower show that 40 Chinese short drama apps have entered overseas markets, with almost 55 million downloads and inbound purchase revenues of $170m.

The Japanese market is also seeing significant growth, with apps like TopShort, which, according to Sensor Tower, saw a 110% increase in revenue YoY in February 2024, making it the top-grossing and most downloaded short drama app in Japan.

The short drama app opportunity

So how do short drama apps monetise, and what opportunity do they present for advertisers? 

Short drama apps have two principal forms of monetization: advertising and charging users to watch the content, either via one-off payments or subscriptions.

The first, advertising, works especially effectively, given the tightly-condensed type of users these apps attract. short drama apps are a great place to reach a primarily female, middle-class, millennial/Gen X audience, one of the prized groups of users for most advertisers.

Producing a good TV ad can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars—without even considering the media cost—but investing your campaign budget in short dramas could offer more brand exposure opportunities. With 100 minutes of storytelling, brands can achieve extensive visibility on this new opportunity.

Short drama apps are also a great place for video apps, educational apps, casual games, and utility apps to acquire new users, given the similarities between their user bases. 

According to data from Mobvista, the leading markets for ad placements are in North America, Europe, and Southeast Asia, with the US and Canada at the forefront. While Southeast Asia is a significant source of downloads for short drama apps, North America’s stronger purchasing power has made it a core market.

Further, creators of these apps are also often open to collaborating with brands and gaming companies directly to integrate their products natively into short dramas. For the app, this approach provides additional revenue streams and enhances content appeal and marketing reach, leveraging established brand popularity to attract viewers. For the advertiser, it offers a way to integrate advertising messages natively into the editorial content of the app.

Another short drama app revenue stream is paywalls. short drama creators and apps have discovered that strategic paywalls are extremely effective in converting engaged viewers into subscribers, optimising revenue without sacrificing user engagement. The most popular strategy is to introduce the paywall at a mid-series point, such as the second or tenth episode, with a fee of around $10-20 to unlock subsequent episodes.

Act now before prices rise

With more and more players entering the business, short drama is quickly becoming a highly competitive marketplace. As content quality and competitiveness increase, these apps will continue to offer a great place to cost-effectively target users ready to shop. 

However, as short drama's popularity increases, prices will inevitably rise, so make the most of the moment and allocate test budgets to try out short drama marketing, and find out if the opportunity is right for your business.

Yikai Li is the GM for Global Business for Nativex. This story first appeared on Campaign's sister site, Performance Marketing World.