A lot has changed at AdLulu over the last few days.
What started as a concept for connecting Austin businesses with local creators is becoming a working marketplace that businesses and creators can actually test.
As we get closer to opening the Austin test, we’ve been focused less on adding flashy features and more on making sure the core experience answers one question:
Can a marketplace for finished local creator content actually work?
Here’s some of what has changed.
THE CREATOR MARKETPLACE IS TAKING SHAPE
Creators will be able to discover participating Austin businesses and see the information they need before deciding whether they want to create.
Businesses can provide general content preferences, filming rules, availability, and the maximum amount they may be willing to pay for a video.
The creator then decides what they want to create.
There’s no requirement to make content for every business, and there’s no guarantee that a finished video will sell.
That’s an important part of what we want to test.
CREATORS NOW HAVE A REAL CONTENT WORKSPACE
We’ve also expanded the creator side of AdLulu.
Instead of uploads simply disappearing into a submission history, creators can manage their content through Active, Drafts, Sold, Expired, and Archived states.
Creators can save work as a draft, manage active listings, see what has sold, and decide what to do with content that expires.
We’re also beginning to build the foundation for creator portfolios, where creators will eventually be able to showcase a small selection of their best work based on the content itself rather than follower count.
BUSINESSES GET TO MAKE THE DECISION AFTER SEEING THE CONTENT
The business experience is being built around a simple idea:
See the finished content first.
Businesses will be able to review creator-made videos intended for them and choose to Purchase, Save for Later, or Pass.
That means businesses aren't committing to every piece of content a creator decides to make.
At the same time, creators control what they create and what they charge within the business's stated maximum.
That balance is one of the biggest things we want to learn from the Austin test.
WE’RE MAKING FILMING EXPECTATIONS CLEARER
One thing we’ve thought carefully about is how creators know whether they can film at a participating business.
Rather than requiring creators and businesses to message back and forth before every visit, businesses can provide their filming expectations ahead of time.
That can include when creators are welcome, where filming is allowed, whether customers or employees may appear, and what equipment is permitted.
The goal is to give creators enough information to make their own decisions without turning every piece of content into a commissioned assignment.
THE TEST ITSELF IS BECOMING MEASURABLE
Behind the scenes, we're also improving the Austin test dashboard.
We don't just want to know how many people signed up.
We want to understand what actually happens once the marketplace opens.
Are creators creating?
Are businesses viewing the content?
What gets saved?
What gets passed on?
What gets purchased?
Do creators come back and create again?
Those behaviors will tell us much more than a waitlist number ever could.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT
Businesses and creators are currently getting their accounts set up as we prepare for the live Austin marketplace test.
Once the test begins, the goal isn't to prove that every assumption we've made was right.
It's to see how real Austin businesses and creators actually use the marketplace, where the model works, where it doesn't, and what needs to change before AdLulu expands further.
We'll be sharing more of what we learn as the test progresses.
AdLulu's Austin marketplace test begins November 5.