Case Study: Social Media Week launches subscription livestreams and grows recurring revenue with Vimeo

Social Media Week - Customer Case Study

Social Media Week faced a business challenge: after years of free global livestreaming supported by volatile sponsorships, the event needed a reliable way to monetize live content while preserving a high-quality live experience. To solve this, Social Media Week partnered with Vimeo, using the Livestream platform to put live conference programming behind a paywall and build a subscription product.

Vimeo’s Livestream was integrated into SMW’s WordPress site and custom player to launch SMW Insider in 2016, offering annual and short-term subscriptions ($395 annual, $149 three-month) and enterprise packages. The shift produced measurable gains: about 30% of attendees activate subscriptions, 75% of subscribers sign up within 90 days before an event, and the team captures 40–60 hours of live content per conference to repurpose for growth. Vimeo’s features (password protection, multi-platform streaming, support) helped Social Media Week move from sponsorship dependence to a more predictable mix of ticket, subscription, and sponsorship revenue.

Social Media Week

Toby Daniels

Chief Executive Officer