Introducing, Lens: A New Way to Bring Patrons Behind The Scenes
Every creator has a behind the scenes. Behind each song, novel, video, comic, or painting lies a magical and creative journey. Patrons love to see this process — the unpolished work, the messy studios, the spur-of-the-moment inspiration. While creators regularly share this journey on Patreon, we wanted to make it easier than ever to do it on the go.
That’s why today we’re launching Lens, a new feature in the Patreon mobile app that allows creators to easily share exclusive, behind-the-scenes content with their patrons.
Share in the moment
Lens makes it easy to capture and share your process without disrupting your creative flow. Within seconds you can capture photos and videos and share them with your patrons, directly from the Patreon mobile app. Photos and videos are displayed in a series so that you can tell a story or show progress. All content disappears after 24 hours, so you can deliver authentic unedited content without worrying about taking the perfect shot.
“Lens gives me a private channel to my patrons — it’s just me and them! My patrons are invited directly into my studio to view behind-the-scenes glimpses of my life as an artist that I don’t publish anywhere else on the internet. It’s kind of like they’re creating art right along with me. Having such an exclusive way to communicate with my patrons has changed how I share my art with the world.” — Shayla Maddox
Drive connection
Bring your patrons closer to you and your work with expressive, real-time updates. Patrons get notified directly about new content as it happens with a video experience designed for mobile.
“Lens makes connecting with my patrons just a few taps away, and has given me yet another tool to interact with my patrons and offer them more exclusive content. I usually show them BTS stuff like me prepping video content and doing research. I also try to share a photo of a motivational or inspirational quote each day.” – Kati Morton
Add value for your patrons
Exclusive updates are highly valued by fans, helping you grow your membership business and retain patrons. With Lens, photos and videos can be shared either to followers or to paying patrons, which enables you to create content that both rewards existing patrons and entices new patrons to join.
“With the help of Lens, we’ve been able to tease our audience with previews of special guests on our shows, and upcoming projects. Not only are we able to enrich our current membership tiers with this content, but it’s such an amazing bonus to be able to include listeners who are on the fence about joining our Patreon.” — Sam Bashor, Only Stupid Answers
Getting started with Lens is easy
To get started using Lens as a creator, open the latest version of the Patreon app and click on the Lens icon in the top right hand corner. Upload a couple photos and videos and you’re done! Patrons with the mobile app will receive notifications of the new content and can view your Lens anytime by clicking on the circular image at the top of your page in the app. Some of your patrons might not have the mobile app, so be sure to make a post on Patreon about your plans to use the new feature.
“It’s such an easy way to show our patrons what we’re doing with their support,” said Philip DeFranco who used Lens during the beta. “Whether it’s a quick video of one of our editors crawling through a homemade cardboard fort or an exciting preview of an upcoming show, our patrons see it all with Lens.”
You can find Lens in the latest version of the Patreon app which is available on iOS and Android. To learn more check out the Help Center.
