You’ve heard about the phenomenon of microdramas, but are not sure exactly what they are and what’s happening?
As their name suggests, microdramas are short-form drama series. Think of them as a blend of soap operas and TikTok reels — dramatic and addictive.
Don’t worry, unlike drama shows, we won’t leave you on a cliffhanger here.
Here’s everything you need to know about microdramas, their global rise, and their impact on the mobile app industry.
What Are Microdramas?
Microdramas, short drama apps, and vertical microdramas — call them as you wish. All these terms are used to describe apps that deliver bite-sized video series designed to quickly grab and hold attention.
In microdrama apps, users can browse between different shows, typically consisting of 60 to 100 episodes.
But, these aren’t your typical episodes.
In microdramas, an episode usually lasts anywhere from one to three minutes. The episodes are not just short — they are also extremely fast-paced, filled with suspense, crazy plot twists, and lots of drama. Each episode ends with a cliffhanger, leaving viewers thirsty for more.
Common themes?
Revenge, forbidden romance, cheating lovers, billionaire husbands.
Unlike classic TV series, microdrama episodes don’t focus on gradual story and character development. Instead, they jump right into the action, making it the perfect format for users with short attention spans and time to kill.
Who is the target audience for microdrama apps?
While Gen Z is known for their love for reels and short-form videos, it’s actually Millennials who use microdrama apps the most.
Millennials make up 49% of U.S. microdrama users, while Gen Z comes second at 26% (MIDG survey). When it comes to the gender split, female users are the biggest fans, accounting for 70% of users outside of China (Global Times).
The Global Rise of Microdramas
The first microdrama-like apps appeared in 2018 in China, but they took off a few years later, following the COVID pandemic.
In China, the format has been widely popularized on platforms like WeChat and Douyin. In 2023, the microdrama market in China reached $5.8 billion, with a staggering 268% year-on-year growth (iiMediaResearch). By the end of 2024, the market is expected to reach $7 billion.
Following their success in China, It took a while until microdramas went global.
This happened in 2022 when Crazy Maple Studio released Reelshort. In 2023, the app started rising in popularity, and in 2024, it exploded in both downloads and revenue, especially in the US.
The app currently stands at over 66 million downloads and $179 million in revenue with 65% of revenue coming from the US (AppMagic).
The Top Three
Following Reelshort’s success, the app soon attracted competitors like DramaBox and ShortMax, the three of which became the leading microdrama apps outside of China.
While the US dominates revenue for all three of these apps, Japan is the 2nd most profitable market for two out of three leading apps (DramaBox and ShortMax).
Thanks to the rapid growth of these apps, microdramas became a serious contestant in the entertainment app arena.
*The data in this section was gathered using the premium version of the AppMagic tool.
Microdrama Production
The main difference between TikTok Reels and microdramas is that microdramas aren’t user-generated but professionally produced on a low budget. The production is rapid, with simple sets, minimal crew, and simple but effective visuals.
Curious about the financials?
To produce microdramas for the Western market, the costs span between $100 thousand and $150 thousand, according to ChinaDaily. Interestingly, this number is 6x lower for China-focused production.
To save both time and money, microdrama apps heavily use AI in content production. AI helps with everything from writing scripts and creating titles to adapting Chinese dramas for global audiences.
Microdramas & Mobile Gaming
Besides soap operas, microdramas also have a lot in common with one particular mobile game genre — interactive story games. As TechCrunch put it, they’re “as if those mobile storytelling games came to life.”
Reelshort has taken this resemblance a step further.
In some of their shows, they integrated interactive dialogue options, allowing players to select dialogue options that affect the course of the story. While the impact of their decisions is minimal, this gives users the illusion of control over the plot.
What’s especially interesting is that the companies behind popular microdrama apps like Reelshort and DramaBox are also game studios with storytelling games in their portfolios.
Therefore, the connection is undeniable.
In fact, Crazy Maple Studio, the creator of Reelshort, is also behind Chapters: Interactive Stories, one of the world’s leading interactive story titles.
With this in mind, let’s dive into another thing microdramas and storytelling games have in common: how they make money.
How do Microdramas Monetize & Retain Users?
In microdrama apps, there are many monetization and retention features typical for free-to-play mobile games.
Upon downloading these apps, users can freely watch a certain number of episodes — enough to get them hooked.
To unlock further episodes, they need to use the app’s currency. Just like mobile games, microdrama apps usually have a simple virtual economy with one main currency (e.g. coins).
Note that the following monetization strategies are only used in the global market. In China, microdrama apps typically monetize through ad revenue, e-commerce partnerships, and brand sponsorships.
In-App Stores
One of the ways microdrama users can obtain coins is to purchase them from the in-app store. The stores in microdrama apps are much like in-game shops, typically consisting of different coin packs, subscription options (weekly, monthly, yearly), time-limited deals, and pop-ups.
One unique strategy microdrama apps use here is that they separate free and paid currency depending on how users obtain it.
For example, ShortMax has “coins” and “bonus coins”, while Reelshort uses “coins” and “reward coins”.
The difference?
There is none — these currencies serve the exact same purpose. It’s simply a matter of labeling and encouraging user spending. By separating the currencies, microdrama apps create an illusion of value and exclusivity which may motivate users to make purchases.
Rewarded Ads
One thing all top microdrama apps have in common is that they leverage rewarded ads.
When users start watching a show and run out of currency, they can usually obtain more by watching rewarded video ads. For example, in Reelshort, they can watch up to 5 daily ads to unlock new episodes.
Moreover, all top microdrama apps also have a special “rewards” section where users can find different ways to earn currency.
Aside from rewarded ad placements, some microdrama apps also host offerwall ads as an opportunity to earn even more currency. A great example is Reelshort, which integrates a native offerwall to cross-promote its other apps, mostly mobile games.
As we mentioned, microdrama apps have DNA similar to interactive story games. One of the traits they share is being a great fit for in-app offerwalls.
Microdrama apps are even more addictive than storytelling games, making users constantly crave more content and currency. If users are not interested in making IAPs (or at least not yet), offerwall ads provide an alternative option to earn enough currency to fully enjoy the app.
Rewards & Push Notifications
The “rewards” section in microdrama apps isn’t reserved for rewarded ads only.
Here, users can also discover other ways to earn coins.
Typically, the first thing microdrama app users can see in this section is the option to claim daily login rewards. In most cases, these rewards are small but increase in value over time.
The rewards sections of microdrama apps typically also encourage users to log in with social or e-mail accounts. Some apps even hand out rewards for hitting the follow button on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and other social channels.
Besides offering rewards, microdrama apps are also big on push notifications. By sending frequent notifications, they notify users to continue watching a show, suggest new ones, alert them to claim daily login rewards, and complete tasks for extra rewards.
User Acquisition & Profit
Microdrama apps are known for their major UA investments.
Considering their reel-like nature, it only makes sense to focus most on social media platforms where they can seamlessly blend with native reels.
Since users rarely discover them organically, this is the core strategy for reaching new users. According to SensorTower, about 80% of downloads of top microdrama apps come from paid UA campaigns.
We experienced this ourselves — as we started using a few microdrama apps, we also started seeing a lot of microdrama ad creatives on social media platforms like Instagram. All the ads were quite similar, showcasing show snippets with attention-grabbing captions.
It’s important to note that, due to major UA costs (and competition), many microdrama apps are struggling to turn a profit.
This was discussed at the 2024 ChinaJoy conference where Yujin Culture projected that 90% of Chinese microdrama apps were unprofitable.
On a more positive note, successful microdrama apps show promising figures. For example, FlexTV’s COO Xiangchen Gao has reported that, for every dollar spent on advertising, the app’s ROI is between $1.30 and $1.50.
Closing Words on Microdramas
The rest of the West often follows U.S. trends, so with their growth spurt in the US, it’s only logical to expect that they will gain traction in similar markets, such as Europe.
However, it will be interesting to see how many of these apps will be able to balance high advertising costs to become profitable as they expand to new markets.
