There is no doubt that the OTT market is indeed a crowded space.
Not only is there a sudden surge in the volume of new entrants but the ongoing pandemic has fuelled cord-cutting to its maximum capacity than ever before.
But, one fact that keeps the world in awe is the magnitude of growth of over-the-top platforms in generating a sizable revenue despite the rise in competition.
In fact, across the globe, the demand only keeps increasing with the OTT platform and video market revenue projected to hit a striking $210 billion by 2026 from a mere $6.1 billion back in 2010.
In other words, this billion-dollar industry is nothing short of a great fortune for content owners, publishers, and distributors of various niches.
However, not everyone aces the revenue game. Only platforms that level up their strategies and smarten their tactics lead the streaming battle to hold a large user base and in turn, a profitable income stream.
Market Biggies & their Success Formulae
The largest OTT players of today are not confined to one particular routeway to success. They rather adopt revenue-making strategies that are tried and tested in a multitude of ways.
Moreover, it is not simply about sustaining in the overly-populated market but making an impression out of the several hundred video streaming services that keep springing every new day.
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Reinventing the Pathway to OTT Revenue
While niche platforms adopt a recurring revenue stream via the subscription SVOD platform model, seasonal content offerers often choose the pay-per-view style of pricing. Ads also bring in a great deal of income when optimized to be non-intrusive. The era’s popular players even step ahead and opt for an integrated mix of different business models depending on their content diversification.
Valuing Audiences’ Likes & Interests
Paving the road to a steady OTT income not just ends with adopting a multitude of revenue strategies. It is the content and user experience that ought to be personalized in relevance to what the audiences prefer, which is another secret mantra to many of the successful players of today.
Here’s curating some of the best marketing moves OTT players can adopt to polish up their revenue influx right from day #1.
– Go Omnichannel
One of the finest pre-launch acts streaming platforms could perform for marketing is to go omnichannel. To take your brand to millions of potential customers requires advertising across channels and devices like mobile, web, and smart TV depending on your niche.
Also, by leveraging the omnichannel approach, businesses can customize their content repository and create personalized commercials as per engagement, responses, and feedback from soon-to-be subscribers who are willing to pay.
– Own a Website
To earn the trust of your viewers to commit to your platform requires more than just your app. It is a well-designed website that will table a professional outlook alongside building a community whose interests align with the goals, values, and face of your business and its voice.
Knowing who your target audience is the first step in the marketing process. By segmenting the generic population into various groups relating to your brand persona, you can channel your paid campaigns for the most effective traffic which in turn will generate a steady stream of revenue.
The ultimate goal of the best online video platforms is to make its content binge-worthy and distributing a catchy piece of content would be the most ideal thing to do.
At the end of the day, massive traffic, engagement, and revenue revolve around content that is found nowhere else; in other words, the more unique the content is, the more likely are your viewers to pay for it.
Exclusive offerings also minimize churn rate, increasing the customer lifetime value, which again is a revenue booster.
– Display Pricing Efficacy
The right mode of pricing pretty much sums up and defines how your income stream will be and hence, it is the monetization model that forms an integral part of any OTT business.
Similarly, the key to a flourishing revenue window is to choose appropriate video monetization strategies or an integrated mix of the different pricing models depending on various factors such as content niche, target audience, geography, devices used, etc for profound profits.
– Personalize the Campaigns
Tailor-made things make heads turn. Hyper-personalization is what today’s world revolves around and it is an inseparable deed when it comes to OTT marketing.
Personalization is closely tied to every regard of your streaming service and ample market research is essential before putting your best foot forward in launching campaigns that convert.
Be it emails, push notifications, or any other form of communication with your potential user, a humanized interaction rather than a generic message burst will bring in unprecedented traffic to your platform.
– Prompt Push Alerts
Push notifications are by far the most successful tools of marketing to make audiences aware of your newest content. Being minimally intrusive, push alerts have been in use for a really long time now to convert anonymous visitorsto paid subscribers, inform new content launches, or promote interactions with personalized messages.
Push notifications largely widen the profit-making window provided they are
Not too promotional
Sent in relevant time zones
Optimized based on viewer behavior
– Let Your Audience Socialize
Social forums are great tools in blowing up streaming content to a wider audience base.
Likes, favorites, shares, etc are some of the social sharing options that can be integrated on over-the-top apps to amp up viewership.
Social media marketing is a billion-dollar industry and there can be no better way to amplify your reach rather than targeting netizens. And via these forums, you can also figure out what content resonates with your audience and what pieces of content receive the most engagement; this, in turn, can help channelize your paid campaigns.
– Launch Loyalty Programs
Binge-watchers and subscribers who have a long-term relationship with your streaming service could be offered loyalty programs wherein prices are slashed or special coupons are given. These types of promotions retain your customers and make them feel valued.
Some of the other revenue-oriented perks that best OTT platforms gain by offering loyalty programs include:
Rewarding your loyal customers
Gaining a competitive advantage over business rivals
Securing a positive reputation
– Assess Data from Analytics
Data from real-time analytics is extremely instrumental when it comes to understanding your audiences, their likes, and what incentivizes them to commit to your platform and pay for your content.
Metrics like
Total watch time
Mins watched/ unique device
Conversion rate
Churn rate
The average revenue per user
The lifetime value of a user
Offer deeper insights to make significant streaming decisions.
Quantifying data from viewer behavior and video performance benefits platform owners in various aspects of acquiring/producing content, optimizing the customer experience via recommendations, identifying fund allocation tactics, and tweaking their offerings, pricing plans, and free trials based on geography, device usage, and several other factors.
To Summarize,
Revenue sustainability is one of the key ways to measure OTT success and it doesn’t end with launching a well-designed platform. To stand apart from your competitors in driving potential traffic lies in a plethora of factors mentioned above.
In short, ample revenue comes from ample engagement, and when audiences are placed at the core of your streaming service’s offerings, user experience, and pricing plans, it is, without doubt, you can ace the OTT battle that is intensifying every passing moment.
CJ is a product marketing enthusiast, whose interest fuels his journey in crafting transformative strategies that reshape the modern messaging landscape. With an unwavering commitment to excellence.
Published On November 6th, 2024 Media & Monetization
