OTT subscription services have grown on an unprecedented scale in the past few years. If you go by the stats, there were around 153 million OTT video subscriptions in the US alone, during the year 2017.
This number is further expected to grow and reach the 197 million subscriber count by the end of 2022. This metric is expected to grow at a CAGR of 2.25% for the period between 2020 and 2025.
The paradigm shift can be accredited to the growing internet affordability and penetration of smart devices including smartphones and smart TVs. One of the primary reasons for this unparalleled growth in the US market is also because the industry leaders in the OTT apps subscription space, such as Netflix and Amazon are US-based.
The Impact of Covid-19 on OTT Subscriptions
The Coronavirus pandemic has adversely impacted most of the industries across the world since many nations have executed a complete lockdown to curb the spread of this virus. However, some industries have seen massive growth during the pandemic and OTT is one such industry. Due to nationwide lockdowns, people are left with no choice but to stay at home. SVOD platforms like Netflix have been a major source of entertainment in the lockdown for most people. Here are some of the key changes that will give you a fair idea of the growth.
- As per a recent research report, it was found that the percentage of viewers has increased by approximately 30% in the first half of 2020 as compared to the previous year’s figures.
- The average viewing time has also increased tremendously. As per the current estimates, the viewing time in the US alone has increased by 23% from the previous year.
- A research study found that there has been an increase of almost 60% in the count of paid OTT platform subscriptions for the year 2020.
How to Increase Your Subscription Base for Your OTT Platform?
There is no doubt that the OTT industry is growing beyond bounds but what should be your plan to take a share from this massive pie? Well, here are some important considerations that will push you in the right direction if you plan to offer an OTT solution.
1. Realize the Power of Free Trials
No matter who your target audience is, everybody appreciates a free trial offer. It provides your viewers with the chance to explore your content and see if it’s something that they would like to invest their time and money into. Will you ever buy something you know very little about in terms of feature and utility? You won’t think of free trials as a chance to demonstrate your offerings. You should always keep free trials, especially when you are new to the game. Learn from the best OTT subscription platforms like Netflix that still has free trials for its viewers.
2. Offer Bonus Content
How does it feel when you get something extra with your purchase? Well, it feels great to receive freebies. One thing that goes well with any customer/audience is over-delivering. You should always offer bonus content and try to keep it as a surprise element. Bonus content for OTT platforms gives users a strong motive to subscribe to your platform. This will also help to boost your organic traffic.
3. Cater Across Devices and Platforms
You should always plan to keep your content platform easily accessible for a wide range of devices and platforms. One should not miss out on potential revenue by limiting the types of devices that can be used to access the platform. Providing users with flexibility goes a long way. One of the major factors that led to an increase in the number of cord-cutters was the rigidity that television had. You should always have a mobile application for both Android and iOS users, in addition to your website. Choose an OTT platform provider that offers you this flexibility.
4. Offer Subtitles and Multiple audios
Imagine missing out on a popular TV show just because it was available in foreign audio that you were not familiar with. It certainly hurts and your audiences will feel the same way if you don’t diversify your content. You should always try to keep multiple audio options (in different languages) based on the target geography and audience. In addition to this, you should also keep subtitles so that the audience doesn’t have a hard time understanding the context in case they miss out on the audio. Your OTT platform development strategy should take this into account.
5. Stay Updated
One of the most important things to keep in mind if you want to deliver a great viewing experience is to keep your content and platforms updated as per the latest norms. For example, the offline feature offered by OTT giants allows users to download and view content even when they are not connected to the internet. In addition to technical updates, you also need to frequently update your video library with fresh content to keep viewers engaged. You can easily do this by choosing the best OTT platform providers for creating your platform.
6. Price it wisely
Price plays the most important role in the success of your platform. The OTT industry is indeed growing at an unprecedented scale but the competition is also increasing. If you are not priced competitively, it can lead to the loss of potential customers and viewership. Your pricing strategy should take factors such as the target audience, their purchasing power, etc. into consideration.
It is advisable to keep low pricing when you are new in this industry and gradually increase as your platform becomes popular. People will pay a premium to watch good and unique content but to help them realize the value your platform will offer; you should keep the prices on the lower end.
7. Analytics
The contemporary digital world is driven by data. To gather potential user data, you need to have robust analytics in place that can help you monitor the activities of your users on the portal. You will be able to improve your marketing ROI when you have sufficient data on your customers. It will help you provide useful insights into what your audience likes. You can then devise a content plan accordingly and offer them what they want. It will also help you with finding the optimum price point for your subscription video on demand platform.
Conclusion
Creating a successful subscription-based video platform in the post-pandemic era needs continuous iterations. You should learn about your target audience as much as you can to create content that they won’t mind paying for. In addition to this, you should always have multiple audios and subtitles for your content if you don’t want to limit your audience base. One should also realize the role of analytics and how important it is to make decisions based on your data. Choosing the best OTT platform provider will help you overcome all the roadblocks and set you on the right path, increasing the probability of your success tremendously.
