How to Grow Your OTT Subscription Business after the Pandemic?

It’s been a crazy year. After the COVID-19 outbreak, everyone's life has changed. Due to social distancing and lock everyone is supposed to stay at home and there are no such activities for them. Many people have lost their jobs. However, some industries have grown in this pandemic situation. The OTT industry is one of them. After the outbreak, there was a big change seen in the OTT industry. OTT platform's profits have skyrocketed.

• According to a study, global video streaming trends grew by 20% in March 2020, and the US was one of the top contributors to this with a 26% boost in the same trend.

• In many developing countries, where the OTT industry was growing very slowly before the pandemic, it has seen more than a 60 % push in this sector.

• Many OTT service providers like Netflix and Amazon had to reduce their streaming bitrate in many countries only to manage additional loads on their servers due to rising bandwidth demands.

If you own any OTT platform then you have also faced some unexpected growth trends, especially in the Subscription Video-on-demand type. People in quarantine have no activity to spend their time. Here OTT industry has an opportunity and SVOD-type OTT has become very popular among them.

The SVOD trends are off the charts. The expected growth of the OTT market globally has been forecasted at a CAGR of 21% from 2021 to 2028. It was a $50 billion market that is now going to touch $200 billion soon. What is it you are doing to grow your subscription-based OTT business and claim a share of this multi-billion-dollar pie?

In this blog, you will find some expert-level tips to grow your OTT business or even start an OTT business.

This outbreak has been a curse on the global society, but it has changed the trends and the lifestyle of the people. Now people are more looking towards online ordering, and it has been a digital revolution.

Now people are looking for bundle offers that cost them less For example if two businesses are offering the same things, but one is offering something extra like a bundle offer that will add value people will be more attracted towards that We can take the example of many cell phone service providers they are doing the same, offering bundled subscriptions to multiple OTT streaming services along with their regular postpaid plans.

This new behavior is prodding a shift towards subscription business models across different industries and segments.

The main thing every business depends on is its pricing and it is the most important thing in the OTT industry. You need to play very carefully with your pricing strategy. It should be according to your target customers and must be market-competitive. Your pricing plans must include some basic plans and premium packages. To boost your subscriptions, follow the steps listed below.

Notifications do not mean only push messages. Email notifications play a very important role nowadays. Having your subscribers opt-in for communications from your brand can produce incredible results. While email notifications can be used for promotions and important updates, you can rely on push notifications to engage your users without being intrusive.

With the help of these two channels, you can boost your sales and can do targeted marketing. You can deliver some engaging messages about trending and upcoming movies, shows, TV serials, etc.

After you start getting your sales and acquiring some new subscribers after the aggressive marketing, the real game starts are how you have retained those subscribers and look for new ones. You need to work even harder to keep these users subscribed, the stage for which can be devised right from the phase when they get on board for the first time.

It is very important to guide the new users about the onboarding process. You should design an onboarding funnel that inspires them to purchase their first subscription but also guides them toward consuming their first premium content as your subscribers.

The best practice to do this is offering the Free Trial to new users. Now, it’s your choice if you want to collect payment information for auto-billing after the trial period.  However, you must collect the email addresses of the users so that you can pitch them in the future.

It is a plus point to have some personalized apps for multiple that stand out in the market. OTT platforms are becoming very famous nowadays and many people are using OTT platforms to watch videos and stuff.

So, check for the most popular streaming devices in your region, and put them into the list of supported devices. Here are some devices on which OTT platforms are working Mi streaming stick, Amazon Fire stick, Roku Streaming stick, NVidia Shield TV, Xbox, PlayStation, etc.

Support for these platforms should be in addition to basic platforms –Android, iOS, and WebRTC.

As you know acquisition and retention are very important and they should be strategized likewise. This strategy is precisely for your existing subscribers. You can engage your existing clients by adding a recommendation model box. This can also be important for your QA. You will be getting some actual reviews from your users and clients that can improve your quality of service and users will feel more obliged. This strategy could help in retaining existing clients and will create positive word of mouth. You can also model the user behaviors and watch history to recommend more relevant content to watch.

Apart from this, users must be allowed to pick from where they left off. This also includes showcasing the new episodes of a series that they have been watching.

Besides, the same model can also be used for recommending related content to watch next.

Multiple packages allow you to target different segments of users in a personalized manner. For example, let us say you are offering only a flagship plan with everything included in it: 4 simultaneous screens, 4K streaming, and multi-device support. Here, you might not be able to appeal to users who do not need all these features.

Hence, there is a better chance to appeal to more users with an optional, limited, and cheaper plan that allows them to avail themselves of only the services or bundles that are viable to them. For instance, you can offer a cheaper mobile-only plan to attract HD streaming to attract those users who do not use 4K devices or multiple screens.

Similarly, you can create multiple plans with different combinations for different segments of users. You can give them the option to upgrade or degrade a plan anytime based on their current needs. Remember, you must customize your bundles differently according to the prospects in different regions. For example, a mobile-only plan can do wonders in a region with limited access to other types of devices, but the same plan might not work in a region where more people have access to 4K devices and multiple screens.

Offer some referral rewards and coupons. This will create a positive word of mouth and users will be more likely to recommend it to others as they will be getting the rewards. Nowadays if a message comes from a known person like anyone refers to his friend that will gain more attention as compared to a message from an unknown person.

Last, but not least –the quality of everything is crucial

Finally, nothing will work if you cannot keep the quality of your content library and user experience top-notch.  Even the best offers and cheapest subscription plans would not do any good if users do not like your content, or if the platform works like something from the past.

To sort this out make sure you have a continuous flow of content; exclusive content to be more precise. The subscription business model works like a charm if your users cannot find your content anywhere else. Ensure that your video streaming solution comes with the latest technology stack to support trending features. Besides an intuitive content discovery experience, the streaming platform must come with a competent video player, too. You can only apply these measures if your platform supports such features.

Perhaps, it is time to upgrade your video streaming platform to something more advanced. Check out Vodlix SVOD platform builder to unlock unique features and monetization channels for your service.