OTT has grown at the rate of knots over the last few years and is expected to reach US$ 167.4 billion by the end of 2025, more than double of what it was at the end of 2019 according to a Statista report.
So, it’s a no-brainer that OTT is the place to rake in the big bucks. The simplest way of getting a bigger pie of this OTT revenue is getting more viewers on to your platform.
In this piece, we list 10 ways to increase viewership on OTT
Table of Contents
Content
This is by far the most important aspect. At the end of the day, a user will log on to your platform to watch something. Make sure the content is gripping and can catch the attention of your viewer for long. Once you have that in place, you’re halfway to attracting the binge-watcher. And binge-watchers are what you require as more time spent on your app means more dollars.
Personalise the experience
Once you have great content in place, a good way to keep the viewer interested is a personalised experience. You can greet your user with a personalised ‘hello ____’ greeting. You can further this by adding a good afternoon, good evening (depending on the time of the day the person logs in).
Then, once the viewers have logged on, give them what they are looking for. This could be based on searches/past shows/wishlists etc.
Give free samples
Remember the time you tried a product at a pop-up stall at a supermarket? Liked it and bought it on your next visit to the store?
Do the same thing with your content. If you’re charging for content, give your viewer a 10-minute sneak peek. Hook them on and they are sure to convert to be a paid viewer.
Viewer experience
Having the right content is halfway to attracting the binge-watcher. The viewer experience is a close second. The content has to have the right viewing experience. Have a player that doesn’t consume much data. If your viewer leaves a video before finishing the episode, make sure that they’re prompted to start from the same place when they log back in.
If you’ve got a user base from across the globe, including sub-titles would be a good idea too.
Intrusive advertising is also one way the viewer experience is compromised. If a consumer is paying to watch content, you may want to cut down the advertising.
Watch parties
The pandemic has reduced socialising. Also, OTT is seen to be a personalised experience for the viewer, but you can make sure friends can watch content together.
You can have these virtual parties where friends can chat/discuss while watching the content. If the interface is good, for all you know the friends stick on even after watching a show just to chat/speak to each other. Again, more time spent = more dollars earned!
Social media to improve engagement
Let your consumers share what they are watching on social media. Integrate a share button for the likes of FB/Instagram/Twitter etc. Encourage them to share their views on the same as well with some rewards. The more reviews/shows shared could lead to badges/trophies collected. These could be used in the virtual world or some rewards through sponsor integrations too!
Be present across devices
When one thinks of OTT, they are skewed towards the mobile phone. But thanks to Apple TV, Amazon Firestick, Smart TVs, etc, your viewer could be viewing content across devices. So, to make sure you catch your viewer when he/she is on a different device, you need to be present across those devices.
Offer different packs
Back to the FMCG example. The sachet size was a great way to get people to try a shampoo. Similarly, give options of a daily/weekly package for subscribers too at a lower-level entry point.
Even if this doesn’t convert to the consumer buying a monthly/annual subscription, your subscription numbers get the spike for you to market your platform.
Analytics
You need to study what content is working and what isn’t. You can also figure where the people are logging in from and offer content accordingly. If you’re getting your audience from Europe or South America, make sure you have content for them in their language. This will work wonders.
Push notifications
Every time you upload new content, put out the message through a push notification to the user. If you don’t want to be intrusive in terms of putting out a message on their smartphone, send out a mail to them. It’s a great way of capturing the attention of a viewer and before you know it they are on your platform starting a binge-watching session.
These are ten ways listed to increase viewership on OTT platform. Connect with us at Enveu to discuss how to implement any of these to get the viewership your content deserves.
