You have uploaded your content to your OTT platform and got in the users after a mega launch event. But now, after the initial increase in traffic to your platform, users are decreasing or spending less time on the portal.
Media and entertainment apps face a problem of audience retention with only 23% of the users still using them one month after downloading them.
If this is something that you have faced, read on to find out smart ways to keep your user base engaged.
Table of Contents
User experience
We have heard this phrase recently -‘Content is king, but user experience is the emperor’.
While the content could lure your consumer in, it’s the user experience that will keep the viewer tuned in.
Start with a customised greeting to welcome the user.
Then, make sure you have a recommendation engine that allows the user to see content or shows that are based on his/her viewing history.
For those who left a video or show incomplete, provide them with an option to play the video from the same spot they left.
Also, keep in mind the issues users could face with regards to internet bandwidth and have an option of a lower resolution video for them. Several times consumers blame the app and look for change even though the only thing that requires change is their internet connection.
Since a user ends up sharing information like date of birth while subscribing, adding a birthday greeting if the user logs in on the birthday could also be helpful.
Content localisation
The internet has pushed globalisation to the next level. While you could be creating content in one part of the world, your content consumer could be sitting thousands of miles away, watching your content with the help of sub-titles.
Monitor your analytics and figure where your users are logging into your platform from. If you’re getting users from outside your home country, look to create content for that particular audience. There’s a high chance that those users recommend your OTT platform to their peers and you end up getting a much larger audience set from a part of the world you least expected.
When you’re pushing content in a different market, make sure you follow sensitivities with regards to their culture.
Different subscription options
While Subscription Video on Demand (SVOD) is the most common method used by OTT players, there are other options as well available to keep an audience on board.
You can try getting your SVOD audience to pay more by offering them a PVOD (Premium Video on Demand) offering, which could give them access to content before other consumers.
If you see a user having paid one month and then not subscribed to your services again, push your video content through AVOD (Advertising Video on Demand).
Read about the different VOD options and how each of them is beneficial here.
Analytics
We mentioned how analytics can help you get users from different markets earlier. Monitor your analytics frequently to see what content is working (and what’s not). Create video content that is similar to the one that is working.
For the content which isn’t working (but you believe it should), you can offer it as free content. If it doesn’t do well after that too, then it’s time to shelve it.
Communication
Send out an alert to your user base when a new piece of content goes out. This could be in the form of any message via email/text message etc. Don’t be too intrusive or you’ll be added to the block/spam list of the user.
Other forms of communication could also be around birthday/anniversary/festival greetings.
Also, look at in-app messaging. It’s one of the most powerful tools one can use to connect with the users. Not only does it help you give a personalised experience to your consumer, it could also help you monetise your app with an option for you to share sponsored messages. You could also charge a premium for content creators to push their content on your app.
These are a few ways you can look at keeping your audience engaged. We, at Enveu, are here to help you with each of them and make sure that your time is spent only on creating the most important element of your channel – content.
Let’s talk!
