OTT stands for Over-the-Top and the market for OTT services is growing at a fast pace. People are shifting from traditional TVs to OTT due of flexibility, convenience and ease of accessibility. As per new data from Juniper Research, OTT revenues are projected to grow from $64 billion in 2017 to $120 billion in 2022.
Features and Strategy: Stand out of the OTT crowd
Launching an OTT platform of services is not an easy task, however, it all depends on how well you design the strategies and the budget. There are generally two major launch strategies — highly differentiated and highly customised. The first strategy involves extensive research and huge development cost. Here service providers plays an important role in developing the content. The second strategy requires better relationship with the customers to learn the needs of a particular customer and develop customized content.
A/B testing
It helps in determining the desirable customer experience that in turn helps in retaining them and attracting other customers. Your company can make multiple profiles to test branding elements, layouts, menu structures, fonts and UI elements to determine best experience of customers.
Geographical targeting
This is another practice of delivering content specific to a particular location. For Example, Amazon Prime, is developing TV shows in Hindi language specifically designed for Indian audience. Netflix is also developing TV shows in local languages.
Live capabilities
It is not a bad idea if OTT service providers give live option on their network and save it to view it later. For example, WWE Entertainment is offering pay-per-view option to the customers which helps them watch it live on their network. In this case, customers don’t have to wait for some other OTT provider to upload it in their library. On-demand video is also an option to them.
Advanced casting
Casting is the technology which helps customers to watch Internet-related content, especially audio/video, directly in a TV. For example, Google Chromecast, Apple Airplay, Amazon fire TV etc. Casting helps the company to stand out from the crowd as the whole family can watch TV shows together.
Social unification
Nowadays, everyone is keen to post his activities instantly on social media platforms. The same applies to OTT providers also. If they are coming up with a new TV series or some exclusive content, they can directly run ads in the social website to attract large number of audience.
A research by Brightcove reveals that 67 per cent of users are increasingly watching social videos, while 75 per cent of them are taking decisions after watching these videos. The main challenge here is that the company has to run ads repeatedly to make direct impact on customers.
Keys to script success in OTT
Derive consumer satisfaction: To be a better service provider, OTT players must take consumer reviews, feedback, complaints and suggestions. This will build trust and good word of mouth.
Easy payment options: OTT providers charge some fee for the subscription of their services. All kinds of online payment options should be made available. For example, payment through Visa, MasterCard with full encryption security. If you are in India, then PayTM option should be included.
Exclusive content- OTT players like Netflix and Amazon prime have their own production units. They upload unique content which distinguishes them from other players. Currently, having exclusive content will not solely work, one needs to make quality as well as engaging content.
Personalised services: OTT providers must provide what the customers want. If watching becomes a delightful experience, the provider can retain the customer which will create a long term profit for the company. It can be done by suggesting favourite shows, similar series, news about upcoming events to the customers.
A new study by Parks Associates, says that more than 50 per cent of US broadband users subscribe to OTT A/V service. The company can guess that from one broadband customer, at least four or more that four family members will watch the content together in a Smart TV or solely in their smartphones. It helps the OTT services provide to develop the content depending on the age and interests of the family members.
Author: Sridhar Venkata
Director Sales & Marketing at ITP Software India.
ITP offers solutions to Pay TV, Broadcasting & ISP domains. ITP has earned the distinction of offering the most credible products that help a client enhance and manage operational efficiencies, increase and sustain customer loyalty and ramp up operations.
