4 Tips to Build a Profitable OTT Platform

OTT Platforms in India have grown rapidly in the last few years. Today, they compete with traditional broadcasting systems and other pay television networks for viewership. One of the major OTT Platforms in India, has a multidimensional paid subscription program from themselves, has emerged as one of the popular & best OTT service providers in recent times. In January 2020, they have confirmed 150 million registered users worldwide. Similarly, some other Best OTT Applications has also more than 100 million subscribers worldwide. In India, the OTT Platform market is led by an Indian OTT Service Provider with 50 million subscribers, followed by the other International OTT Applications, and so on. All these suggest the increasing demand for OTT services among users. 

Inspired by the trend, many apps are entering into the OTT market, where they compete with International and National OTT platforms for a larger market share. With competition steadily increasing, there are certain factors to be kept in mind to build OTT applications. The factors are discussed in detail here. 

1. Focus on an Impressive Content Strategy

What attracts viewers to your platform? There can be several answers, but engaging content is the most essential of them. Thus, it is important to design an impressive content strategy if you are eyeing a profitable & the best OTT service provider. If you aren’t sure of a content strategy, here are a few questions to consider: 

• Who is your target audience?
• Do you want to offer neutral content which would be enjoyed by all? Or across various genres for each age group?
• Do you want to be niche specific like XiveTV, Passionflix, True Royalty, or VidAngel?
• How often would you schedule a fresh content?
• Would you like to present long-form content or short-from content? 
• Do you plan to present the content through various seasons? If yes, what would be the duration between two seasons?
• Do you have any budget restrictions?
• Would you like to offer original content or video on demand?

Answers to these questions would help you decide on the content strategy for your OTT application. If you are not focusing on a niche-specific audience, ensure to create a content that appeals to a broader section of the audience. 

2. Capitalize on the Right Subscription Model to Ensure Agility and Flexibility

Most OTT platforms in India adopt either of the two types of models – subscription and transactional. Here is how each of these models works:

Transactional Business Model: In this model, you can create content and sell it at a one-time fee. For instance, there is a tattoo education provider InkWorkshops that has produced a Dragon Masterclass course, which allows tattoo artists to learn the art of creating tattoos in Japanese traditional style. The course is available at a one-time payment. You can sell your content at a one-time high fee, and it is also a good option to test new product ideas. However, this model may not bring you long term revenues, you need to keep on producing impressive content for subsequent sales. 

Subscription Video Business Model: This is the most popular of these two models. Customers pay a specific monthly fee or a moderately affordable yearly fee to access content on your OTT application. With this model, you can be assured of an income that flows in. Although this model is the most popular, various studies show that 4 out of 10 people do not use the OTT platform regularly and may unsubscribe or may not even renew the subscription after a certain period. Hence, to capture customer interests it is important to release new, interesting content every month. 

3. Assure Exemplary Viewing Experiences Across all Channels

 Today, people view OTT content across different devices like their television screens, smartphones, tablets, and computers. Ensure you offer an intuitive UI interface across each device. Some examples of intuitive UI would be the flexibility to watch with or without subtitles; the data consumption information and video quality; the option to resume the video from where it was last paused, and so on. Along with all these, ensure, you offer “on-the-go-experience” that is the ability to view the content in an offline mode. 

4. Send Personalized Notifications

 Do you know almost 71% of customers uninstall the OTT applications ( Over The Top ) due to consequent notifications? Do you want that to happen? Hence, be selective in sending notifications. You can keep your customers engaged by sending engaging notifications. Be selective in sending notifications, and push them at the right intervals. 

4. Best OTT service providers

The OTT market has grown considerably in recent years. The Best OTT service providers are now considered a mainstream delivery platform alongside traditional broadcast and pay TV. Competition is fierce though and the battle hardens for subscriber wallet share and viewing time every day

 For those looking to launch their own Over The Top Application, it can seem overwhelming but you don’t have to square up to the likes of International OTT service providers to get a good piece of the proverbial pie. At RGB Broadcasting, we believe there’s still plenty of room in this growing market for services that set themselves apart from the mainstream competition. 

As the demand for Over The Top service providers continue to grow, more entertainment firms are entering the market, the competition will intensify in future. If you are planning to build OTT platform or OTT application, it is important to partner with a trusted company like RGB Broadcasting. Experience and expertise will make a difference in the initial days when you venture into a new arena.