OTT (Over the Top) services are gaining popularity in the contemporary due to the increasing number of cord-cutters. Even amidst the recent COVID pandemic, the OTT industry showed a positive growth rate. The global OTT industry revenue will be more than USD 160 billion by the end of 2025.
Businesses are investing in OTT services for providing on-demand content and targeted advertisements to customers. Various types of OTT services are being used by businesses like OTT video, OTT calling, OTT messaging, and other services. Read on to know some common mistakes while creating an OTT app.
The 7 Most Common Mistakes to Be Avoided While Launching Your OTT Platform
1. Overcomplication and Inconsistent Content
Many businesses starting an IPTV service just by seeing their competitors. They do not have a proper business plan or ample content for their OTT service. As a business owner, you should focus on creating an OTT business plan and then launching the platform accordingly.
One should also try not to overcomplicate your OTT platform, as it should be easy to use. What’s the profit of advanced features that users can’t even access?
You should have enough OTT content to get you started. Consistency is the key to attracting a new audience to your OTT service. Users will migrate to other OTT platforms if their needs are not being fulfilled.
2. Lack of Customer Retention Programs
If you want to retain your OTT customers, you should have retention programs in place. Form a definitive OTT-business strategy that helps you in repeating your subscribers count for every business period. Many OTT platforms offer loyalty programs for regular customers that improve the customer retention rate.
The most common example of a customer retention program is offering customers a discount if they opt for an OTT subscription continuously. You will have worked hard to build an audience for your OTT platform and would want to retain them for continuous ROI (Return on Investment).
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3. No Omnichannel Presence
Various OTT devices are used by the customers like gaming consoles, smart TVs, smartphones, tablets, etc. One would ideally want to target all types of users for their OTT streaming platform.
However, many business owners opt for free OTT services offered by unreliable websites. A web-based streaming experience is only limited and you cannot target all OTT users.
While OTT app development, one should choose a platform provider that lets you launch native applications for different OTT devices. An omnichannel presence will help you in increasing the target audience effectively.
4. Using an Unsecured Platform
While free OTT platform companies may not charge you but they are always prone to piracy. Free OTT platforms do not offer secure OTT streaming to safeguard your OTT content. Unexpected shutdowns are also experienced by business owners using free OTT services.
It is better to do some research and find a reliable OTT platform provider. Some security features to include in your OTT platform are password protection, AES encryption, access control, geo-blocking, etc. You should invest in embedding an effective DRM (Digital Rights Management) system with your OTT platform.
5. Complex Entitlements
OTT users prefer to start from where they left, even if they are using a new device. Personal preferences keep changing and it gets tough for an OTT management system to cater to the needs of customers. Choose a reliable platform that lets you manage complex entitlements easily.
6. Not Performing Market Research
If you are not willing to perform market research, you can never provide a personalized service to your customers. Market research will also help you in finding the latest trends among the OTT platform providers. Competitor analysis is another great way of finding out the choices of customers.
7. Choosing an Unreliable OTT Solution
Choosing a poor OTT solution will not let you upload content in bulk. You cannot even provide content in different audio/video formats by a free and poor OTT solution. Instead, you should choose a reputed platform for starting your OTT business.
How to Avoid These Mistakes While Launching My OTT Video Platform?
The first step is to have a definite business plan for launching your OTT business. Your business plan should have information about target customers, competitors, and market trends.
Invest some time in research before launching your OTT streaming platform. The next step is to choose a white label OTT platforms to build your OTT service from scratch.
A white-label video platform provider will offer various OTT business models to choose from. Various OTT platform business models are SVOD, TVOD, AVOD, and hybrid.
You can gain lifetime ownership of your OTT solution via a white-label platform provider. Make sure the platform provider offers high security and enhanced DRM features to safeguard your OTT content. Build an OTT platform now!