Nikita Agarwal
Listen to this articleThe COVID-19 pandemic has spurred new ways for video content creators to reach their viewers.
Building an OTT app for your video business is the new wave, and some popular OTT services like Netflix, Amazon Prime, etc. are proving this right.
With the escalating pandemic crisis forcing people to stay indoors, OTT (Over-the-Top) makes sure they don’t miss going out. Not surprisingly, roughly 80% of consumers in the U.S. have subscribed to at least one streaming service (see the graph below).
Netflix, HBO Now, and other popular OTT services have changed the ways viewers consume content. Your viewers today expect nothing less than on-demand streaming – the ability to watch whenever and wherever they wish by simply subscribing to your service.
Besides, you can make this a profitable video streaming business. Research states that the number of SVOD (Subscription Video on Demand) subscriptions is projected to skyrocket to 307 million by 2025 in the US alone.
When you build your own OTT app, you create an opportunity to meet all your customers in the right place, at the right time. You can drastically increase your audience base and grow your video business.
This article will show how an OTT app for your video business can be profitable. And when you finish reading the reasons and want to create your own OTT platform, we’ve got that covered too.
Table of Contents:
1. Why OTT apps are the future of video businesses
2. 6 Reasons Why Your Video Business Needs an OTT App
3. How to Create an OTT App for Your Video Business
4. Create an OTT App to Grow Your Video Business
Why OTT Apps Are the Future of Video Businesses
Watching traditional TV cable channels is a thing of the past.
The OTT industry is taking over and is at the onset of becoming a multi-billion dollar industry.
If you’re wondering, this is just the right time to grow your video business with OTT mobile apps and websites.
According to Statista, OTT user penetration is expected to hit 48.3% by 2025.
But, what is an OTT video streaming app exactly?
OTT, or over-the-top, applications are the apps that deliver video content over the internet.
It doesn’t follow the traditional distribution method where you pay for channel packages.
Instead, your viewers will pay a flat subscription rate, also known as SVOD, to watch their favorite shows on their preferred device.
Besides, a survey shows that 63% of people aged 18-34 watch live streaming content daily.
It’s safe to say that your video business is future-proof with OTT apps, as the OTT market is predicted to reach 62.03 billion by 2022. In 2015 alone, the OTT market was valued at 28.04 million.
But, what makes it so popular?
All in all, the accessibility and convenience of watching OTT apps from anywhere is bringing about a revolutionary change in how people consume content today. And not to forget the superior quality video content that viewers get access to through OTT streaming apps.
6 Reasons Why Your Video Business Needs an OTT App
In simple words, an OTT app is a holy grail for video content creators. You may ask why.
Let’s look at some of the benefits top OTT apps have to offer:
OTT App Helps Increase Conversions
There are quite a few benefits of having branded OTT apps on different platforms, such as iOS, Android, Android TV, Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Roku, and others.
Having apps on this network helps increase the visibility of your brand to prospective subscribers while providing a superior web viewing experience.
If the content that you’re offering appeals to your target audience, being present in app stores can help you get discovered. It could be based on any topic — be it health and fitness, entertainment, education, and others.
Viewers who find branded apps in the app store are 33% more likely to start a free trial than viewers on the web. And in general, two-thirds of free trial sign-ups convert into paying customers.
In 2019 alone, many media companies were seen investing in OTT apps. Some of the top OTT apps examples include Disney+, ESPN+, and more.
Having a one-click payment option inside your app makes it easy for viewers to become subscribers with less friction.
OTT Apps Reach More Consumers
There was a time when your content was regulated with a time slot on TV channels.
If your viewers missed it, that was it. But not anymore!
With OTT apps, you give your viewers the ability to browse through all your content without any time constraints.
With the new Money Heist season that is making all the buzz, you can easily watch them at your own convenience. You just need to have a Netflix subscription.
Netflix’s Money Heist broke viewership records with a whopping 34 million viewers for Part 3.
When viewers are no longer bound to a time slot, they get to watch more.
You can provide them with as many of the videos you want, and they can watch them whenever they want.
OTT Apps are More Appealing to Consumers
An OTT app technology allows viewers to stream their favorite show or movies at any time, on their choice of device.
Why is OTT such a big deal again?
We can break it down into three reasons:
Control
Unlike traditional TV cables, viewers are not limited to a time frame. With an OTT platform, viewers get full control to watch the stuff they like at their own convenient time.
Accessibility
To grow your video business, you need to give your viewers the freedom to enjoy watching their favorite shows or movies from anywhere.
Users can download your OTT app and log in to start viewing content from anywhere, at any time.
Affordability
With a flat subscription fee, viewers can access far more superior-quality and ad-free entertainment compared to the usual cable system.
OTT Apps Helps Retain More Customers
One of the biggest challenges for any video streaming business is to stop its subscribers from canceling their subscriptions.
You might have a great content library, but they might still cancel the subscription. You will often find excuses like, “I don’t have the time to watch.”
But is it really true?
People are consuming content on their smartphones even while commuting.
Building an OTT app allows you to distribute your content on devices preferred by your current users, such as mobile phones and tablets.
Every year, mobile video consumption doubles. In 2022, there will be 205 million smartphone video viewers in the US alone.
Mobile OTT apps are a feasible option and allow your viewers to access content on the go. Some of the top OTT apps examples are HBO Now, Hulu, Peacock, CuriosityStream, Pluto TV, etc.
Ready to increase user retention? Learn how to reduce OTT churn with Ventuno.
OTT Apps Helps Improve Audience Engagement
To attract subscribers, you need to tease consumers with a free trial and offer good value content. These factors are important to promote your service in the market.
The key to video streaming business success is to keep your audiences engaged. Providing an engaging experience to your subscribers/viewers will keep them coming for more.
Having a branded OTT app enables content creators to track all data and understand who is watching your shows. In fact, you can keep a close eye on the most-watched content and harness that data to create more such content to retain your users’ attention.
OTT platform providers such as Ventuno offer complete analytics on video engagement, revenue, purchases, users, watch time, and much more.
OTT Apps Helps Increase Your Revenue and Grow Your Brand
In 2020, the global OTT services market generated $91,881.6 million in revenues.
By launching your own OTT app and website, you can partake in this million-dollar business too.
The best OTT platform provider will enable you to monetize your business in multiple ways, including:
SVOD (subscription-based video on demand): viewers pay a flat fee to watch your content on a monthly, quarterly, or annual basis
TVOD (transactional-based video on demand): sell or rent video content to your audience
AVOD (advertising-based video on demand): leverage ads for both your video content
How to Create an OTT App for Your Video Business
There are in total three ways to create an OTT app for video business in general.
Method 1: Building It In-house
The first option is generally reserved for large enterprises.
They hire developers in-house and build the OTT app themselves. This option is only suitable if you have a good amount of resources, money, and expertise in app development.
You’ll need to form a whole team of backend developers, front-end developers, product managers, designers, and others.
While this option will give you full control over your app, it demands a heavy upfront investment and high maintenance costs.
Method 2: Outsource Your OTT App Development Requirement
The second way to go about it is to outsource your OTT app development needs to an app development agency.
Many agencies specialize in building OTT platforms. They generally charge an upfront fee for the app development and take care of every aspect — from design to back-end operations.
Once the app is ready, you can either enter in a monthly or yearly contract with them for regular maintenance and updates. Or else, you can choose to hire a team for maintenance and updating the apps. Both of these methods will require additional costs to bear.
This brings us to our third option — the most affordable and safest way to build an OTT app.
Method 3: Leverage an OTT Platform Provider
Many OTT platform providers like Ventuno enable their users to instantly lease a white-labeled OTT app for a flat monthly or yearly fee.
You can customize the OTT app to give your own brand look and feel. There are no watermarks or hidden logos.
These SaaS platforms provide you with the content management system, maintenance, hosting, and technical support. It is our recommended method as it instantly gets you started with your video business — no coding required!
Besides, it provides multiple ways to start monetizing your business.
Create an OTT App to Grow Your Video Business
An OTT app can help your video business reach out to a wider audience from across various distribution channels.
Reaching out to an OTT solution provider will take care of your OTT platform maintenance so that you can solely focus on growing your video business.
It can help you streamline all your content management activities, make your video business more productive, and provide your subscribers with active customer support.
Take inspirations from top OTT app players in the market and learn the tactics of video marketing.
There are many OTT solution providers you can look at for your OTT app requirements. Some offer good pricing but not many features, while others provide great features at a price.
If you’re an independent content creator looking to build an OTT app for your video business with limited resources, Ventuno offers an affordable plan to beat your competition.
Looking to launch your own streaming service?
Anjana Devi
