Nikita Agarwal
Listen to this articleWe have come a long way from watching cable TV to streaming videos on OTT platforms like Netflix, Hulu, and Prime Video.
The size of the video streaming industry is expected to reach the 411 million mark by 2022 in the US alone. Clearly, the video streaming business isn’t slowing down anytime soon.
Today, consumers are opting for video content that they can choose and stream on-demand. A subscription video streaming website empowers viewers with the freedom to access a whole library of media and entertainment content at their convenience.
Before we delve into the steps of launching a video subscription business, let’s understand the basics
What Is SVOD?
SVOD, or subscription video on demand, is a business model where users pay a certain monthly or yearly amount for watching premium videos. They get the liberty to watch any of the shows from the large collection of videos at their convenience.
Take Netflix. Netflix is the perfect example of an SVOD business. They have users from 100+ countries and are earning billions in revenue every year.
At Ventuno, we get to work with companies like Simply South that have built a huge community of subscribers. Their subscribers pay a monthly or yearly fee for access to their quality content.
How Does The SVOD Business Model Work?
The accessibility of unique content is of high importance to today’s consumers.
SVOD business models charge a recurring amount (typically monthly, quarterly, or yearly) from users. And since the video content is not downloadable, it assures that the user will keep renewing their subscription.
How to Start a Subscription-based Video Streaming Business?
The good news is that you don’t need to be as big as Amazon or Netflix to succeed in the video streaming business.
A survey revealed that 24% of US households were supplementing a subscription to one of the big streamers with another service in 2019 Q3. This leaves a lot of room for plenty of other video streaming businesses to generate revenue with the right content.
All you need is a minimum of 1000 fans who are ready to pay $5/ month for your content.
Let’s look at the step-by-step guide to help launch a video subscription business.
i. Identify a Niche and Develop a Brand
While you might want to cater to every group of audience, it might not be a smart move.
Establishing a niche for yourself will help you build a successful SVOD service. When you niche own your content, you produce targeted content for your specific audiences. This results in an enhanced user experience, allowing your content to reach more of the right people.
People like brands that give out a clear message. Start by branding your video streaming business. The first thing to do is create a logo and set your brand tone and voice of the website copy.
For example, Simply South is a niche subscription streaming service for Indians who are settled abroad. They get to watch all the latest movies released in India in theatres every Friday at the comfort of their home. And they are ready to pay $5.99/ month for watching these latest premium movies.
Besides, there are certain questions you need to answer if you want viewers to subscribe to your platform. For instance,
What problem are you trying to solve?
What will convince viewers to continue with their subscription?
This will help you better strategize your business launch and guarantee success.
ii. Build a Customized Website and OTT App
The next step is to build a website to showcase your content.
Now there are two ways to do it.
#1: Develop and Design Your Own Website
Having an in-house developer, you can have them create your own video streaming platform. However, this option is only viable if you have a good amount of expertise and resources.
You can even outsource it to a website development agency. They take a one-time development fee for the project. However, the pricing can be on the higher side.
#2: Leverage a Platform Like Ventuno to Build It
Using a SaaS platform like Ventuno, you can get started with a video streaming website immediately. You need no prior coding experience.
Ventuno provides you with ready-made website templates to launch a steam-ready SVOD website. It can be easily customized to fit into your brand’s look and feel.
The next is launching an OTT service. OTT, or Over-The-Top, is a term that describes the distribution of film and TV content delivered through the internet rather than the traditional cable or satellite pay-TV services. You can launch your native apps for platforms such as Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Samsung TV, LG TV, Apple TV, and Android TV.
The OTT Market Is Growing
Millions of people watch videos on their mobile phones, desktops, and smart TV devices. Launching your streaming service can help you tap into this huge user base.
Besides, it gives you the opportunity to know your audience better and create more personalized and relevant content. That’s how Netflix does it.
You can get to know the top 5 videos watched by users in the last 30 days, and send out recommendations for new shows based on their browsing history. It can be quite useful in increasing video views and watch-time.
With Ventuno OTT, you can easily create your own mobile apps for iOS as well as Android and other connected TV apps (Amazon Fire, Roku, etc) with our inbuilt templates.
iii. Build a Video Content Library
You don’t need thousands of videos to launch. You can create them as you grow.
Typically, it is found that starting with at least 100 videos works well for most niches. Customers should feel that they have enough videos to watch when they subscribe to your service so that they think their investment is worthwhile.
That being said, you also need to plan your content. What does it mean?
You need to be clear on different fronts, such as what type of videos you will create to inform or engage with your audience. This is an integral part of your business launch. Your customers need to know what they can expect once they invest in your services.
The next important question is: How often will you launch new videos?
Going forward, you will need a proactive content calendar of new content so that you keep updating your website or OTT app with the latest or fresh videos.
>> Read here: 6 things to consider before you launch an online course
iv. Set a Price for a Subscription Business Plan
Next, you need to set up a price for your SVOD business model. There are a few factors that you need to consider while deciding on the final number.
Consumer’s Expectations
When it comes to pricing, consumers already have a price range in mind while browsing through different streaming services.
You may want to charge on a higher-end to earn more revenue, but the pricing should justify the type of services and content you offer. Otherwise, you might risk churning your customers or may not even acquire new customers in the first place.
Analyze Your Competitors’ Pricing Plans
To begin with, the price may vary based on your niche. Analyze what your competitors in the same niche are charging and their quality of service.
But then again, not all streaming channels are created equally. Consumers are willing to pay more for channels that offer quality content and have the best user interface.
If your content upload is less or infrequent, you would want to lower your subscription rate. So set your price accordingly.
Have a Flexible Plan
You will see how OTT platforms generally offer both monthly and yearly subscription options.
Your loyal fans would be willing to pay upfront if they know they will watch your content. Moreover, when they pay for an annual subscription, they get a discount incentive.
The price for an annual subscription should be lower than what a customer would pay for a monthly fee multiplied by 12. Offering discounts help attract more yearly payments.
v. Ready to Launch
You are on the final step now.
Once you have everything in place, you are ready to launch your brand in the market. You need to start promoting your brand on various social platforms and print media.
Design an effective marketing campaign to spread awareness about your service so that people start subscribing to your service.
Pro tip: You can offer free trials to attract new visitors to your site or app to sign up and explore your content. It will help them get an idea of the content you have to offer.
Conclusion
That’s it. These are the steps you need to take to launch your video subscription business.
After the launch, it’s crucial that you keep track of how your entire video business is doing. With video streaming platforms like Ventuno, you can easily view analytics on different metrics like user watch time, most-watched video, number of subscriptions, churn rate, and more.
What are your thoughts on this article? reach out to us at info@ventunotech.com if you would like to discuss!
Looking to launch your streaming app?
Gokul K
Anjana Devi
