By Azuan Muda
An over-the-top or OTT application or web-based portal, is a video streaming platform that delivers content to your smartphone, tablet, or smart TV over the internet protocol, rather than traditional analog television, cable TV or satellite. As of 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the demand for OTT content, and unexpectedly streaming operators got caught with a transformation of viewing habits.
The new entrants like Baidu-backed Chinese video streaming giant, iQiyi and Tencent’s WeTV, brought serious competition in the Asian region. As such, operators might need to realign their marketing strategies.
It is important to get the product that fits the right audience to ensure a successful OTT marketing strategy. What is more, understanding of customer behavior and journey is crucial before formulating the strategies.
Marketing Funnel
Visualize yourself as a customer, from the point of awareness to the decision making process. By understanding the stages of the customer journey – awareness, engagements and conversion – you would be able to identify the optimal marketing strategies for any given platform, that is application or web-based portal.
In a nutshell, top of the funnel strategies focus on creating awareness of your brand. The middle of the funnel engages the users who express interest and consider downloading your OTT app. And the bottom of the funnel is where the users make a decision to download or subscribe.
Equally important, you should have in place retention strategies. The after-service is the best avenue to receive feedback from your customers, make improvements and streamlining updates and communication to your customers.
Awareness Phase
The awareness phase is important in building up excitement and the sharing of relevant information about your apps or content release. A successful launch may depend on how well you plan and execute your marketing strategies. It is a no-brainer for the major film studios to release trailers way before the actual release like Marvel Cinematics Universe or MCU’s films. Same goes with your OTT.
The following are some actionable marketing strategies that you could adopt:
Set a release date – The count down to the release date could build up excitement among your potential customers.
Content strategy – You could build up your narrative, some refer to content marketing, to promote your niche offerings.
Outreach strategy – Socially acceptable is becoming a trend nowadays. Collaborating with influencers with your target audience brackets may boost your brand awareness too.
Social media strategy – Building up excitement on TikTok, Instagram and Facebook are paramount. Social media platforms allow you to engage directly with the potential customers and solidify your brand awareness.
Apps Store Optimization – It is advisable to adopt this strategy if you consider the number of apps downloaded as one of the key metrics for your brand.
In conclusion, before developing your OTT marketing strategies, it is a good idea to understand who your potential audiences are. There is no point to market quality content or a platform that doesn’t fit the needs of your target market. Information such as type of devices and which countries your audiences are from may contribute to ensuring your OTT platform is reaching the right audience.
Azuan Muda is co-founding and bootstrapping several media and technology startups on a local and international scale.
