Streaming Wars : The Case For Advertising on SVOD Services

The ‘streaming wars’ are well and truly here, with Apple TV+ launched last week and Disney+ just weeks away.

And with the market growing increasingly crowded, discussion around potentially advertising on these platforms won’t go away.

As it stands now, on-demand streaming services Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, hayu, Apple TV+ and Stan all serve their content advertising free.

This means the prices range from around $7 to $20 per month, depending on the package.

But according to Criteo commercial director Colin Barnard, the market is in need of an ad-supported model.

“I don’t see why you wouldn’t have a combination of free, lower-price and full-price models with the level of advertising shown relating to the price that you pay,” he told B&T.

He pointed to Netflix’s audio-based cousin Spotify, which has enjoyed success through deploying an ad-supported model.

“Wherever you have users’ attention you can expect that an ad-funded model could exist,” he said.

“For instance a basic Spotify membership is free, supported by ads. For an ad-free experience, you pay for that. At the cinema, you pay to see the film but you will still see ads. YouTube has a free and paid service, so why wouldn’t this extend to SVOD providers.”

The case for advertising on SVOD platforms was recently given a boost, with Deloitte releasing new figures which showed 54 per cent of those aged 15 to 29 and half of those aged 30 to 35 would be willing to watch ads on a streaming service if they got a large discount on the subscription cost.

“What we must remember is that younger generations like Millennials, who grew up during a time of technological disruption, and Gen Z, who have never lived in a non-digital world, have become increasingly desensitised to advertisements,” Barnard commented.

“For instance, Criteo’s study found that 48 per cent of consumers value ads that help them discover new products. On the other hand, a further 55 per cent said that they turn off when they see ads of products they’re not interested in.

“What this tells us is that while the younger generations are willing to watch ads, streaming services must ensure that these ads are hyper-relevant to create cut-through.”

If a service like Netflix is to go down the advertising path, it is important that it gets it right, argued Barnard.

“Introducing ads on streaming services would open a whole new world of opportunities for digital media and marketing professionals, not to mention a healthy stream of revenue considering the amount of streaming services available today,” he said.

“On the other hand, consumers, particularly Millennials and Gen Z, are demanding more from ads. They’re looking for relevant, non-intrusive ads and a seamless user experience, and are no longer accepting ads that don’t fit these demands.”

This article and cited credit goes to:

https://www.bandt.com.au/netflix-streaming-ads/

What are the Different Types of Content for Content Marketing?

The terms "content," "content marketing," "content marketing strategy," "content marketing plan," and other phrases with similar vocabulary are everywhere. They appear in pieces talking about how to establish your brand's presence, build a following, have a successful startup, and just get your brand name known in your market. However, there's a problem. 

Well, probably several problems, but one overarching one we'll discuss here. These words are simply being confused and incorrectly used. Let's begin with some simple definitions:

Content marketing is a strategy. It's a plan for how you're going to use the content you create to market your company's product or service.

Marketing is not a thing, it's an activity. 

Content is the thing you are using to enable the action of marketing.

A content marketing strategy or plan includes platform selection and content type selection. You put the things—the pieces of content—in a channel or on a platform. The action you take is the placement of the pieces of content on the platforms. All of these things and actions together equal your content marketing strategy.

You can discuss, assess, and decide between short-form content like Twitter or Instagram and long-form content like case studies and ebooks. You can discuss, assess, and decide between video, still images, infographics, and blog posts. You can consider various downloadables; a category that includes ebooks, white papers, and case studies, all of which are typically longer and are useful when you want the content to be portable.

In deciding what content you want to create you have to consider what the content is, who is it for, and where will you put it.

You can create an infographic for an audience that likes information in small chunks. You can post it to Facebook, adding a poll to up the engagement. You can put it on your blog and link to it from Twitter. You can share it on Instagram or make a PDF version available as gated content and associate that with a post on the same topic. For people who want more information, you can create longer content (bigger than an average blog post), publish it on your blog, then have your CEO publish it on their LinkedIn page.

Everything you create can be used on various platforms and reconfigured for specific audiences. It's all part of your content marketing strategy. You can increase conversions and build your brand by providing useful content to educate your potential audience members on how your products/services can effectively address their pain points and challenges.

When you hear about how Social Media is something you have to consider in developing your content marketing plan, you might get the impression that social media is a single thing you must conquer. In reality, it's a collection of vastly divergent platforms that appeal to different audiences. Each platform has its own set of content types that perform best. It's all about engaging individuals, creating a trigger that sends them to your landing page, blog, or some other specific page to get more information.

When you realize over 3.7 billion people use social media around the world it's easy to see why there's so much invested in social media content marketing. What follows is a brief tour of platforms with an idea of what each particular audience looks like. (Source)

• 68% of adults use Facebook; its audience represents a majority of all age ranges except over 65.

• 35% of adults use Instagram; this audience skews to the younger ages, appealing to teens and young adults with its straightforward, photo-centric design and ease of use.

• 24% of adults use Twitter; it has become a platform for brands to use for social customer service, and it also skews to the younger age ranges.

• 25% of adults use LinkedIn; this is the number one platform for B2B social media marketing, it caters to professional networking and the majority of its users are college graduates.

• 29% of adults use Pinterest; this visual search engine has created its own revolution in online shopping, it has a base across all ages, and is particularly popular with younger users.

• 27% of adults use Snapchat; however, it has recently been outshined by Instagram Stories.

Specific Content Types

When creating specific types of content, you have to know who your audience is (personas are useful here), and what they are looking for. You also need to research how each type of persona prefers to consume content. You want to present relevant useful information to build your reputation as a knowledgeable voice in your industry niche. You are laying the foundation that will make you the place all these potential customers return to when it's time to purchase.

So what are some of these content types?

Blogs

Here is where you share information with customers and target audiences, whether educational, customer-related, or product-related. Depending on the goal of your blog you can share links to your social media pages, link to partners' websites and products, link to other posts, or write about your product line.

Blogs are one of the best ways to improve SEO and drive more traffic to your site. A Forbes report found that when websites include a blog, they typically have 434% more indexed pages than those that don't. This means they have a greater chance of being on the top of SERPs when searches are done for particular keywords.

The more valuable content you provide, the more likely your target audience will consider your brand when it's time to buy. Do the research and see what's being typed into search engines to find brands like yours. Consider what topics or questions are relevant and create blog content around these subjects.

Podcasts

This popular content is convenient because it can be enjoyed while taking a break or while on the go. Use a podcast to give the audience useful, thought-provoking information. You can also improve brand awareness, build relationships with audience members, and promote products, services, and partners. Remember it's not a sales pitch, it's offering valuable content to the audience.

Video

Video marketing can boost conversions, improve ROI, help build relationships with audience members, and recent HubSpot research found over 50% of consumers say they want to see videos from brands they interact with. You can post video content to social media platforms, site pages, or on partners' websites. Use it to expand your reach across different media platforms.

In designing video content be sure to consider what types of content will most appeal to your audience based on what stage in the marketing process they are at.

For example, when consumers are in the awareness stage of their marketing they may find short, attention-grabbing informational videos most engaging. How-to videos and product demos can be useful in helping consumers in the decision stage make their purchasing decisions.

If you're intimidated by using video in  you marketing efforts, fear not! We wrote an entire post about it, and you can find it here.

Case Studies

Here you are telling customer stories to illustrate how your brand helped a specific customer/client be successful. It's a good way to highlight special applications or uses for your services and products. This type of content helps your audience better understand how your brand can add value to their business. Real-life examples help build trust with people learning about your products and services.

Try to include customers who will not only give permission to tell their story but also provide quotes and statistics to illustrate just how helpful your business has been to them.

eBooks

Remember these are not 5-10 page ads. You want to provide useful information and insight to your target audience that addresses their needs and challenges. It's not about selling, it's about building a relationship. You're earning their trust so they come to you when it's time to purchase.

Ebooks are typically gated content, which means folks provide contact information in exchange for the download. These leads will prove valuable and provide an attractive ROI for your efforts. Remember, some of your other types of content (e.g. blog posts) can often be repackaged as eBooks.

White Papers

White papers are an additional long-form type of content that can be effective as a lead magnet. If you compare a white paper to an ebook the white paper is more information-dense, data-driven, and detail-focused. This is one of the best types of content for marketing in the B2B sphere. It helps you build thought leadership and gain respect within your industry. If you want to collect lead information be sure to gate your white papers.

Checklists

Here you create a list of things to do in a step-by-step process to enable a particular desired outcome. These are good content for small businesses since they are relatively easy to create and they provide significant value for the target audience.

Pick a relevant topic and after you've created a checklist you can share it on social media or include it in a blog post. The more you share and repurpose the checklist content, the more value your business accrues.

Infographics

Many people want their content in a picture with fewer words and with attractive graphics. Infographics display information and data in an easy to understand format. You effectively communicate your content with a mix of simple wording, short statements, and clear images. This works particularly well if you're trying to distill an educational or complex topic so any audience member will understand it.

Infographics help you educate your audience while providing useful information. This format helps viewers better visualize data like statistics so they can more readily see why something is valuable, or to see how something works. It's a good way to convey a large amount of information quickly to appeal to all the visual learners in your audience.

This type of content is not meant to be scientifically precise because it is not a deep dive.

Conclusion: Content Marketing Takes Many Forms

Be sure to do you research to figure out what kind of content your target audience is most likely to consume, and where they are most likely to consume it. Then, you'll be well on your way to infusing that

content in effective ways through your marketing strategy!

This article and cited credit goes to:

https://blog.aspiration.marketing/different-types-of-marketing-content

What is OTT vs. CTV?

Technology has changed how everything works, including how television operates. When watching the television through the internet was once thought of as impossible. It’s now something that most people can’t live without.

Most people have now ditched the TV shows and are now watching internet bound TV. 

What is OTT?

Over-the-top (OTT), is the video content that is served over all kinds of devices including the traditional closed TVs. When using OTT, users don’t need to pay a TV cable company to watch contents, as most of it is accessible through the internet.

Besides watching the content through a TV, mobile, or laptop that’s connected to the Internet, users can also use OTT boxes or streaming devices (e.g. Chromecast, Amazon Fire sticks, Roku box, smart TVs, Apple TVs). These boxes or sticks act as a hub, where people can connect to OTT services and function as a mini-computer with all the required specifications, applications, and connections to watch video contents.

OTT boxes are available in many retail shops, and established corporations like Amazon even have theirs over the top boxes. Then there is also the use of game consoles e.g. Xbox, Sony Playstation where they can be connected to the TVs to stream contents too. Essentially, the former and latter are collectively known as “OTT devices“.

As technologies improve or new ones emerge, the term “OTT” has since evolved to refer to streaming media services that offer videos and other digital contents to any devices including TVs that are or capable of being connecting to the Internet, thus bypassing the traditional cable, broadcast, and satellite television platforms.

The Benefits of OTT

• You reach many people. Viewers watch most ads almost to completion

• 100% viewability. All advertisements run full screen meaning 100% of pixels are in view. This eliminates below the fold ads of other media channels.

• Brands safety with ads delivered on-demand, or during live TV, viewers are reached across reliable networks and popular content.

What is CTV?

CTV/OTT are two terms typically mentioned together and often confused.

Connected TV (CTV), as an encompassing term refers to TVs that are capable of connecting to the Internet to access contents beyond what a cable or broadband provider offers. For that reason, besides smart TVs or IPTVs which are inherently capable of connecting to the Internet, CTVs therefore include OTT devices which are connected to traditional TVs, enabling the TV now being able to connect to the Internet.

OTT contents therefore can now be delivered through CTVs and other popular devices such as mobile phones, ipad/tablets, computers.

The Benefits of CTV

• CTV helps you in reaching customers you can’t reach without using traditional TV commercials. 

• Great targeting capabilities. When using connected TV audience targeting, you can be certain that a huge part of your investment is being used to reach your valuable and potential customers.

• It’s quantifiable. It’s possible to measure the results you’re getting from your campaigns with both traditional and digital metrics. This includes video completion rates. And the buyer’s journey, from when they see your ad to when they make a purchase.

• Expanding your audience. By using CTV, you get a chance to advertise your products to millennials, who are no longer watching traditional TV.

Are CTV and OTT the Future of Advertising?

OTT is delivered through CTV. In fact, OTT and traditional TV have a very close relationship. The only difference is that OTT uses the internet, and is a bit cheaper. 

Like other advertisement channels, OTT displays ads at the beginning, middle, or end of an advert. Most users prefer having an advertisement in the middle of a program.

Some marketers believe that CTV is the future of advertisement. This is because you can notice the Connected TV and OTT gadgets everywhere. And many countries continue to adopt Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, and other streaming services.

Take Away

The OTT and CTV ads are significantly growing and becoming popular among advertisers. It helps in reaching a vast and targeted audience, which increases your chance of getting more sales.

Who knows? The traditional TV may even become distinct in the coming years. 

 This article and cited credit goes to:

https://www.knorex.com/blog/articles/what-is-ott-vs-ctv

Top 5 VOD Platforms for Online Video Hosting in 2020

Video On Demand, or VOD, is exploding. More and more people want to watch their online videos when and wherever they desire. One recent report found video viewing on VOD platforms “[is] up 155% year-over-year, with an average viewing time of 17.1 minutes per session.”

Businesses are taking advantage of this. The video streaming market is predicted to be worth $30.6 billion by 2022. 

Relatedly, video monetization is a key part of many modern business strategies. With a variety of methods available (including SVOD, TVOD, and AVOD), monetization becomes a breeze.

Today, we will review the top 5 VOD platforms for online video hosting. We’ll compare them on a feature-by-feature basis and discuss different plans and pricing options.

Table of Contents:

• Top 5 VOD Platforms for Video Hosting

  • Dacast

  • IBM Cloud Video

  • Kaltura

  • Muvi

  • Wistia

• Conclusion

We have rounded up the top five online video hosting platforms for VOD so that you can review their pricing and features.

Please keep in mind that not every broadcaster needs every tool or feature. The most important thing to consider when choosing a VOD hosting platform is whether or not it has the features you need to reach your broadcasting goals.

With this in mind, let’s dive into the top VOD video on demand platform providers for video hosting.

Top 5 VOD Platforms for Video Hosting

1. Dacast

Dacast is a professional VOD platform with a variety of advanced online video hosting

features. These advanced features include video monetization, top-notch security, video API global video delivery, and top-tier CDN video delivery. 

Although this hosting and video on demand platform provider is loaded with so many powerful features, Dacast manages to keep prices extremely competitive. 

It is best suited for enterprise business and other professional organizations that aim to host high-quality video broadcasts, both live and on demand.

Video Encoding

• Support for multiple encoding bitrates

• Adaptive video on demand player: delivers best video quality automatically

• Cloud transcoding: simply and easily encode videos into multiple bitrates

• Supports multi-bitrate live streaming, the HTML5 video player automatically detects varying bitrates of your live stream

Video Hosting and Library Organization

• VOD hosting and live streaming

• Content management with categories, subcategories, and tags for organization

• Video channel playlists

• Includes China video hosting

Uploading / Migration

• Bulk upload tool

• Dropbox upload

• Video library migration

• 24/7 technical support included on all plans

Video Monetization

• Integrated white-label paywall built-in

• Pay-per-view (TVOD) support

• Subscriptions (SVOD) support

• Advertising (AVOD) support

• Coupon codes and packages to sell bundled content

API and Security Features

• Full video API included with premium plans (event, scale and above)

• SDKs for iOS and Android development

• Password-protected live streaming

• AES encryption and/or DRM

• Domain restrictions

• IP restrictions

• HTTPS delivery

Pricing

• Developer plan: $21/month, includes 100 GB bandwidth, 20 GB of storage

• Scale plan: $188/month, includes 2,000 GB bandwidth, 1000 GB of storage as well as all professional features

• Event plan: $63/month, includes 6,000 GB bandwidth, 10 GB of storage as well as all professional features

More on all our live streaming pricing plans, advanced video hosting, and other custom options here.

2. IBM Cloud Video

As a massive corporation, IBM provides a sprawling video service. Their VOD solution, IBM Cloud Video, is packed with features. 

However, the expansive nature of the platform is a double-edged sword since it can be hard to navigate. 

IBM Cloud Video is an excellent platform for large organizations with expert broadcasters.

Video Encoding

• Support for multiple bitrates

• Adaptive video player: delivers best video quality automatically

• Cloud encoding: simply and easily transcode videos into multiple bitrates

• Live transcoding

Video Hosting and Library Organization

• VOD hosting and live streaming

• Categories and subcategories for organization

• Tags for further sub-organization

• Hong Kong (China) video hosting

• Custom metadata fields

• Playlists

Uploading / Migration

• Video library migration: available for an additional fee via professional services.

• Phone technical support available

Video Monetization

• Subscriptions (SVOD) support (only with custom enterprise plans)

• Subscriber management tools

API and Security Features

• Full video API included

• SDKs for iOS and Android development

• Password-protected videos

• AES encryption and/or DRM

• Domain restrictions

• IP restrictions

• HTTPS delivery

IBM Cloud Video Limitations

• No SSL secure paywall built-in

• No pay-per-view (TVOD) or advertising (AVOD) support

• Bulk upload tool and Dropbox upload are NOT included

Pricing

• Basic plan: $99 to $999/month

• Custom plans for businesses: Custom pricing

3. Kaltura

Another large VOD hosting platform comes from Kaltura. Kaltura takes an entirely customized approach to video. Since it is customizable, the platform offers a lot of flexibility. 

Kaltura is best for enterprise businesses and other large organizations. Their prices are not published on their website, but users have reported that Kaltura’s software comes with a hefty price tag.

Video Encoding

• Support for multiple bitrates

• Adaptive video player: delivers best video quality automatically

• Cloud encoding: simply and easily transcode videos into multiple bitrates.

• Support for transcoding from unusual and proprietary codecs(e.g. GoToMeeting).

Video Hosting and Library Organization

• VOD hosting and live streaming

• Categories and subcategories for organization

• Tags for further sub-organization

• Playlists

Uploading / Migration

• Bulk upload tool 

• Custom XML/CSV upload tool supports offline metadata editing

Video Monetization

Kaltura only allows monetization with external integrations.

API and Security Features

• Full video API included

• SDKs for iOS and Android development

• Password-protected videos

• AES encryption and/or DRM

• Domain restrictions

• IP restrictions

• HTTPS delivery

Kaltura Limitations

• No SSL secure paywall built-in

• No pay-per-view (TVOD), subscriptions (SVOD) or advertising (AVOD) support

• Do dropbox upload or video library migration

Pricing

• All plans: no pricing information available. As a result, users must negotiate all plans on a custom basis with Kaltura.

4. Muvi

Muvi

is a feature-rich, flexible video platform. If you need high-end features and have a large budget, Muvi could be right for you. 

Muvi’s most popular feature is its wide range of monetization tools. This is appealing to organizations who set out to make money on their video content with ads, subscriptions, or pay-per-view models.

Video Encoding

• Support for multiple bitrates

• Adaptive video player: delivers best video quality automatically

• Cloud encoding: simply and easily transcode videos into multiple bitrates

• Automatic transcoding with support up to 4K resolution

Video Hosting and Library Organization

• VOD hosting and live streaming

• Categories and subcategories for organization

• Tags for further sub-organization

• Playlists

• 24/7 support available for high-end customers

Uploading / Migration

• Bulk upload tool

• Dropbox upload

• Video library migration

• Support for audio and image files in addition to video

Video Monetization

• SSL secure paywall built-in

• Pay-per-view (TVOD) support

• Subscriptions (SVOD) support

• Advertising (AVOD) support

• Customer loyalty program (allow your viewers to redeem points for free content)

API and Security Features

• Full video API included

• SDKs for iOS and Android development 

• AES encryption and/or DRM

• Domain restrictions

• IP restrictions

• HTTPS delivery

Muvi Limitations

• No password protection for videos

• High price point

Pricing

• Basic plan: $399/month and up

• Professional plan: $1,499/month and up

• Enterprise plan: $3,900/month and up

5. Wistia

Wistia

is a VOD-only platform that has a main focus on marketing. It includes some excellent and unique features, such as “heat maps” analytics. 

SinceWistia is a more specialized platform, it does not include all of the great features that are included with the other VOD platforms we’ve covered. It has quite a few limitations, and it may not be ideal for all users. 

Video Encoding

• Support for multiple bitrates

• Adaptive video player: delivers best video quality automatically

• Cloud encoding: simply and easily transcode videos into multiple bitrates.

Video Hosting and Library Organization

• VOD hosting, but no live streaming

• Categories and subcategories for organization

• Tags for further sub-organization

• Playlists

• Powerful analytics tool with heat maps

• Unique “project” organizational structure

Uploading / Migration

• Bulk upload tool

• Dropbox upload

Video Monetization

Wistia does not offer any native monetization features, but you can integrate external paywalls.

API and Security Features

• Full video API included

• Password-protected videos

• Domain restrictions

• HTTPS delivery

Wistia Limitations

• No video library migration

• No SSL secure paywall built-in

• No pay-per-view (TVOD) support

• No subscriptions (SVOD) support

• No advertising (AVOD) support

• No SDKs for iOS and Android development

• No AES encryption and/or DRM

• No IP restrictions

Pricing

• Basic plan: $99/month for 10 videos

• Premium plan: $399/month for 100 videos

Conclusion:

There are a lot of great VOD hosting

platforms on the market today, but these video on demand platform providers differ in both features and pricing.

Take a moment to consider your target audience and what sort of content you plan to deliver to them. The platform you choose should depend on what features you need to reach your broadcasting goals. 

If you are getting started in the world of professional broadcasting, we recommend taking advantage of Dacast’s 30-day free trial to get a better feel for all of the amazing features.

When you’re ready, just click the button below to sign up and check it out.

This article and cited credit goes to:

https://www.dacast.com/blog/top-5-vod-platforms-online-video-hosting/

How Repurposing Content Can Help Maximize Demand Gen Results

Want to make the most out of your content marketing investment? Then consider repurposing your old content.

Maximizing your existing content can make a lasting impact – all while streamlining your content creation, gathering audience data, and saving resources.

On November 6, I moderated a sponsored Search Engine Journal webinar presented by Corinne Schmid, VP of Marketing at ScribbleLive.

Schmid shared how repurposing content can help your marketing team maximize demand generation results while saving time and money.

The CMI’s latest demand generation report reveals that this year, 71% of marketers are looking to use their demand generation content to nurture leads in the middle of the sales cycle.

This isn’t really surprising because we know that in marketing, we spend a lot of resources producing top of funnel content to drive the pipeline.

There’s the traditional notion of handoff to sales in the middle of the funnel – that conversion point – all the way to the close.

Now the challenge with this is because we know that buyers are increasingly expecting more of a self-service purchasing model and that includes our information needs.

B2B customers today progress more than 70% of the way through the decision-making process before ever engaging a sales representative.

This means that marketing is expected to look further downstream on how their top of funnel content can be used to feed the mid-to-late funnel.

Inherently, that has issues of its own because buyers are more sophisticated along the journey.

A cool teaser message or some form of snackable, micro-content that you use on Instagram or LinkedIn simply isn’t going to work mid-funnel.

The question now becomes:

How can marketing continue to drive pipeline and produce net-new content that nurtures leads throughout and further down into the middle and late stages of the sales cycle without the scope overwhelming your team, your budget, and your resources?

What Is Premium Content & How Can It Impact Your Demand Gen Cycle?

To get the most out of your content, it needs to:

• Be useful.

• Resonate.

• Be action-driven.

We look at premium content as:

Visual & Video

Top of funnel visual and video content needs to be attractive, snackable, and easy to digest.

When it comes to further mid-funnel, it needs to be:

• More informative.

• Have more relevant and meaningful information that is specific to the buyer persona.

Interactive

Whether it’s a solution finder, an assessment or an ROI calculator, interactive content has been considered 300% more effective and shown to convert two times more than static content.

It also drives the collection of zero-party data.

Experiences & Events

Live events, whether they’re in-person or virtual, provides rare one-to-one interaction opportunity with your customers and prospects.

When you combine interactive elements with these live events, it gives you the opportunity to:

• Engage with your audience at scale.

• Capture valuable data.

• Use this information for follow-up and engagement cadence beyond the event.

Tips for Creating Premium Content

In order to create premium content, you need to:

Know your audience – and who influences them along the path to purchase.

When you’re creating any piece of content, you need to understand:

• Who the audience is.

• How they make a purchase decision.

This is important because it’s not an isolated event. You need to understand your primary buyer persona as well as the buying center profiles.

For instance in B2B, your primary buyer persona could be a digital marketer but let’s say IT, finance, and legal also need to be involved in signing off on the deal.

In that case, creating useful, action-driven content that resonates with each of these buyers is going to be a necessity. The infographic that engaged the digital marketer might not work with the head of security and IT for sign-off.

This is where understanding all of the different players in the buying center, their specific information needs, and when they’re engaging in that buying cycle will be really important.

Take inventory of existing content assets – beyond marketing.

Marketers often do audits of existing content assets within their own team, but very rarely actually look beyond to see the wealth of assets that are within sales, pre-sales, product teams, engineering, customer success, and services groups

Collect declared data.

If you’re impacted by privacy compliance regulations such as GDPR, it’s increasingly harder to get information and data on your customers.

One of the things you can look at is the notion of collection zero-party data or declared data. This is the information that is:

• Explicitly given by a consumer or a prospect with consent.

• Obtained by asking them specific or direct questions through offline channels (i.e., interviews, focus groups) or digitally through (web forms or interactive experiences).

Declared data is the gold standard for gleaning insights into your buyers’ intent rather than relying on the inferred information that you’re potentially purchasing from third parties.

What’s notable here is that when you’re collecting declared data, it has the exponential value for creating and repurposing content that you can use then further downstream.

Case Study: Repurposing Content

As ScribbleLive was planning for its largest event – and biggest spend – of the year, they looked at how they can make the most out of the program to impact more buyers throughout the funnel.

They decided that adding interactivity to the show was the way to go. The event gathered close to 4,000 prospective buyers under one roof.

But the challenge was: how would they be able to glean and extract data from their top of funnel audience in order to repurpose that for mid and late funnel?

To maximize the results with a full-circle experience, they considered:

• Who is the audience?

• What assets can be repurposed?

• How can data be collected to better enable sales?

They decided to focus on collecting declared data by:

• Refreshing an interactive solution assessment.

• Offering a free etch-a-sketch.

In turn, they received hundreds of completed assessments and were able to create and repurpose some reporting for mid-funnel engagement.

When it came to the follow-up:

• They included a link to the assessment to share.

• Sales development reps followed up with relevant talking points: They were able to have more relevant conversations since they have information on the specific things that were more important for a particular group.

• SDRs followed up with relevant content assets based on their pain points: It also allowed them to produce interesting post-show assets.

How You Can Repurpose Your Content

If you’re looking to follow a similar approach, here are a few things you can do to repurpose your content:

• An ebook or landing page by industry can address some of their specific paint points.

• Videos: Consider a “how-to” video on a certain topic that your audience is indicating an interest in.

• An infographic is great for illustrating the data you’ve collected.

Tips for Gathering Data & Evaluating Your Content

• Pay close attention to where the typical user has dropped off, and use that information to create an A/B test.

• Evaluate your engagement points for future use by recognizing trends.

• Learn from these metrics to continually improve with each new piece of content.

With more relevant info, your sales team can follow up with more relevant content, like:

• Sending an invite to a webinar.

• Creating a resource library.

• Sharing a Q&A or a blog post.

Summary

Here is what’s important to keep in mind:

• Know your buying center, not just a single persona.

• Take inventory of assets – beyond marketing.

• Collect declared data.

• Repurpose declared data:

  • For top to mid-funnel content development.

  • To provide sales with insights.

This article and cited credit goes to:

https://www.searchenginejournal.com/repurposing-content-demand-gen/334893/

CREATIVE CONTENT: WHAT IT IS, WHY YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS IT, & WHERE TO GET IT

No matter how great your product or service is, it won’t sell itself. To entice potential customers, you’ll need to know how to get people’s attention. You’ll also need to know how to sell your brand as an experience, not just a two-dimensional logo attached to your product. Experiences have the power to make people want to get involved with your brand; they also create strong first impressions and lasting memories.

Along with excellent SEO practices and the use of buzz-generators (like local events and social media campaigns), one of the best ways to shape an immersive experience around your brand is creative content. Creative content is an umbrella term that’s used to describe the various forms of enriched multimedia that should form a core part of your online presence and marketing strategy. Some of the most important types of creative content are outlined below:

1. PHOTOGRAPHY.

One of the biggest mistakes many fledgling businesses make is using generic stock photography on their website, along with amateur photos of their products. The main problem with this approach is that almost every other small business is using it, too, so it’s basically the fastest way to blend into the crowd. Using generic photography also detracts from consumer trust, because consumers can’t get to know you unless they can see you—As in, professional images of your actual premises, staff, etc.

Professional product photography is also absolutely essential to selling certain types of product. Food photography, for example, can make or break a restaurant or catering business. According to research conducted by the Max Planck Institute, looking at well-shot images of food (like those found on the website of Toronto cafe Sweet a la Mode) causes a surge in the “hunger hormone” ghrelin, literally making people crave the food pictured. Poorly shot images of food can, however, have the opposite effect.

Pairing professional images with text will also make your content more memorable as a whole. Most people recall just 10% of plain text content three days after reading it. When that content is paired with an image, however, the three-day recall rate suddenly jumps to 65%.

2. GRAPHIC DESIGN.

Graphic design is the foundation of any memorable brand image. Logo design, header design, font choice, and other graphical elements should be used harmoniously to create a consistent “look and feel” across your website, social media profiles, and traditional print advertisements.

Good graphic design doesn’t just look attractive: It should also make use of specific colours, shapes, and layouts to evoke brand-specific emotions. Bright, vibrant hues (like orange and red) and strong, bold shapes, for example, convey a sense that your business is dynamic, energetic, and all about making an impact. Cool colours (like blue or soft mauve) and delicate lines can let your customers know that you’re there to make their lives more tranquil and elegant. A great creative agency will take the time to get to know you—what you do and what you stand for—and incorporate those ideas as themes throughout their graphical work.

For a complete run-down on why graphic design is so essential to the success of small businesses, check out our article: 5 Reasons Graphic Design is More Important to Your Business Than You Think.

3. VIDEO.

Video is big—very big. According to Cisco, video will account for 82% of all internet traffic by 2021, and it already accounts for about 73%. For the sake of exposure alone, your business should therefore be producing regular video content.

In order to be effective, your videos will need to serve as much more than simple advertisements. Consumers primarily use videos as a source of information, so don’t make the mistake of thinking all you’ll have to do is let them know your business exists. The best videos are those that explain how your products work and show consumers what they can be used for (think “DIY” tutorials). Over 50% of consumers actually go out of their way to look for “explainer” videos about products when they’re planning to make a purchase. (Google)

4. BLOG CONTENT.

Most people already know that blogging is great for search engine optimization, but it’s also an integral brand-builder. When you blog, you give consumers a sense of your “voice,” purpose, and specific niche within your industry. You also build your brand authority by showing that you’re knowledgeable and passionate about what you do.

Blog posts are extremely “shareable,” too. If your content is well-written, people looking to enrich their social media feeds will be more than happy to post it to their followers. This could be why businesses who blog receive, on average, 126% more new leads than businesses who don’t blog. Research by Social Marketing also shows that 70% of customers learn about new businesses through blog posts, not traditional advertising. (Thrive Hive.)

WHERE TO GET CREATIVE CONTENT

Hiring an in-house photographer, graphic designer, video editor, writer, etc., is simply impractical for most small businesses. Fortunately, there’s a budget-friendly solution available in the form of creative agencies like Toronto’s AllinBrand. Creative agencies employ all of these skilled professionals so that you don’t have to, connecting you with diverse bespoke services at an affordable rate. Creative agencies will also help you craft a comprehensive marketing plan. This way, you’ll be able to rest assured that you’re getting a great return on your creative content investment.

Have any questions about creative content that weren’t answered in this article? Feel free to contact us; we’ll be happy to shed more light on what we do and why it matters.

This article and cited credit goes to:

https://allinbrand.com/creative-content-what-it-is-why-your-business-needs-it-where-to-get-it/

OTT Video dacast: The Ultimate Guide for Professional Broadcasters

Over-the-top (OTT)  video is the biggest trend in professional content delivery. By the millions, people are ditching their cable subscriptions and moving to online content delivery. 

Millions of Americans are “cutting the cord,” meaning won’t subscribe to a cable by next year. Instead, they are accessing video content, including movies, television series, documentaries, news and talk shows, over the internet.

Broadcasters are taking advantage of this trend by delivering their video content via OTT technology.

Today, we’re going to cover what exactly OTT video is and how to monetize OTT video. We will break down the methods and best practices of OTT video monetization.

Table of Contents:

• What is OTT Video?

• How to Monetize OTT Video Content

• Monetizing Both Live and On-Demand Video

  • Monetizing with Ads (AVOD)

  • Monetizing with Pay-Per-View (TVOD)

  • Monetizing with Subscriptions (SVOD)

• Best Practices for Over-the-Top Video

• Conclusion 

What is OTT Video?

Over-the-top (OTT) video is a method of broadcasting that transmits video content over the internet. OTT video is a modern alternative to traditional methods of broadcasting, including satellite and cable.

The benefit of OTT video is that viewers can easily access videos from any device with an internet connection, such as smart TVs, smartphones, tablets, laptops, and more. This eliminates the need for a mess of cords and bulky hardware.

Some examples of services that use OTT technology to deliver their video content include Hulu, Netflix, Prime Video, and Disney+.

Since OTT streaming is becoming more and more popular, there are endless possibilities for professional content creators and broadcasters who want to monetize OTT streaming services of their own.

How to Monetize OTT Video Content

To begin monetizing OTT video, you need to choose an online video platform that is equipped with the appropriate monetization features.

That’s where a service like Dacast comes in. Our OVP makes it easy to upload, stream, host, deliver, and monetize video content worldwide.

Once you’ve chosen an online video platform, monetizing becomes easy. All that it takes is enabling certain settings in your account options, configuring monetization settings for each video, and adding a payment option so you can collect your money with ease.

Monetizing Both Live and On-Demand Video

OTT mostly revolves around video on demand (VOD), meaning viewers pay for access to a specific video or library of content that has been pre-recorded and uploaded. 

While the majority of OTT video content is VOD, live streams are also often delivered with  OTT technology. Premiers, award shows, and sporting events are especially popular.

It’s absolutely possible to monetize both live and on-demand video content. In fact, there are three major OTT video monetization methods that professional broadcasters use. These include AVOD, SVOD, and TVOD.

1. Monetizing with Ads (AVOD)

The most common monetization model is advertising. This monetization model has been used in traditional television for decades, and it has only gotten better with the advance of OTT video streaming. 

YouTube’s ad-based monetization model is a perfect example of this method. Rather than paying cash for access to videos, users spend about 10 seconds of their time viewing an ad that is paid for by a sponsor.

Advertising can be a lucrative source of income, but that requires attracting a large viewership. 

The best ad-supported programs tailor their advertising to the target audience via keywords or custom selection. Most OVPs such as Dacast allow integration with standard video ad services such as VAST. 

However, don’t forget about sponsorships and direct advertising. It may be more lucrative for you to reach out to specific businesses in your industry to offer them the opportunity to reach your niche audience.

2. Monetizing with Pay-Per-View (TVOD)

Another method of monetization for OTT video is transactional. In other words, viewers pay for each program that they choose to access. This is most commonly called “pay-per-view.”

This is the model followed by iTunes. It is very straight forward. If you want to rent or buy a specific movie or episode, you pay for that specific piece of content and nothing more.

Like AVOD, this model can be extremely lucrative. As long as your audience is highly motivated to watch your videos, you can generate significant income via transactional video monetization.

Online video platforms typically offer an integrated system for transactional video access. Dacast, for example, uses a payment system that allows viewers to purchase video content via a secure paywall that is integrated into the video player. 

3. Monetizing with Subscriptions (SVOD)

The third major monetization model for OTT video is subscriptions. Netflix is the most common example of this model. Basically, you pay a regular fee and gain unlimited access to a library of video content.

Video platforms may integrate subscription payments into their services, as well. At Dacast, the same paywall used for one-time transactions can handle subscriptions as well. Videos, both live or on-demand, can be accessed via either payment option. 

Please check out the following video to learn how to set up pay-per-view or subscription using Dacast streaming solution.

No matter which method you choose for OTT video monetization, there are some best practices to keep in mind. 

Let’s take a minute to go over a few of the things that you should pay attention to in regards to OTT video monetization.

1. Payment Security

Any time you are dealing with money, you must consider security. Hacking is a common problem, and major retailers lose billions a year to security breaches. Proper threat assessment and mitigation are essential.

For video monetization, that means payment information needs to be encrypted using standard bank-grade practices. This is denoted by HTTPS:// (emphasis on the “s”) in your URL bar. 

Modern browsers typically warn users when they enter payment information on an insecure site. Using an online video platform like Dacast ensures the protection of customer payment details against malicious attacks and interception thanks to industry-standard security measures.

2. Secure Video Delivery

Another element of video security is ensuring the secure delivery of video streams. After all, if you’re monetizing content, you don’t want to make it easy for pirates to intercept, copy and distribute your material.

Prioritize secure video delivery when you choose an online video platform.

A platform like Dacast uses tokenized security to detect and shut down unauthorized video embeds before they can cause damage.

3. Server-Side Ad Insertion

With the proliferation of online advertising, “ad-blockers” are gaining popularity. They’re designed to help people avoid distractions and malware. This ad-blocking software, however, can also infringe on revenues. 

One way to bypass many ad-blockers is to insert ads on the server before the video reaches viewers. This method is rapidly becoming an industry standard and helps you maximize income.

4. Marketing Plans and Pre-Selling

Another essential part of over-the-top video monetization is effective marketing. 

Essentially, it boils down to this: none of the methods above are going to make you any money unless people want to watch your video. You have to bring the people, and then the money will follow. That means marketing.

At the Live Streaming Summit 2015, Dacast Vice President Gregory Ellis said that one of the most important ways to do this was video pre-selling. Start pre-sales of video content at least a month in advance to generate lots of buzz and excitement, not to mention revenue

Conclusion

OTT video is both the present and future of professional broadcasting. We recommend exploring this industry as it continues to grow so that you’ll find yourself at the top as it blooms to its potential.

When it comes to OTT video monetization, you have several routes to take. You can choose an ad-based, subscription or pay-per-view model. 

Figuring out how to use these monetization methods that work well in a multi-device, web-driven ecosystem does not have to be challenging. Having access to the right tools, such as online video platforms, make it easy to monetize content and get your OTT video platform up and running.

Want to test out Dacast’s monetization features before you commit? Take advantage of our free trial and experiment with our paywall and advertisement settings.

To get started, all you have to do is sign up for a Dacast account. No credit card required.

This article and cited credit goes to:

https://www.dacast.com/blog/over-the-top-video/

OTT VS CTV (OVER THE TOP VS CONNECTED TV)

The television industry has changed and is continuing to evolve. Once TV watched through the internet was thought of as impossible has now turned into necessity millions can’t live without. Many have even ditched traditional tv watching and services for strictly internet bound TV. In this article, we’ll look at the evolution that took place by putting further emphasis on OTT and CTV.

HOW IT ALL GOT STARTED AND A FEW STATISTICS

Video content used to be delivered to consumers through cable providers with a box connected to a television. As the world and technology we use evolved, the internet became a big part of our lives and with it, mobile connectivity.

This resulted in content providers such as Hulu and even more popular, Netflix, launching and having a different type of television model. With their business model, users could stream TV shows through the internet on any device connected to the internet. This includes smartphones, tablets, laptops, and connected TVs.

Although different payment models exist (subscription or those that include advertising), the new system goes over the top of the traditional closed TV infrastructure. This is where the term OTT or over the top comes into play.

Further statistics from Emarketer.com paints an interesting picture. In the US people are ditching traditional TV for OTT more each day. They are expecting the number of adults who cancel their TV services for OTT to climb to 33 million in 2018 alone.

For OTT subscriptions they estimate that more than half of the US population will end up subscribing resulting in 170 million viewers.

Here is a visual presentation of forecasted OTT users from Emarketer.

WHAT IS OTT?

So, what does OTT mean? OTT stands for over the top and refers to video content that is served over the traditional closed television system. Using OTT services users don’t need to subscribe or pay a TV cable company to watch video content as most content is served via the internet.

Although a television that is connected to the internet or laptop, mobile phone, etc. can be used to watch over the top TV, OTT TV boxes are also available. These TV boxes serve as a hub for users to connect to OTT services and function as a mini computer with all the needed specifications, connections, and applications to watch over the top TV.

In terms of OTT TV boxes, they are available almost anywhere and big companies like Amazon even have their own version. Apart from general Android OTT TV boxes, a few popular examples exist including the Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Roku and more.

WHAT IS CTV?

CTV stands for connected TV and is just another term for a television that has an ethernet connection or can connect to the internet wirelessly. This definition or group of devices can also in some spectrums include TVs that are used as displays connected to other devices that have internet access.

Ad Exchanger also created an article where they had executives from companies like Roku, Samsung Ads and more talk about the differences between OTT and CTV. Be sure to take a look at that over here.

OTT TV WITH ADS

When thinking of streaming services, Netflix is undoubtedly the one that comes to mind first. However, it’s based on a subscription model, rather than ad model. There are however a few streaming services that make advertising a priority instead of gaining subscriptions.

Hulu is one of them. While they do charge users a subscription fee, some of their price plans show ads while other plans have no commercials. Currently more than half of Hulu’s users watch their content with ads which results in 33 million out of 54 million ad viewing users.

Roku is another company that provides an all in one experience through their OTT TV box. With their hardware, users can connect to multiple TV apps such as Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, YouTube and Roku’s channels. They also show ads and add users to their platform by selling their OTT TV at very low and affordable prices compared to competitors in the market.

Besides these streaming services that include ads, apps for OTT TV boxes and smart TVs that show ads also exist. These include apps like YouTube, Vimeo, and Spotify.

THE OTT/CTV ADVERTISING MARKET. IS IT THE FUTURE?

Keep in mind that OTT content is usually delivered through CTV. Traditional media services are mimicked very much by OTT services but generally at lower costs as it utilizes the internet. Television experiences of OTT vs. traditional are very similar as well.

Some studies conducted have shown that the user is willing to watch a video ad to continue watching content. With the study, Hulu was used, and more than half of the viewers were willing to accept advertisements.

As with most video advertising, OTT ads can be shown before, during or after watching video content. Mid-roll ads seem to be the most acceptable and popular among users.

Some believe that CTV is the future of advertising and they have a few valid reasons to think so. Start by realizing that OTT services and CTV devices are everywhere. Not only that but the adoption of streaming services like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon are huge in the US and continue to grow in other countries as well. It is estimated that by 2020 more than 75% of families will have TVs connected to the internet in the United States.

It’s also great for targeting millennials who love streaming services like Netflix and are getting hard and harder to advertise to.

Users also don’t mind watching ads through CTV as they know and understand that it’s part of the business model. OTT services are also typically much cheaper than traditional TV which further strengthens the reasoning behind showing ads. It automatically makes ads via CTV devices more profitable for advertisers as well.

CONCLUSION

The OTT and CTV industry is continuously evolving and growing. Who knows, in a few years, all traditional television services could become extinct. Whatever happens, it provides an enormous opportunity for publishers creating video content and advertisers looking to reach more users.

To find out how you as a publisher can maximize your ad revenue, contact MonetizeMore for a free consultation today!

This article and cited credit goes to:

https://www.monetizemore.com/blog/ott-vs-ctv/