Any business needs improvements to stay in demand among customers and go with the times. The video streaming business is no exception. Luckily, the technology development allows you to add new features that enhance the user experience tremendously, such as a recommendation engine or multiple profiles. However, features can be just a part of the process of enhancing your Video Streaming Service.
Viewers usually crave something new to watch, and content is the first thing they assess when deciding whether to use a streaming service or not. Creating new original videos is also a way to enhance your OTT business and OTT strategy. Let’s observe what you can do to ensure a better quality of Video Streaming Service for your viewers.
4 Things That Can Help You Enhance Your Video Streaming Service
OTT analytics
OTT analytics is a powerful tool for enhancing service, but many businesses don’t track it. They don’t receive such important information. Our message is a kind reminder that it is better to check analytics from time to time. It can provide you with multiple insights into your weak and strong spots. These things can be changed and improved in the service, making it better.
Analytics can help you understand users’ preferences better, content performance, what videos people like to watch, and what videos they skip. Taking this information into consideration can lead to a change in your content strategy and a deeper connection with your viewers.
With analytics, you will also see whether your service has technical issues and troubleshoot them in time, ensuring the best quality of service for your audience.
Analytics data is helpful for creating a content plan, establishing relationships with viewers, and enhancing the quality of service in general. Use it to provide a better experience for customers and boost your OTT monetization.
Transcoding
After you create a video, you usually have one copy in one size. However, all users have different gadgets with various technical requirements for video playback. Since this one video is transmitted to plenty of various devices, it might be played with trouble on some of them.
You can deal with the problem by using a transcoder. Transcoding is the process of creating multiple copies of one video in different sizes so that every device has a suitable video for its requirements. The transcoder makes video suitable for playback on multiple devices. As a result, viewers are able to watch your content on any gadget smoothly.
For example, a smartphone doesn’t need video quality suitable for a Smart TV. It means that you can reduce it so that video loads faster on a user’s mobile phone. As a result, the viewer enjoys an uninterrupted playback.
Video transcoding is a part of adaptive bitrate streaming. It allows you to ensure that the viewer experience is buffer-free since you have multiple versions of a video in various bitrates and resolutions. Users will receive quality videos based on their internet bandwidth and device capabilities.
A recommendation engine
Features boosting user engagement can help you retain customers, engage them with your content, and enhance the service. One such feature is a recommendation engine.
A recommendation engine analyzes the user’s viewing history and provides recommendations based on it. Viewers get a list of videos they might like, which increases their engagement with the service: they dive deeper into your library of videos. Moreover, a recommendation engine saves time otherwise spent searching for a new video to watch.
You can develop such a feature on your own or obtain a solution for video streaming that has it embedded. Choose the option that suits your needs, but remember that a ready-made solution saves you time and money. Although, developing on your own provides more control.
Communication
If you haven’t created an online community around your brand, then maybe, it is time. An online community can help drive traffic to your service, strengthen relationships with customers, and boost revenue.
Let’s clarify a bit. The online community is a space where its members can engage with each other. They are usually built around values, mutual interests, or goals. You should identify your business goals to understand what kind of community it will be.
Online communities are a way to bring your viewers together and encourage connections among them. You create a forum or a profile on social media where people can discuss topics they are interested in, communicate with a brand, learn, collaborate, and so on.
For you as a content provider, the online community can bring multiple advantages as well.
Your viewers can help you identify your weaknesses and strength so that you understand what they like about your service and what they don’t like there. As you want them to stay longer and enjoy your content, you should take into account their opinions. People will be glad to share feedback with you knowing that it is valuable for you.
Moreover, you can create brand ambassadors to increase the number of referrals to your streaming service. You become a leader in that space and can expand your sphere of influence by having a large audience around your brand.
As a consequence, you have multiple viewers who bring you a steady stream of revenue.
Final Thoughts
Enhancing your service is a long process that requires thorough consideration. You should use all tools available to understand what needs to be enhanced next. Analytics and user feedback can give you a helping hand as you will understand what works on the service and what doesn’t. Analytics in real-time will provide a clear picture of what is happening to your service.
Also, you can add features for user engagement or improve technical aspects of your service. Transcoding is a vital part of streaming to different devices that users have. Someone prefers tablets, and others want a quality picture on a Smart TV. It is better to ensure the quality of experience for all kinds of viewers.
Realize any other idea you have in mind to enhance your video streaming service.