Across the globe, there is no universally accepted definition of OTT. It could be generally defined as services based on IP, traditional telecommunication or broadcast services.
Over-The-Top service is any set of online services that are considered to substitute traditional channels of communication with audio-visual-textual services such as voice telephony, SMS based services, Live streaming services or Video-on-demand services.
With the advent of OTT service providers digital media consumption across the world wide web has increased exponentially. The primary reason behind this rise is due to the increase in the number of mobile devices that support various formats. These high-end devices have given high speed internet data access to the consumer, thereby giving them the option to access live video streaming anytime, anywhere. Correspondingly, the reach of social media has also increased and has transformed the engagement from traditional media to digital media.
Today, the traditionally maintained supremacy of the TV is being constantly challenged by the influx of some of the best live streaming platforms and OTT service providers. Technology has found a new home in the latest digital platforms such as Amazon, Apple TV, Muvi, Phando, Kaltura and DaCast and the entertainment hub has gradually shifted.
Advertising shift towards digital media
There has been a significant shift in the preference of the consumer from traditional forms (Radio, Print, TV) to digital media. The spending persona has also shifted accordingly from conventional to modern forms. Several reports show that spending over digital forms of entertainment has significantly increased over the past few years.
This shift has automatically affected the popularity of digital media and has directly increased the global advertising spends on OTT platforms. Advertisers are following this influx in trend and are heavily allocating their marketing and advertising budgets to these digital OTT service providers. This has resulted due to the cannibalization of the traditional media discussed above.
The impact of OTT services
OTT service providers and live streaming platforms have digitally transformed the economic status of developing as well as developed nations. Also, it has greatly impacted and increased the flow of media and information to all parts of society. With the acceleration in the digitization process, users connected via the internet are continuously pouring in. It has also greatly impacted the revenues and profits for traditional network providers.
As a result, user-generated content is now expected and is already rising to a whole new stature and is in a state of progression. However, professionally generated content continues to lead the league with the latest live video streaming platforms.
OTT Advertising
The OTT era has completely changed the way of television consumption. However, the era of television has yet not ended but there is a drastic shift in the viewing pattern of the user due to these numerous video streaming platforms offering content anytime, anywhere.
This caught the attention of the advertisers as it carved a new way of targeted advertising. OTT advertising is thus targeted delivery of an ad to the exact user through the internet. OTT has expanded the audience reach of the advertisers way more than traditional TV ads. It is also predicted that the revenue generated from OTT platforms is expected to take a leap anywhere by 45-60%. So, this is the time to sow your advertising seeds to reap big rewards in the future.
Smart strategies for OTT Advertising
The OTT service providers are still rising and nascent but have also proved to be the largest global media advent in decades. This is the generation of the millenials who strongly reject wait and analyse approach for their initiatives.
Compelling content ranging from global brands to individuals has been the driving factor of this new era of advertising. OTT solutions have delivered the power of agility by leveraging the scalability of the internet. Advertising through OTT live tv streaming services and platforms have given multifold benefits to the marketer in the form of extension of new content from the media houses and deeper audience engagement with personalized experiences. Let’s quickly browse through some of the strategies that can be implemented for improved advertising through OTT platform providers.
- Define a unique content strategy – The content strategy need not be constrained to a linear approach (schedule or device). The content must be targeting a diverse user group with multiple viewing behavior.
- Ensure maximum agility – The number of channels has grown exponentially and so has our digital ecosystem. The motive should always be to transform the content distribution platform to a marketing platform that can be leveraged to deliver something unique to the end-user.
- Content distribution roadmap across platforms and devices – The market is full of mobile devices with a myriad of screen ratios. It thus becomes important to tap every segment i.e. the big screen (TV), the versatile screen (PC), the portable screen (Tablets, Kindles and hand-helds) and the most important screen the private screen (Smartphone). Mapping a distribution roadmap our these screen types would help in gaining and extracting the unique potential from the audience of every screen type.
- Adaptive marketing tactics – Tying in segments like social media, on-air, strategic publicity and targeted advertising could help your advertising strategy create a spark. The rising new OTT providers in India are offering great monetization plans which can help in targeting a larger and customized user base and create a strong impact on its brand identity.
- Aligning your content with the latest technology based solutions – Marketers can leverage the best-in-breed technology to delve deep into the OTT industry and reach the audience faster with out-of-the-box solutions. Leveraging new age technologies like cloud platforms and blockchain can help in executing a seamless process.
Advantages of OTT Advertising
Advertising through OTT services providers is a winning situation for all as it currently has maximum audience engagement as well as a huge revenue potential for advertisers.
Live video streaming services from OTT platform providers are consumed by a huge user group, which means the advertisers can easily target their niche market across demographics. In fact, through OTT advertising they can pinpoint the exact viewer based on devices they are using to consume the content.
Dynamic positioning through live video streaming and on-demand content.
Capability to pinpoint the exact user gives access to accurate data-based analytics. This can be used to identify exactly which ad is performing and which is not. These insights can help in creating an optimized strategy for the future.
