Leveraging OTT Platforms for Greater Audience Reach and Impact

OTT platforms have overtaken cable and are now expanding to include more niches and content formats. However, more platforms can make it difficult to develop a coherent OTT marketing strategy. How can you reach viewers across multiple platforms and generate a powerful impact on each one? You need to reach as many people as possible, but simply posting content everywhere won't produce the impact you're looking for. Here's how to leverage platforms to the fullest.

Leveraging OTT Platforms for Greater Audience Reach and Impact

More Platforms Means More Viewers

Nearly everyone uses more than one OTT platform these days. In fact, a Forbes survey found that almost half of streaming users currently pay for three platforms at once! You may think this means that you can pick any platform and find success. After all, if everyone's on multiple platforms, then you're less likely to "guess wrong."

However, that assumption overlooks the fact that most people use different platforms for different kinds of programming. Someone's Netflix algorithm can be extremely different from their YouTube recommendations, which in turn further differs from their TikTok feed. You have to diversify.

Create Unique OTT Marketing Strategies for Each Platform

While posting the same content on multiple platforms will help you reach more people, small changes can lead to greater outreach. Each platform has a unique method of promoting content to users. For some, like Roku and other OTT TV apps, keywords and genre tags are essential. Long-form content performs well on OTT TV. The same content simply won't perform well on a short-form platform.

Take advantage of these differences. Could you use one platform to have an engaging live stream, while using a short-form platform to promote other content on other platforms that generate more revenue? Your main content could be broadcast to several platforms with others serving as complements to help boost your reach.

Stimulate Engagement for More Impact

Reaching everyone is only half the battle. You also need an OTT marketing strategy to engage people who see your content. Engagement is often measured by watch time, though it can also include likes, ratings, and comments, depending on the features available on the platform. Pay attention to which features are available and encourage your viewers to use them.

Greater engagement will stimulate the platform's algorithm to recommend your content to more people. Contests and giveaways can motivate viewers to share your content to help it spread even faster. When you combine wider publishing with quality content, you'll see faster growth.

Simplify the Process With Better Technology

These strategies have been proven by the most successful OTT content creators. However, larger productions also have the advantage of having more staff to help with the additional workload created by using multiple platforms. Fortunately, there's a shortcut that can help you publish your content everywhere in minutes.

Visit Lightcast.com and schedule a callback from us to learn more about our Media Cloud software. You'll be able to post your content on multiple platforms instantly, with automatic video conversion and metadata for each platform.