The value of personalization for Over-The-Top (OTT) platforms is undeniable. Personalization allows for a better user experience, which in turn increases customer satisfaction and loyalty. According to Microsoft, for 96% of consumers, the consumer experience drives brand loyalty. With the explosion of the market, the best way to stand out from the crowd is by offering a seamless customer experience. Personalization is one of the best tools that service providers can utilize. But how can media companies ensure they get the most out of their personalization? In this blog, we will discuss how implementing personalization correctly can help OTT services increase your KPIs.
What is OTT personalization?
OTT personalization involves leveraging data and analytics to customize the content delivered to viewers. Content populates the user interfaces and this is done uniquely for every user, highlighting the content they want. With OTT personalization, viewers can receive tailored suggestions that reflect their individual viewing habits. This includes everything from the type of content they watch to the time they watch it and the frequency with which they consume.
As users are getting more demanding, personalization is no longer an option, it’s a requirement. It’s not just limited to the content they watch, but the entire offering, including the notifications they receive and the adverts they see. Personalization can influence users and improve their experience throughout their whole customer lifecycle, whether they are regular users or not.
Examples of Methods Personalization in OTT Platforms
1. Homepage Personalization
The homepage is the window to your catalog, it’s the first thing viewers see when they log onto the platform. It has to contain the content they’re most likely to engage with, you don’t want to waste precious real estate on assets that a particular user is not interested in. One of the most popular ways to personalize homepages is by creating rows based on what they have previously watched. Another example of how service providers entice users into watching certain content is by utilizing the hero banner at the top of the page, this can also be changed based on the viewer’s preferences.
2. Advertising
OTT personalization allows for more targeted advertising, as it is an opportunity for advertisers to tailor their ads to specific viewers. Having a more targeted audience increases the effectiveness of ads, as they are more likely to be seen by a relevant and engaged audience. CTV ad spend grew by 39% in 2022 alone, which is not surprising due to the more control and flexibility it can provide. As the rules on the usage of third-party cookies change, brands can utilize the data they have on their own users to target their adverts or use these profiles for other advertising companies. Additionally, targeted advertising can help improve the overall user experience, which can help AVOD providers build trusting relationships with their audience by delivering ads that are tailored to their users’ interests.
3. Personalized Offers
By analyzing data such as viewing habits, when and where they regularly log on, mood themes and customer feedback, service providers can create bespoke offers for customers that incentivize them to stick around for longer. Or, if they are enjoying certain content, they would benefit from a bespoke offer that has been curated for them (or at least, they will think it’s just for them).
4. Hyper-Localization
Personalization can go one step further and provide a unique UI for each user, depending on where they are located. People respond better when the content they are watching is in their own language or based on where they are from. This is essential for platforms to become popular all around the globe; providers need to be shown they can accommodate different locations. With an abundance of content, it appeals to the audience, knowing that they can find the content most relevant to them more quickly. This is especially true for providers that cover different territories, even within the same country, but has to serve different languages and cultures
Benefits to Media Companies KPIs
OTT personalization has numerous benefits for viewers and content providers alike. For viewers, it enables them to receive tailored recommendations, which in turn makes it easier for them to find content that interests them. It also allows them to access content more quickly, as the personalized recommendation features help them to identify content faster than if they were to browse manually, which is vital as users usually switch platforms after 90 seconds if they don’t find what they want to watch.
For service providers, not only can it positively impact different engagement KPIs, but it can also help increase revenues through an increase in viewership. For example, 80% of Netflix’s consumption is due to personalization; this shows the sheer importance of having impactful recommendations. As services started providing ad tiers, an increase in consumption can only help with the ROI of advertisements. In 2022 CTV advertisers saw an increase in conversion rate by 21%, as companies can gain invaluable insights into viewership habits and other profile factors, this can help increase the effectiveness of ads even further.
Personalization and content discovery has also been known to help content providers to identify gaps within their offerings. Understanding what their audience enjoys most can help allocate budget more efficiently and invest in the most popular content with their audience. But it can also highlight areas where there is a need, for example, providing niche content where there are big enough segments of users enjoying that type of content.
Everything is Personal
With XroadMedia’s personalization, you can personalize every touch point for every user, ensuring you can give the best experience to your audience. We help you make you look better to the people who matter most to your service. Our single point of integration offers many possibilities that flexibly work around you and your business rules but still put your consumers at the center of it.
We work closely with media companies to understand what KPIs are important to them and align our personalization features with them to ensure that users are getting the most out of your service and you’re getting the results you want (and more).
If you want to understand how we deliver personalization to over 200 million users, get in touch or discover how our trial works here.
