OTT App Development: Benefits, Revenue Models and Cost

OTT apps have become quite popular these days. People have become dependent on OTT apps and enjoy their favourite content anytime, anywhere with just a click. Soon OTT apps are going to replace traditional TVs for good. If you have decided to develop your own OTT app, you have come to the right place.

Features to Look For While Developing an OTT App

OTT apps can be as fully customisable and full of features as you would like them to be. Here I’ve mentioned some key features to look for in an OTT app. These features are absolutely necessary for a seamless user experience, app engagement and user retention.

Content Finder

An OTT app contains a number of films and shows in the library. Browsing through the entire library in order to find a particular genre or show is indeed time-consuming and quite a challenging task. Instead, a search bar can be added that would allow users to search for the content they wish to stream. As a result, usability increases.

Bucket List

What if there is a facility in the app that lets users save their favourite content in a list? It’s cool and also required. Because the world of OTT content is huge and having a watchlist feature helps users to find their favourite content easily at just the click of a button.

Screencasting

The screen mirroring technology mirrors your current display screen from a smartphone to the TV or vice versa. Anything you do on the screen be it photo, video, game or audio, it will be shown on your TV too. It’s a very demanding and useful feature. When you give such features to users, they would definitely opt for your services. Because not everybody loves to watch content on small screens.

Personalised Profiles

Personalisation of contents is as important as the personalisation of a user's profile. In fact, it is the USP of OTT apps. When you personalise the contents as per a user’s choice, you not only make him feel more connected to the app but also ease the entire process of content hunting.

Pro Tip: To personalise in an effective way, find out what a user likes to watch which can be done easily by targeting users' watch history.

In-app Purchase

There are many ways of upselling, and in-app purchase is one of them. It plays a huge role in OTT app monetisation. In-app purchase is nothing but an additional facility designed to encourage users to enjoy exclusive content within the app. It uses the pay-per-view and subscription models. In-app purchases are proven upselling tactics with promising customer retention rates.

Benefits of OTT App Development

Investing in OTT app development can open the door to opportunities. There are multiple benefits of developing an OTT app. If you are evaluative, don’t worry, the benefits surely outweigh the cons and exceed your expectations.

Hooks Customers

Be a part of the video streaming app revolution and open new streams of revenue for your business. An OTT app can change the way of retaining customers with your business. When you provide customers endless content to stream and communicate with a large number of people, you hook them. As per a study, the OTT market is predicted to grow by $62.03 by the end of 2022.

Since the profiles on OTT apps are personalised, you can connect with your subscribers on a deeper and personal level. So a better connection with buyers is promising.

Viewership

When customers are hooked to your content, their favourite OTT app is personalised to them and the surge in viewership is obvious. According to a study, the streaming video service will grow to 82% of Internet traffic by 2022.

Better Marketing

An OTT app can open the door to unlimited opportunities for marketing in many ways. One such is the promotion of your business & its services. There is a catch, however. Not all OTT platforms enjoy attention from all users, but if the development of your OTT app is done right, it would benefit your business in terms of recognition, promotion and publicity.

How to Develop an OTT App in 2022?

Define Your Audience

Developing an OTT app and expecting it to boom overnight is stupid in itself. It is not a cakewalk of course. Researching and targeting the right audience before making your way through this vertical would give you a better and more clear understanding of your niche.

Select a Business Model

Similarly to audience selection, it is vital to choose the right business model. There are primarily four types of business models:

Transactional Video on Demand

If simply put, it’s a basic PPV (pay-per-view) model wherein signups are free along with a few pieces of content. In order to enjoy the full benefits, the users can pay.

Ad-Support Video on Demand

OTT apps built by using the ad-supported VOD (video on demand) model enjoy a huge viewership. Because a majority of content or all of the content is free to watch for all users with ads. YouTube is a popular example of this model.

Subscription Video on Demand

Unlike the ad-supported model, subscription VOD offers you to watch content in return for a recurring payment ie a subscription fee. It may vary monthly or annually depending upon the type of subscription you choose. Netflix and Amazon Prime are two popular examples of this model.

Hybrid Models

When you implement two or more models in a single one and make a different dedicated model as per your business nature it becomes a hybrid model.

You can choose to go with any model as per your business nature or requirements.

OTT App Development Cost in 2022

The cost of developing an OTT application is impacted by several factors such as:

• The features and the complexity of the app
• Type of content
• Technology stack
• The choice of platform
• Total development time
• Size of the team with required skillsets
• Size of the app

These are some of the factors that may influence the cost of app development. For cost-effective development, you can hire remote developers.

Final Thought

Building your own OTT app can provide multiple benefits to your business to grow and drive sales immensely. Here I have talked about OTT app development, its benefits and how you can build an effective OTT app in no time along with multiple revenue-generating OTT app models.