Video Monetization: How to Develop a Successful Mobile Video Strategy

In today’s world of mobile content streaming, monetization of OTT video content is more relevant than ever before.

In recent years, mobile streaming solutions have drastically changed how we consume video. And today, this trend has no visible end in sight. In fact, we’ve seen a 100+% year-over-year increase among people watching videos daily via smartphones. Likewise, mobile streaming will continue to eat up a larger share of digital ad spending, hitting a whopping 71% in 2019.

Of course, this comes as no surprise if we think about it. Sight, sound, and motion have always been the most engaging way to reach an audience.  And on-demand and live streaming video are equipped to do just that! 

To that end, this post focuses on the question of mobile video monetization. In particular, we’ll cover the nuts and bolts of a successful mobile video strategy for broadcasters. First, we’ll take a quick look at the importance of a mobile video strategy in the first place. Then, we’ll cover five key elements for successful video monetization today, all of which are possible with the Dacast online video platform. Let’s get started!

Why Create a Mobile Video Strategy?

As mentioned above, smartphones have become an integral part of our daily lives. As a direct result, mobile streaming has become fairly ubiquitous around the world. Today, content owners are smart to see mobile video monetization as paramount to engaging and retaining audiences.

That said, using mobile video successfully requires optimized content for experiences that are native to a particular platform. These factors can include speed, choice, content relevance, etc. As more people engage in mobile activities, knowing how to optimize video content for mobile is more crucial than ever before.

5 Key Elements for Successful Video Monetization

With that in mind, let’s dig into several key elements of a successful mobile video strategy for content providers.

Ideally, we recommend considering these components before launching your video monetization efforts, to give yourself the best shot at success!

However, it’s never too late to improve and fine-tune your already existing current mobile video strategy.

1. Mobile Platforms and Devices

Consumer reporting stats show that consumers currently have a preference for or greater interest in iOS and Android devices. Given this trend, we recommend that content owners should review their own internal data. That way, you can have a deeper understanding of the devices your users (intended or actual) prefer. Reviewing this kind of data also provides valuable insights into your audience’s viewing habits and preferences.  

However, offering users an ad experience on a new iOS device doesn’t necessarily require rebuilding your strategy from scratch. Rather, this approach should actually save you time and resources in the long run. This is because many operating systems are highly fragmented on different types of devices.

2. Native Apps or Mobile Web

There are two options to deliver videos online and do video monetization of that content: native apps and mobile web streaming.

First, you can build a native SDK. With this approach, content owners have greater control of the overall video experience. However, a native app can also create weak points worth considering. For example, resource requirements might increase, and you may detract customers who prefer viewing videos via the mobile web.

As an alternative to native apps, you can deliver video through the mobile web. Note that his approach may entail more restrictions coming from iOS and Android operating systems.

Some content owners start out with a mobile web approach. After solidifying a user-base that is dedicated to their content, the need to develop a native application for better experience becomes unnecessary.

Others, however, launch native apps and ultimately invest in supporting the mobile web experience. This can happen when a given customer-base turns out to be less inclined to download an application.

At the end of the day, these decisions are predominantly tied to the customers’ background and viewing habits. They’ll give you all the answers, so take the time to do your homework.

3. Video ads length

When delivering ads in different environments, there is no secret formula that works like a charm. Nonetheless, the first step involves understanding the capabilities of an ad server for mobile web and app inventory.

Let’s say you’re a content owner seeking to enable ads to your videos.  First, consider the ideal format of those ads and the optimal ad length. Overall, you want to develop an ads approach that won’t cause viewer engagement to drop over time.

Likewise, there is no magic run-time for video ads. However, research shows that our attention spans fell from 12 seconds (2000) to just 8 seconds (2015). Experts have found that our dwindling focus is a result of our digital dependency over the years. Given those findings, that trend toward decreased attention span is likely to continue in the coming years.

Today, the industry-standard ranges from 15 to 30 seconds. However, some companies, for example, Twitter, encourage their advertisers to produce ads no longer than 6 sec.

Overall, viewers, today want brands to give them the right content at precisely the right time. And the most successful content tends to be personalized and valuable to the customers in some way.

4. Data Possession for Video Monetization

The possibility to use and analyze data (behavior, lifestyle, and interests) from users offers a huge possibility for video monetization. Namely, experts predict that data monetization itself will plummet by 2020, for $203 billion in revenue. This opens the door to reach a bigger audience pool ready to consume content.

The best way for content owners to develop successful mobile video strategy is to first explore their users’ behavior. Then, they can use that data to communicate the special value of their product.

In addition, brands should use different methods processes to identify audiences. These might include deterministic segmentation and specific targeting or re-targeting of users. Keep in mind that it’s possible to protect users’ data from third-party exposure and, at the same time, utilize it for forecasting.

5. View-ability & Audibility

For the best possible viewer experience, the fundamental factors to consider are sight, sound, and motion. In short, the best-optimized ads are both seen and heard by users.

Keeping view-ability in mind, one big advantage is to include pre-roll and mid-roll ads.

Pre-roll placements typically deliver the highest completed view rates, as they appear in front video content. These ads with full-screen placement are also the most efficient on a mobile device.

On the other hand, adding in-content or in-read ads to your video content can also pay off. With this method, you can set the ad unit to play the video after the content is viewed. These are becoming increasingly popular, though they don’t always give the same results for all advertisers. If the ad is placed in front of valuable content, for example, the CVR (conversion rate) may suffer.

Skippable vs. Non-skippable Ads

Skippable ads are desired by publishers and users alike. However, they can also have a huge influence on the set goal of the publishers.

To find out what works best, you can perform a lot of A/B testing for different scenarios in order to measure results. Try adding skip buttons to see what works best as a balance between UX and CVR. After all, you want to show your ad to a user who actually wants to watch the message.   

Non-skippable ads, on the other hand, oblige the viewer to watch your video no matter what. On the other hand, you won’t have a metric to review, such as whether they actually wanted to watch it or they just tabbed away.

Conclusion

As this post highlights, online content has grown immensely and it’s here to stay. As the market evolves into the digital era, a successful mobile video strategy has become essential for content owners who are serious about video monetization.

Consumers today spend more time viewing content and media on mobile devices. It follows, then, that the prime focus of video monetization involves developing a coherent mobile experience for viewers. And part of this experience entails delivering engaging mobile ads in coexistence with valuable content.

And here’s the good news! Content creation and publishing have never been easier, allowing any organization to broadcast their premium content. At the same time, more and more people are willing to pay for quality content as long as it’s ad-free. That’s where Dacast can help.

InPlayer and Dacast’s online video publishing platform has an exclusive integration partnership that offers flexibility and possibilities to our customers. Specifically, we offer a variety of simple yet powerful video monetization streaming solutions, which you can customize for a successful mobile video strategy.

InPlayer strives to redefine digital asset monetization by offering subscription, entitlement and payment management for rights holders, video and digital asset owners by means of using  the InPlayer paywall.  And b y helping digital content creators in their attempt to monetize and protect their digital assets, we can help your end-users to stay happy with their complete content experience. If you have further questions about content monetization, feel free to contact InPlayer directly.

Finally, if you’re not yet streaming live video with Dacast, we invite you to take advantage of our 14-day free trial (no credit card required). That way, you can test our online video platform features for yourself. Just click the button below and we’ll have you streaming in a matter of minutes!

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And for exclusive live streaming offers and tips, you can join our LinkedIn group. Happy broadcasting!

*This blog post was written by Darka Panovska, who is a content marketing specialist at InPlayer. She loves exploring consumer psychology, user behavior and the force behind video content.