How to Build Your OTT Platform in 2023? A Step-By-Step Guide

How to Build Your OTT Platform in 2023 A Step-By-Step Guide

Are you planning to enter the lucrative OTT market? This is the correct time to develop an OTT platform. In this digital age, the number of internet and smartphone users is dramatically increasing. At the same time, the demand for the perfect OTT platforms is also on the spike.

Globally, the number of users in the OTT market will have 4.22bn users by 2027 with USD 474.70bn revenue. These figures show how promising an OTT platform will be as one of the leading revenue-generating factors. Here’s how you can build a futuristic OTT platform and drive more revenue for your business. Let’s start by knowing what an OTT platform is.

What is an Over-the-Top (OTT) Platform?

A platform that delivers content via the internet to enable users to access and watch the content anytime, anywhere, on various compatible devices. It empowers users to let them watch what they want which makes it a more flexible solution compared to traditional cable TVs. This OTT platform offers special features for both the user and content creator (or OTT service provider).

Based on the multimedia content delivery and the use of monetization modules, including AVOD, SVOD, and TVOD, we can classify the uses of the OTT services.

  • Create an interactive e-learning platform.
  • Sports broadcasting on OTT.
  • Music & entertainment industry.
  • Latest news & videos on OTT.
  • Gamification on the OTT platforms.
  • Streaming of intriguing movie shows.

In India, 119.5+ active paid subscribers of the OTT platform experience next-level media content consumption. Simultaneously, there is a significant drop in the number of users subscribing to cable TVs in India.

Benefits of Having Own OTT Platform

Content creators create videos according to their streaming business niche. However, they need custom over-the-top (OTT) platforms for brand awareness, gathering feedback, and making direct contact with the audience. Here are some of the essential benefits of building and owning an OTT platform.

Revenue through Monetization

ROI or Return on Investment serves as the driving force behind growth in today’s competitive landscape. Revenue generation is among the key reasons for content creators to build a custom Over-the-top (OTT) platform. It offers various monetization opportunities to provide all creators with a chance to derive monetary gain. Here, SVOD, AVOD, TVOD, and Collaborations are some of the most common monetization modules

Enhancing Brand Awareness

Brand awareness is an inevitable part of any streaming business or startup. Every user is spending more than 50 minutes per day (approx) watching videos on the OTT platform which shows the importance of the platform. In addition, social sharing is another great way to increase brand awareness.

Higher Scalability

All OTT platforms are highly scalable due to their ability to handle multiple concurrent users. A primary reason for this is the use of cloud infrastructures by many OTT apps. This allows content creators to auto-scale their storage, processing power, and bandwidth. In addition, ABR streaming and elastic transcoding adds to the scalability of an OTT platform.

Budget-friendly OTT Development

When you build a white-label OTT platform, you’ll be offered loads of benefits. One of the benefits is being cost-effective. Developing this platform reduces time and incorporates technological advancements. These advancements include security, scalability, and increased productivity.

Get Advanced Analytics

Data is the new oil and when the data is real-time it is a premium oil for the content creators. It helps content creators to know the performance of their video content by allowing them to know the viewer’s metrics, viewership patterns, video viewing time, demographics, Geography, user behaviour, and much more.

Convenience

The convenience provided by the OTT platforms to the users adds significantly to their popularity. It enables a content creator (or OTT service provider) to allow flexibility, security, content management, customized user experience, a seamless experience for viewers, etc.

How to Build your own OTT Platform?

More than 50 OTT platforms are available worldwide each having their unique features. It gives a diverse range of choices among content creators to select a platform that aligns with their requirements. Moreover, some outstanding features like recommendations, playlists, offline downloads, etc., also decide which platform to select for SD or HD streaming. Below are some of the prominent steps to develop a custom OTT platform.

Step 1 – Select the Genre of Streaming Business

Selecting a suitable genre for the streaming business when building your own platform is the most obvious step. You can do this with a thorough in-depth exploration of the OTT market (considering current as well as future stats). Classifying your business is the first step to enhancing your business in this competitive world.

Step 2 – Understand your Target Audience

Again you need to study a bit and know that you are creating a platform for whom. It is crucial to determine the specific audience you want to target with your OTT streaming platform. In addition, you should always identify their interests, preferences, and needs to create a meticulous video content strategy. It helps to grow your platform in this digital age.

Step 3 – Build a User-Friendly Interface

Once you have completed steps 1 and 2, you need to create an intriguing UI of your Over-the-Top (OTT) platform. This UI should enable users to get a rich experience when using your OTT platform. Here, you need to prioritize user navigation, flawless content delivery, strategically use colors and templates, personalized recommendations, etc. Moreover, you need to ensure that users can easily search the on-demand videos and access them on various devices, including mobile & desktop.

Step 4 – Get a Robust Content Delivery Network (CDN)

Content delivery is a leading factor that can make your streaming business stand apart from the competitors. You need to invest to get a scalable content delivery network to help you stream in low latency. One of the most preferred CDNs is Amazon CloudFront (Global CDN). This delivery network helps you to effectively distribute content with zero buffering.

Step 5 – Choose a Right Security Partner

One of the key points in building a white-label OTT platform is selecting a professional video security partner like VideoCrypt. This partner brings a lot of benefits to your OTT platform, including flawless live streaming, live to VOD, Video CMS, Multi-DRM, Dynamic watermarking, Multi-device compatibility, etc. VideoCrypt enables you to securely host videos with on-call technical support.

Step 6 – Consider Improving Video Viewing Experience

A content creator (or OTT service provider) should always focus on delivering original content. It helps to improve UX by giving them a compelling experience while watching a video. Another great way to maximize the video viewing experience is through streaming original content to the target audience in HD-720p, Full HD-1080p, or UHD-4K.

Step 7 – Use the Correct Monetization Strategy

Monetizing the VOD content available on your Over-the-top (OTT) platform is significant. One should define the monetization strategy at the time of building the OTT platforms. Some of the common monetization modules include SVOD (Subscription-based), AVOD (Advertising-based), and TVOD (Transaction-based). Examine the best monetization module according to market and audience size and incorporate it.

Step 8 – Measure User Behaviour and Video Performance

It is important to integrate analytics tools into your OTT platforms to collect invaluable user data. This data helps you to tweak your content according to the viewing minutes and engagement metrics. It helps you to get real-time updates on the traffic along with reports on revenue generation.

Furthermore, you can choose to fuse secured payment gateways, in-app purchases, multi-language support, high-quality videos, etc., to ensure a seamless user experience. In addition, you also need to integrate other technical features on your OTT platform.

How Can VideoCrypt Help You to Build a White-Label OTT Platform?

Video CMS

Upload, store, and manage your online content with our Video CMS tool to easily distribute content to the target audience. You can use the drag & drop and real-time video analytics feature to upload your VOD and live videos.

Cloud Transcoding

Video transcoding enables content creators (or OTT service providers) to convert a media file from one format to another one. It helps to make a video compatible to work on different devices and networks.

Offline Playback

VideoCrypt’s technical expertise helps you to develop OTT platforms supporting offline video playing. This playback is important as it helps your users to watch videos on your platform even without an internet connection.

Fully Customizable

VideoCrypt allows you to get a customizable OTT platform with various features. You can customize it by changing its appearance and branding elements like logos, colors, and themes. Moreover, one can develop unique functionalities tailored to business needs and target audiences.

Low latency

Deliver your media content flawlessly using Amazon CloudFront (Global CDN) to ensure low-latency streaming. You can avoid latency in videos using Amazon IVS which also support collaborative live streaming that helps you drive more audience engagement.

Video Content Security

Secure video content of your Over-the-Top (OTT) platforms using multi-tier security protocols like token-based authorization, smart anti-capture, and multi-DRM. Moreover, password protection can also help to prevent video piracy in this digital age.

Conclusion

Today, the number of streaming businesses is increasing rapidly which makes it important to create the right OTT platform. You can easily build an OTT platform using the above process. Moreover, you can also choose VideoCrypt to build a white-label platform. Get in touch with our dedicated technical support via call or email ID to know more about our OTT platform development service.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does it cost to build an OTT platform?

The average cost of building an OTT platform will be more with the addition of extra features. However, the cost can be more depending on the technical complexities of the app and its maintenance. It will cost around USD 25,000 to USD 60,000 for building a custom OTT platform. 

What is OTT’s full form?

The full form of OTT is Over-the-Top and it is a video content delivery method different from traditional or cable TVs. It uses the internet to flawlessly deliver content to the target audience and allows them to watch the content even on the go.

Can I create my own OTT platform?

Yes, you can create your OTT platform to stream the media content and distribute it worldwide. This platform will assist to level up the experience of your target audience.

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