Building a VOD platform like Netflix is a dream for many businesses today. Video Streaming is popular among people of different ages and countries. However, building the VOD platform from scratch can be rather challenging as there are many things to think about. This article will discuss the challenges of building a VOD platform.
What is a VOD platform?
A video streaming platform allows users to access videos on-demand (VOD) content. Pre-recorded videos are streamed and stored on a particular server. When users want to watch a video, they just click on the platform, and a video starts transmitting from a server to any device (mobiles, desktops, and smart TVs). Video on demand mostly refers to the delivery of On-demand video content through the Internet, and it also refers to the delivery of on-demand video content through traditional cable networks.
Where is the VOD platform suitable for?
Many VOD platforms in the market are more serious about monetization. Enterprise-grade VOD platforms have more options than platforms like Youtube cant offer. A video streaming platform is a perfect tool for a company that is looking to shift from low-profit YouTube or other social media platforms and for scaling up the business with new monetization methods.
Video monetization
The first thing every business does is assess possible revenue methods. A video streaming platform can pay for itself quickly. There are two fundamental reasons:
- Different monetization models:
- AVOD (Advertising Video on demand) — video content is free of charge but can be interrupted by ads
- SVOD (Subscription video on demand) — users pay for a monthly or annual subscription and watch videos without ads
- TVOD (Transactional video on demand)/PPV — users purchase one single unit of content for a particular time period or based on the number of views
- The capability of reaching a broader audience group
You can also combine different monetization models as a hybrid one for multiple streams of income. It creates a broader audience group reach too.
VOD platforms tie-up with CDN (Content Delivery Network) to reach people in different countries. CDN is a geographically distributed group of servers around the globe. They deliver video content faster without any deterioration in video quality and with low latency.
Businesses that should make use of the VOD platform
Along with OTT providers and governments, there is a range of businesses that can benefit from launching a VOD platform:
- Churches/ Religious Worships
- Sports
- Education
- News Broadcast
- Fitness/Health
- Entertainment
- Marriage events
For instance, those who cannot attend religious services, especially the elderly population, can pray along with others staying in their homes or communicate with a church directly through the Internet.
The sports and entertainment industries have benefited from streaming in recent years. At present, users more often seek streaming platforms mainly for entertainment and sports videos. With the COVID-19 outbreak, more schools, universities, and other educational facilities moved to remote learning practices. The VOD platform can make it easier for universities to organize their videos into categories and make them convenient for students to access. Students can watch it now or later as it is recorded and stored.
How difficult is it to build a VOD platform?
Building a platform all on your own will be time-consuming and very expensive.
To build a video streaming platform from scratch, you have to do the groundwork before that. You have to :
- Create a business plan
- Select a content niche
- Hire designers and developers
- Manage the team during the process of development
- Rent servers
- Partner with CDN and other companies that help deliver content worldwide
- Hire a marketing team at some point to market your product to create brand awareness and increase sales
You will spend quite a lot of energy and time on building the platform as it is a complex process that needs to be developed properly and maintained.
And most importantly, you have to create content for your VOD platform.
The answer here is to find a VOD platform provider. However, the market for such a platform provider is huge. That’s why you should search for it properly and learn the functionality of each technology thoroughly.
Looking for a VOD platform provider that is already built better and less expensive
Many VOD platform providers in the market build a VOD streaming platform for you as they provide clients with all the components required: both software and hardware. It also helps in customizing the video streaming platform with your brand name.
Here is a checklist with all components that such a VOD platform provider must include in the video streaming platform.
1 Both Hardware and Software
- Multi-platform applications deliver your content to all major devices, including Smart TVs, mobile phones, tablets, and laptops.
- Transcoder/Encoder – The process of encoding implies converting videos into formats that can be processed by different devices. The encoder compresses videos into small chunks of video data that are easier to deliver. A Decoder receives small chunks of video data and converts them into a format supported by a user’s device.
- Content Delivery Network delivers video content worldwide at ease. It will be very useful if a company wants to reach new customers and expand the business to other locations.
2 Customization
Developers always knew that building a video streaming platform from the beginning was a stupendous task. That’s why developers prefer the white-label video streaming platform concept. It is a website where you have all the tools to build your website according to your brand image.
VOD platform can help you with white labeling the platform with your logo, colors, and other elements that will make it recognizable and appealing.
3 Analytics
To improve your video streaming platform performance, you need to know what’s working. Tracking analytics data shows the popular video content on your platform and what needs to be changed.
VOD platforms usually have an analytics feature so that you can learn customer user behavior. You can observe a customer journey through analytics tracking and, consequently, get insights to enhance your video streaming experience for your users.
4 Monetization
The primary goal of any business is to make money, and that’s why many video streaming platform provides a range of monetization possibilities: from advertisement-based models (AVOD), when other companies pay you for showing their products to customers, to subscription-based models (SVOD), where customers pay for access to video content, monthly or annually.
Conclusion
As a business owner, you are always looking for ways to enhance your product or service and make more revenue. Building a video streaming platform can be a great solution for monetization possibilities and an opportunity to learn user behavior to deliver a seamless viewing experience to satisfy customers.
You could build your streaming platform yourself, but there are many problems to this, often including a high price. When it comes to building a VOD platform, the less expensive and more profitable way is to look for a VOD platform provider to cover all the bases and push your business to a higher level.
