Maintaining and growing your audience is essential in Free Ad-Supported Streaming TV’s everyday, more competitive market. As the situation becomes increasingly saturated (as of late 2023, there were approximately 1,830 distinct FAST channels tracked by major U.S. providers), FAST providers and distributors must employ innovative strategies to keep viewers engaged and boost their numbers. If your FAST channel/service is experiencing a decline in viewership and ad revenue, implementing specific tactics can help rejuvenate your audience and enhance your channel’s performance.
Personalize Content and Advertising
Personalization is a powerful tool for increasing viewer engagement. Tailoring content recommendations and ads can significantly enhance the viewer experience. Some platforms, like broadpeak.io’s Virtual Channel, automate the creation of personalized linear channels, ensuring viewers receive content that matches their preferences.
According to Nielsen, personalized content significantly boosts user satisfaction and retention. Personalized channels adapt to viewers’ tastes and habits, reduce decision fatigue, and encourage longer viewing sessions, increasing ad impressions and revenue.
The good news with content personalization in streaming is that it provides a wide range of options in terms of scale and granularity. The spectrum of personalization levels comes with a large palette of features that can be activated per your strategy and timescales. In other words, introducing personalization on FAST channels can be controlled and paced in a phased approach. There is no need to go from one extreme (no personalization at all) to the other extreme (fully personalized experience per individual viewer on all channels), overnight. Instead, customization can happen throughout different dimensions and at different levels, including but not limited to:
- Audience segmentation: ranging from none (broadcast) down to a single end-user within a household
- Timeline ratio: personalization can be applied to a single event up to all programs in a 24/7 linear channel (permanent basis)
- Channel lineup: personalization can be applied on a single channel (“My Channel”) or all FAST services
Ultimately, those steps should be seen as an opportunity to collect analytics data from a feedback loop on what works best from a UX and monetization standpoint. Leveraging the intermediate phases as learning milestones to optimize a KPI-defined sweet spot should be part of every personalization strategy.
On the advertising end, personalized ads are known to perform better. For instance, a study from Lyon University found that targeted ads resulted in 5.3 times more click-throughs than non-targeted ads – you can imagine having the same impact on screens. Additionally, when done effectively, personalized advertising can significantly increase engagement and conversion rates, leveraging data such as purchase history and behavioral patterns to tailor ads to individual preferences.
FAST is based on streaming protocols based on HTTP—which is a one-to-one type of delivery—and it natively supports the capacity to deliver a unique streaming experience per viewer. Use manifest manipulation to enable the level of personalization you want.
Enable SSAI for your ad delivery. If you don’t leverage that, you are missing out.
Optimize Ad Breaks
Now that you know how to personalize ads, ensure your ad breaks are viewer-friendly to maintain a seamless viewing experience. We wrote a blog article about this.
Dynamic ad insertion (DAI) technology allows real-time, personalized ad placements based on viewer data. Other best practices are also recommended. For example, research by FreeWheel shows that ad latency, unnatural ad breaks, or too many slates were the main causes of viewers’ dissatisfaction. Innovative ad formats like interactive and shoppable ads further enhance engagement and provide valuable data on viewer preferences.
Expand and Diversify Content
Attracting dedicated audiences involves creating niche and thematic channels. Utilizing existing content libraries to develop channels focused on specific interests or genres can draw in targeted viewership and provide opportunities for specialized advertising. Quickly creating and launching new channels in response to viewer demand keeps content fresh and engaging, fostering long-term viewer loyalty.
On the other hand, incorporating original content into your FAST channels can attract viewers seeking unique programming. This approach not only differentiates your channel but also enhances viewer loyalty. Original content, particularly live sports and exclusive series genres, can drive higher viewership and increased revenue. A good example is a company like Crackle, which has successfully integrated original content into its FAST offerings. As the FAST market evolves, offering premium content will become increasingly important in attracting and retaining audiences.
Improve Content Discoverability
Enhancing content discoverability through recommendations and dynamic electronic program guides (EPGs) ensures that viewers can easily find content matching their interests. Collaborating with distribution partners and optimizing off-platform marketing to boost visibility and attract new viewers is key.
Advanced search and recommendation engines significantly improve content discoverability. In particular, the Content-to-Content recommendation has excellent results, as shown in this Rumo article. This article explains how it works. These algorithms analyze the similarities between different pieces of content based on metadata, user interactions, and contextual factors.
The success story of Sky Switzerland using Spideo’s recommendation technology to mitigate churn following the end of “Game of Thrones” is also interesting. Spideo’s solution provided personalized, content-to-content recommendations, resulting in increased engagement and a 12% click-through rate, with 44% of those clicks converting to plays.
These technologies can help FAST channels achieve better viewer retention, engagement, and higher ad revenue.
Leverage Metadata and Advanced Analytics
Advanced audience analytics help understand viewing habits and optimize content schedules and ad placements.
Detailed metadata, such as scene information, enhances ad targeting, making ads more relevant to viewers and increasing engagement. As Whip Media notices, metadata can help you with the first point of this blog post: personalized FAST channels. Key metadata types include genre, ratings, keywords, cast and crew, release dates, imagery, franchise data, translations, and awards.
Another way to be analytical with your FAST channels is to identify drop-off points in viewing sessions. By analyzing these points, you can determine where users tend to leave the platform or stop watching content. Consequently, you can pinpoint usability issues and areas for improvement in both content and user interface. For example, understanding where users disengage can inform adjustments to content recommendations, user interface design, and the timing or placement of ads. The process involves using tools to track user behavior flow and identify specific stages in the user journey where drop-offs occur.
Automate and Scale Programming
Based on how you are currently creating your channel, automation tools can help you optimize your creation and maintenance costs.
Cloud-based solutions offer flexible scheduling and rapid deployment of new channels. If you already do VOD streaming, you can avoid complete playout and opt for VOD stitching to create your channels. That’s what we do with our Virtual Channel application. We also see more and more AI-driven tools curate and schedule content, ensuring that older or niche content finds its audience without manual intervention. For example, this article discusses Argoid’s FAST Channel AI Co-Planner, which automates TV content scheduling. The solution integrates with FAST platforms to analyze content metadata, historical performance, and real-time data, generating optimized schedules. It offers two modes: autopilot for complete automation and co-pilot for customized scheduling. This technology enhances efficiency by reducing manual tasks, leveraging data insights for better scheduling decisions, and maximizing ad revenue. Predicting viewer preferences and active times helps increase viewership and ad effectiveness.
Do Not Miss First-Party Data for Marketing
FAST is a powerful acquisition channel. It provides an economical means to attract potential subscribers to premium services while gathering valuable first-party data to enhance upselling and boost conversions. This data gathering is essential for creating marketing campaigns that drive meaningful engagement and improved personalization.
First-party data can also be used for some other use cases:
- Customer Retention: FAST Streaming services can identify patterns and trends that indicate potential churn by analyzing first-party data. You can then take proactive measures, such as offering personalized incentives or content, to retain subscribers.
- Content Development: Insights from first-party data help platforms understand what types of content are most popular among different audience segments. This guides content creation and acquisition strategies, ensuring investments are made in content that will likely succeed.
- User Experience: First-party data enables platforms to enhance the overall user experience. Based on user behavior and feedback, they can optimize the user interface, reduce buffering times, and ensure a seamless viewing experience.
- Regulatory Compliance: Leveraging first-party data helps streaming platforms comply with data privacy regulations, such as GDPR and CCPA, as they have direct control over the data they collect and use, ensuring transparency and user consent.
Of course, the best example of that is Amazon. This Vitrina AI blog on Amazon Prime Video’s content acquisition strategy highlights how Amazon leverages data-driven insights to curate a diverse and engaging content library. By analyzing viewer behavior, market trends, and regional preferences, Amazon tailors its content to match audience tastes. The platform focuses on exclusive originals and strategic licensing agreements to distinguish itself in a competitive market. Additionally, Amazon bundles its streaming service with broader Prime membership benefits, enhancing its value proposition and driving subscriber growth.
Strengthen Cross-Platform Compatibility
Ensuring your FAST channels are accessible across multiple platforms can significantly boost viewership. Working with distribution partners to make your content available on various devices, including smart TVs, streaming boxes, and mobile devices, can expand your audience reach.
PayTV operators, including cable and ISP providers, are often overlooked as FAST distributors despite their significant potential. They have extensive infrastructure and customer bases, which can be leveraged to offer FAST channels. Their deep understanding of customer preferences and viewing habits allows for effective targeting and personalized content offerings. By integrating FAST services, these operators can diversify their content portfolio, enhance customer satisfaction, and create new revenue streams through advertising and premium upselling opportunities, making them influential players in the FAST distribution landscape.
On the other hand, it makes sense for FAST channels to chase these distributors, who are often eager to bring more content to their platforms.
Contact us if you have a FAST channel and want to target some markets. We work with most of the planet’s operators and can help you by being distributed by them.
Conclusion
By implementing these expert-recommended strategies, you can rejuvenate your FAST channel’s performance, keep your audience engaged, and ensure robust ad revenue streams. Personalizing content and advertising, optimizing ad breaks, expanding and diversifying content, utilizing advanced analytics, automating programming, improving discoverability, leveraging first-party data, and improving overall availability are essential for success in the FAST landscape.
