The Content Creator’s Guide to Growing with OTT

What does it take to be successful in the creator economy?

In this day and age, everyone wants a piece of the content pie. But with the right content monetization platform, knowledge, and good old-fashioned elbow grease, you can scale your content beyond a single channel, aggregate content, earn with OTT monetization, and even host live events. It’s not as difficult as it sounds—especially when you turn to the all-in-one OTT streaming platform.

Here’s what you need to know to get started—and how Endavo can help.

In this article:

1. OTT: A Brief Overview for Content Creators
2. Implementing Content Monetization
3. Aggregating Content
4. Hosting Live Virtual Events
5. Engaging With Your Audience
6. How Endavo Can Help You Grow with OTT
7. FAQ: How OTT Monetization Works for Content Creators

OTT stands for Over-the-Top, which refers to content streaming across different devices without the need for traditional broadcast, cable, or satellite TV providers. In other words, it means any streaming activity that relies solely on internet access to view media rather than traditional cable TV.

You’ve probably heard of the top OTT streaming platforms, like YouTube, Vimeo, Instagram, TikTok, etc. But don’t let the big names intimidate you. Anyone can create their own OTT channel.

That’s why we’re here.

The OTT industry is exploding, and we want you to be a part of it. Need proof it’s time to make the switch to OTT? The OTT industry is projected to reach a market value of $490.13 billion by 2028. It’s only getting bigger and content creators deserve to be a part of it.

Why Content Creators Should Choose OTT

1. You can create a permanent home for your content
2. You can own the rights to everything you put out there
3. You can earn more money with OTT monetization
4. You can grow your channel and build a fan base
5. You can create an exclusive viewing experience for your audience
6. You can be a part of the evolving landscape of streaming

Yes, the global OTT market is growing. Because of this growth, there are more possibilities than ever for content creators to capitalize on OTT monetization opportunities. So that’s our mission:

Start taking advantage of OTT now so you don’t have to play catch up!

The term digital creator isn’t always synonymous with celebrity. But some creators make just as much money as your favorite superstar—and sometimes even more! Learning the ropes of OTT monetization is a significant hurdle to overcome, especially when your platform is growing quickly. With growth comes theopportunity to turn each view into a dollar sign.

What Is Content Monetization?

Content monetization means earning money when people view or consume content. Digital content monetization can be based on many different OTT monetization options such as:

• Advertising
• Direct sponsorships
• Subscription services (like AVOD, SVOD, and TVOD)
• One-time purchases
• Patrons and tip jars
• Syndication partnerships
• A la carte channel subscriptions
• Pay-per-view live
• Hybrid OTT models

Many social platforms and multi-channel networks offer opportunities for OTT monetization based on views and watch times. However, getting direct contributions from fans and brand sponsorships is becoming the norm as social media algorithms become more variable.

That’s why OTT platforms like Endavo, YouTube, and Patreon are leading the way. They allow creators to make the content they want when they want it, and fans get to show their appreciation by directly supporting their favorite creators.

An aspect of OTT streaming that benefits content creators involves aggregating content to shared communities.

Aggregating content means collecting and sharing content based on a common topic from various creators. Aggregate content can be distributed as a series of other creators’ work or a combination of original and others’ work.

What’s the Point of Aggregate Content?

1. Aggregate content can supplement original content for creators.
2. It helps provide resources for customers without the burden of creating extra content.
3. It can build viewership by enhancing exposure and supporting OTT monetization.

Many of your favorite OTT platforms are considered content aggregators. Netflix, for example, features its own original content alongside aggregate content from other networks. Their platform benefits from content aggregation because it gives customers access to the shows they love while increasing exposure to its original programming.

Unlike other OTT platforms, Endavo does the heavy lifting. We make it easier for creators to upload their content and build their channels. Then, we help aggregators by managing the content to curate a uniquely specialized and relevant experience for viewers.

Endavo also assists communities in building their content platforms with aggregate content. We help community accounts gather content and manage media to build hubs filled with original and shared content. For example, our exclusive content aggregator tool, Endavo Watch, curates the best content from Endavo creators of all kinds, from documentarians to musicians, and helps viewers discover new content.

Unlike pre-recorded and edited video, live streaming is when the video is sent over the Internet in real-time, without first being recorded and stored.

Virtual events rose in popularity amidst the pandemic—but they’re not going away anytime soon. 27.4% of internet users livestream content on a weekly basis and the global live streaming market grew to $1.49 billion in 2023.

Leveraging these live experiences can open up a whole new world regarding audience, OTT monetization, and engagement. Hosting live events creates a deeper bond between you and your audience, allowing viewers to interact directly with you in real time.

And people love to watch them! The leading livestreaming platforms had over 7 billion hours of content watched in 2022.

Use these six live stream tips to improve your live stream entertainment and engagement.

6 Live Stream Engagement Tips

1. Choose the best live streaming platform. (Bonus points if it’s combined with your content monetization platform. Spoiler alert: Endavo does both.)
2. Invest in reliable live streaming equipment.
3. Prepare a “setlist” and practice with a test run.
4. Market your event.
5. Engage with viewers in real-time.
6. Plan for post-stream leverage.

Live streaming supports engagement by breaking the barrier between your camera and your viewer’s screen. Our live stream engagement wall includes a curated feed of social posts about the event, interactive chat room and web conferencing options, polls, and trivia tools. This empowers you and your audience to stay connected–even when spread out worldwide.

Your efforts in aggregating, monetizing, and hosting live events would be nothing without a strong community. A loyal audience can help you organically increase engagement and boost OTT monetization opportunities. But what can you do to boost your OTT channel engagement while you grow?

1. Deliver valuable resources and exclusive content.

There are more than 500 hours of videos uploaded to YouTube every minute. Make sure your content stands out from the rest of the pack! Viewers will come back time and time again for unique content that provides value, education, or entertainment.

2. Develop a social media audience.

The average user spends more than two hours on social media daily. Find them where they’re spending their free time! Share new videos, ask your followers for input on upcoming videos, and interact with your audience.

3. Create easy-to-digest short-form content.

It’s no surprise that attention spans are getting shorter. Short-form content that gets right to the point will hook viewers and keep them engaged in the long run.

Shorten videos into bite-sized teaser clips to take advantage of social platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts. Make sure all of your short-form content on social platforms links back to your long-form content and branded home.

4. Simplify engagement with a dedicated app.

Apps aren’t reserved for the big names in streaming—you can have a dedicated streaming app thanks to VDA platforms like Endavo!

5. Leverage partnerships to cross-promote.

Building relationships is essential to growing your platform. Whether you’re collaborating with fellow creators or promoting with brand partners, leveraging the network effect of cross-promotion will increase your exposure to new audiences.

6. Invest in advertisements.

There’s no shaming in boosting your content with a bit of advertising spend. Google ads, Facebook ads, and banner ads are great ways to target new audiences.

7. Analyze your performance and evaluate your strategies.

See what works and repeat that. Your audience engagement metrics will tell you everything you need to know about what they want to see. Don’t be afraid to reevaluate your content based on what performs best.

With Endavo, it’s easy to get started growing your OTT channel. Our all-in-one streaming platform makes managing your content–and everything that comes with it–easier than ever. You create the content, and we’ll build a home for it.

Endavo is a Video Distribution Automation™ (VDA) tool that empowers creators, networks, and brands to distribute and scale their video business more efficiently across platforms, OTT networks, and social media. That means you create the content on the front end while we do the heaving lifting on the back end to make building a content platform and business easy.

When your OTT channel is supported by Endavo, you no longer have to worry about aggregating channel content, distributing content, and managing live stream technology. We’ve got that in the bag! All you have to do is focus on your content and your viewership.

There are five primary ways Endavo helps creators boost their OTT viewership:

1. We help creators prioritize their content strategy. You have more time to focus on creating compelling video content when you know you can rely on us to manage the technical side of your channel.
2. We help creators provide a top-notch user experience. With Endavo, you can offer an easy-to-use channel hub, mobile and OTT apps, individual player controls, and many ways to watch your content regardless of your audience’s preference.
3. We help creators connect with their audience. Endavo’s suite of live stream tools makes it easy to stream behind-the-scenes and real-time content to your loyal audience. Interactive tools such as chat rooms and polls encourage engagement.
4. We help creators get active on social media. It’s easy to share video clips on social media and integrate your social platforms with your Endavo channel hub.
5. We help creators analyze metrics to improve their strategies. Learn what’s working–and what’s not working. Endavo’s in-depth analytics suite provides insights into your audience and content performance.

Let’s get you on board with Endavo’s OTT monetization platform. Start today with a free 30-day trial to build your OTT channel and start delivering your content to the world.

Now let’s get to your burning questions about content monetization! These are the most common digital content monetization questions we get from OTT content creators just like you.