Loyalty, Stability, OTT

Implementing IPTV/OTT is often considered to be an additional monetization tool and is regarded as supplementary service for companies with an existing subscriber base.

For example, Internet service providers introduce an Internet TV in addition to network access services checking the box of full service list.

However, OTT platform provides not only an opportunity to gain additional profit, but also to realize the long-term goal of becoming a media company and providing the business with a new growth strategy.

One of the great potentials of using OTT solutions is for routing marketing. Еngaging subscribers, retaining them, and increasing subscriber loyalty through constant direct interaction with them becomes much more efficient with OTT.

Many operators consider consumer loyalty as a myth, so they neglect to work with subscribers. Others create complicated loyalty support programs and invest significant funds in them.

Whatever be the approach, customer loyalty is one of the most important components of a stable and thriving business, regardless of the industry.

Also, it needs to be considered that not only rational factors impact loyalty but emotional as well. The conducted research allowed to identify the factors that can be used to assess the subscriber's loyalty to the telecom operator [1]:

1. Subscription period. The longer — the higher the loyalty.
   
2. Engagement and awareness of the operator's events.
   
3. The number of operator shifts. The more often — the lower the loyalty.
   
4. Recommendations in favor of an alternative operator to colleagues and friends. If a subscriber recommends another operator to friends, his loyalty is low.
   
5. The presence of visible and obvious advantages of an alternative operator (in terms of price, coverage, etc.).
   

If the company pays attention to the study of these factors, it identifies the bottlenecks hindering the loyalty to progress. Depending on the reasons, the relevant company department gets up to improve. For example, the marketing department most often has to convey to the consumer that the company also has what he needs, and the one just does not know about it.

Of the factors listed above, at least the factor of engagement and awareness does not require significant effort and investment. Keeping the subscriber informed and engaged and making it a "marketing normal" will help solve two problems at once – retaining old and attracting new customers.

Your loyal subscribers will stay in the company and recommend you to their friends and acquaintances positively, attracting new ones. We should note that as markets are getting saturated and characteristics of products and services among operators are becoming very much similar, it is important both to retain subscribers (especially as according to estimates it is five times cheaper than attracting new ones [2]), and hurry up to develop your own customer base. Faster to market is a rule for the new normal environment.

Engagement and awareness, as well as any communication with the subscriber, are very effective tools. Caregiving, make the subscriber feel valuable for the company. Communication helps to increase customer loyalty by responding to all the issues, increasing awareness about the company, and eliminating the negative stuff that could have taken a place. Therefore, it is important for the operator to have enough communication channels to inform subscribers. At the same time, it is important not to annoy – for example, to avoid frequent SMS messages, calls, emails.

Your own OTT app gives you unique opportunities to monitor the customer's journey and inform him about important things. An Internet site is no longer enough to maintain communication – most likely, your subscribers do not start every day by watching the news on social networks about your company, but they turn on the TV and smartphone every day. Consequently, your messages reach their attention much more effectively if they are published in the OTT app.

The usual view of OTT as a separate monetization tool can be significantly supplemented through the following simple marketing opportunities for your company.

Here are some examples of how you can use the OTT features of the Telebreeze app to inform your customers:

1. Use the announcements feature to deliver important news or roll-outs.

If you already have and manage your own OTT solution, then your marketing opportunities increase multiple times. There is a rule that the retention of a subscriber in the company begins from the moment of attraction. Studying the subscriber's journey in the company and timely well-conducted communication with them makes loyalty a manageable factor. This means not just discussing and watching the loyalty dynamics, but proactively managing it, staying in a constant dialogue with the subscriber.