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It’s no secret that paid TV is in decline. Cable networks across the country have been losing revenue year-on-year, with the most popular networks reporting between 14-24%drops in revenue in 2019.
However, that’s not to say that people are no longer watching TV. While the times have changed since American families in the 1950s crowded around the TV as a highlight of their evening, Americans are still purchasing new TV sets and consuming entertainment as part of their daily routine. According to Statista, 70% of the TVs being sold globally in 2018 were Smart TVs. And, with 218 million TV sets sold globally in 2019, it just goes to show that the way people consume TV is changing.
One of the biggest drivers in this consumer trend is the growth of streaming platforms like Netflix, Hulu, and YouTube.
When these streaming services were introduced, it brought into question the value of traditional cable TV. The average cable bill stands at $217.42 per month, but in comparison, Netflix only costs $8.99/month. Netflix, and many other streaming services, also don’t have advertisements during their shows and movies - but cable does.
For Millennial and Gen Z consumers, many of whom have been hit by two global recessions within their lifetime, saving money on their entertainment by purchasing streaming services instead of cable doesn’t just make financial sense. With the growing popularity (and revenue) of these streaming services, their content is often higher quality than that created for cable networks.
Another major drawback of cable TV is that it often left consumers with little choice about what to watch and little flexibility over when they could watch it. With many Americans working irregular shifts or multiple jobs, streaming services offer more flexibility over what to watch. Now, instead of having to tune in at 8 pm to watch the newest episode of your favorite show, you can simply load up a streaming service and watch it whenever you want.
This is why the living room isn’t dead. Streaming services are still producing TV content for people to watch alone or with friends and family. It’s estimated that the average American subscribes to four streaming services, and many of these services have easy connectivity with new Smart TV devices.
Whether that’s through a pre-loaded app or a Roku box, consumers are still using the living room and their TV as their daily escape from the world.
With streaming services more accessible than ever before, it’s giving more independent creators a chance to monetize their work. Let’s take a look at YouTube as an example.
Since the invention of ad-blocking technology, YouTube creators looking for monetization have struggled with users blocking ads on their videos. So, you’ll undoubtedly see creators like you taking a revenue hit from users on desktops and laptops. However, Smart TVs don’t have this ad-blocking technology. When your viewers watch your content via a Roku box, a Smart TV app, or some other streaming device like a Chromecast, you have a greater potential to monetize your content.
Not only that, but since YouTube launched their own subscription service, YouTube Red, you have even more potential for monetization. With this service, a YouTube Red user won’t have to watch ads on your content, but if they subscribe to your channel, you’ll receive a portion of their monthly subscription.
With the popularity of streaming services and Smart TVs, it’s never been easier for your viewers to access your content.
In April 2020, a new mobile-only streaming platform named Quibi was launched to the tune of $1.75bn. Featuring celebrity-fronted shows that ran for 10 minutes or less, it positioned it self as a rival to streaming services like Netflix, YouTube, and Disney+.
However, this streaming service would be plagued by issues from the start. Quibi was designed so that viewers could watch short snippets of content while they were on the go, however when it launched in April, most of the world was heading into lockdown due to COVID-19.With people not leaving their houses, there was little need for a short-form content subscription.
That’s not to mention that the premise of short-form streaming isn’t new. Netflix has multiple shows that run between15-20 minutes an episode, while the average YouTube video is 11.8 minutes. With both of these services available on Smart TVs, but Quibi limited to mobile devices, Quibi offered little competition.
With Quibi costing $7.99/month without ads, a price comparable to Netflix and Hulu, it’s perhaps not surprising that a streaming service that only allowed users to watch shows on a small screen failed to win the hearts of younger viewers.
Consumers have more options than ever before to find video content that they enjoy, but cable service providers aren’t catering to the newer generation of viewers. While this could have spelled the death of the TV set, streaming services like Netflix, Disney+, and YouTube have stepped up to provide video content at a more affordable price. Smart TVs are increasingly popular because of this, but traditional TV users can also purchase devices such as the Roku, Chromecast, or Amazon Fire Stick to stream their favorite shows. This is giving independent creators like you an unprecedented opportunity to monetize your content through advertising not only on your videos but also through Smart TV apps and user interfaces.
Every year as Hollywood releases new blockbuster movies, the news is abuzz with with how much these movies cost to make. Mostly, these blockbusters, with A-list celebrities, cost millions of dollars to produce. From the multi-million-dollar sets, to the costumes, and the special effects, they spare no expense.
Seldom, though, you’ll hear in the news how much TV shows cost to produce. Sure, you’ll hear about some of them but mostly if they have huge budgets or if they’re really popular. Otherwise, if you really want to find out what a show cost to produce, you’ll have to do some digging. Even then you’ll struggle.
So, what exactly does a TV show cost to make? It’s difficult to say because there’s a wide spectrum of shows. On the one end you have wildly expensive shows and on the other, cheaper ones. This post will look at some of these TV shows with the highest budgets and, yes, some with the lower budgets.
On one side of the spectrum you’ll find the TV shows with the highest budgets. These usually, but not always, have expansive sets, elaborate costumes, extraordinary special effects, and A-list stars. Some of the most expensive shows ever made are:
This fantasy epic had, in its final season, a budget of $15million per episode. Shot in exotic locations, with state-of-the-art special effects, you knew it had to be expensive.
Telling the story of Queen Elizabeth II, this period drama has a budget of $13 million per episode. This is mainly because of the lavish locations and elaborate costumes used in its production.
At the end of its run, this medical drama had a massive cast of up-and-coming stars. Add to that the higher production costs and you have a show with a budget of $13 million per episode.
Retracing the steps of Easy Company of the 101st Airborne during World War II doesn’t come cheap. Shot on location with a massive cast, featuring true to life costumes and sets, this blockbuster had a budget of$12,5 million per episode.
In its last season, the six main stars of Friends were making over$1 million per episode. This, no doubt, contributed to the budget of $10million per episode.
With the seven main cast members of this comedy earning between$750 000 and $1 million per episode, it has a budget of $9 million per episode.
With most of these, you’ll realize why they were so expensive to produce. It’s either the stars of the show, the locations, the costumes, the special effects, or a combination of all of them. But what about shows with lower budgets?
On the other side of the spectrum, you’ll find shows with budgets not even approaching the budgets of the shows mentioned above. Some of these shows are:
This mockumentary style comedy was produced with a budget of far less than $1 million per episode. With the main starts being paid less than $200 000 per episode and no elaborate sets, it’s easy to see why.
Having only voice actors, no sets, no costumes, and no special effects, this animated classic was produced with a budget of about$250 000 per episode.
This crude reality comedy series was shot on a shoestring budget. Although it’s difficult to know how much every episode cost to produce, the first movie based on the series was made for $5 million.
With only one set and extremely low production costs, this improvisational comedy definitely ranks at the lower end of the scale when it comes to production costs.
Another mockumentary style comedy, it was produced on an extremely low budget. For instance, season 4 of the show had a production budget of $1,8million.
Season 1 of this anthology series, set entirely in one hotel room, had a production budget of only $100k.
With these shows you’ll notice that, just as you’ll find some with huge budgets, you’ll find others with smaller, sometimes miniscule budgets. In between there are hundreds of other shows with larger, smaller, and medium budgets.
But what do they have in common? Irrespective of their production costs, they all aim to entertain. Whether they’re set in exotic locations or in just one room, they share one common goal. Why else would they produce the show?
So, is a huge budget necessary to be successful? Is it necessary to tell a story? From the shows listed, it appears that the answer is no. Sure, it’s wonderful to watch an epic with special effects so real, you feel as if you’re there. The eye candy draws you into the show making you feel like a participant and not a viewer. But is this the only way to entertain? Do you need an 8-figure budget to tell a story? Once again, the answer is no.
In fact, some of the lower budget TV shows mentioned here are also some of the most entertaining to watch. So no, budget is not the most important thing when it comes to producing a TV show. It’s the value they add when they entertain.
But wait, $100k is still a lot of money. No doubt it is but remember there are thousands of content creators out there who produce content for far less. They use minimal props, small sets, no costumes, and no special effects. But in the end, they still add value, whether it’s making someone laugh, making people think, or teaching someone something, in their own way they create an incredibly valuable resource.
The message is clear. You don’t need a huge budget to entertain and add value. You don’t need an A-list star to tell your story. If it’s a good story, nothing else matters.
Ad Ops, which stands for Ad Operations, is a job that many of you are probably familiar with. However, for many of you who look after every aspect of your marketing, it’s also likely to be one of your most hated jobs.
If you’re a larger business, having an Ad Ops team ensures that your marketers aren’t bogged down with the technicalities of digital video advertising, leaving them to focus on creating stunning visual campaigns.
Thankfully, even if you’re a small business who can’t afford an Ad Ops team, there’s help available. Our specialized Ad Ops team is here to give you the same level of support, without the worry of having to employ your own professionals.
But what is Ad Ops, and why do you need it in your business?
Ad Ops is a discipline that encompasses all of the processes that allow you to set up, manage, optimize, and run your ad campaigns. In large businesses that can afford to have a separate team, Ad Ops teams are responsible for managing ad servers, negotiating with publishers, setting up campaigns on platforms like the Google Display Network, and monitoring how a campaign is progressing.
However, their primary focus is ensuring that any campaign that comes from the advertising or marketing team appears as it should on any of the channels that they use and therefore functioning as per the agreement with the publisher.
As mentioned above, an Ad Ops team is responsible for almost every behind-the-scenes aspect of advertising. So, if you’re looking to build a video marketing campaign, your Ad Ops team would manage the following key areas.
Ad servers like the Google Display Network are necessary for getting your video ad content published on platforms like YouTube, however, they all need to be carefully managed and updated so you can efficiently monetize your content. It can be a complicated process, particularly on larger ad servers with programmatic functionality and ad trafficking.
When you’re running ads with multiple publishers and ad servers, it’s highly likely that you’ll run into issues, face technical bugs, or have your ads stop working completely. A dedicated Ad Ops team is responsible for tackling those issues as soon as they are identified, meaning less downtime on your marketing and more revenue potential.
An optimized campaign has a better chance of yielding a higher ROI than one that’s not carefully managed. However, as a creator, you already know how difficult it is to manage your video marketing while around creating and editing your content. Ad Ops professionals are responsible for tracking video impressions, view time, served impressions, clicks, and even viewing experience, so you can work together to create a more optimized campaign.
Every good video advertising campaign needs to be evaluated, which is why generating and understanding reports can be a full-time job in of itself when you’re running frequent video advertising campaigns. Ad Ops teams ensure that you always have generated reports ready whenever you need them, and all your specified KPIs are measured and accounted for.
Video marketing can be tricky, as it’s not always obvious what keywords and tags will resonate well on each video platform. One of the most time-saving aspects of an Ad Ops team is that they’ll take responsibility for running small test ad campaigns across various platforms and publishers to investigate which keywords and tags represent the best possible ROI for your marketing.
While its best to work with an Ad Ops professional to free up time during your working day, we recommend that you look at working with a team if you want to expand your marketing beyond a single ad platform.
Most video creators choose to hire their own Ad Ops team or pay for a third-party professional once they reach the point of having millions of unique users watching their content every month. This tends to be the point where most creators begin reaping the benefits of ad revenue, so having an Ad Ops professional or team in place can free up your time to create videos and marketing while letting your team take care of the technical details.
However, hiring an in-house Ad Ops team can be expensive. That’s where third-party Ad Ops teams, like the one that we offer, can help.
You know that Ad Ops teams can save you time during your working day, as well as increase your ad revenue. However, hiring a third-party Ad Ops team often works out significantly cheaper than maintaining a team in-house. This is particularly useful for smaller creators who need the support of an Ad Ops professional, but they don’t have the revenue, space, or ability to hire someone to work for them permanently.
Third-party Ad Ops teams also consist of advertising professionals who have worked in the field for years, making them experts in the practice of optimizing your advertising ROI and revenue. They’ll also have more time to keep up to date with the latest developments in video advertising, which would otherwise detract from the time you have to create content.
If you’re interested in learning more about how our Ad Ops team can help your video marketing thrive, our team would love to hear from you.
When it comes to online advertising, you might assume that the only option available to you is manually bidding on keywords to run ads that you hope will attract your target audience.
Thankfully, there are more options available in modern digital advertising, with two of the most popular options being direct sales (or direct media) and programmatic advertising.
While both of these options can be extremely valuable with the right marketing strategy, you’ll need to learn how each works to decide which advertising channel works best for you.
Direct sales advertising is a manual advertising process that requires you to find a publisher, negotiate a deal, and purchase ad inventory before your ad is served to the user. It’s a relatively slow process, as it relies on communicating with another human or sales team, however, ad inventory is guaranteed and your ads are more likely to have a fixed price.
Programmatic advertising is an automated process that buys ads using a real-time bidding auction. Using AI and a series of algorithms, users are evaluated based on a series of demographic data points and if the criteria is a match to your target audience, the system places an ad bid for you. This whole process takes milliseconds and requires very little intervention from you on a regular basis. These bidding auctions can be public and open to everyone or based in a private marketplace where advertisers have to be invited to place bids.
With programmatic advertising automation, ads are bought within a fraction of a second of a user visiting a page, which considerably speeds up the ad buying process. Programmatic ads are bought using advanced AI and algorithms, meaning it’s more likely that your ads will be put in front of users in your target demographics.
In comparison, direct sales advertising is a lengthy process and there’s more room for human error. It can take weeks or months to purchase advertising space, which is often too slow if you want to capitalize on a current event or market trend.
Direct sales advertising often uses fixed prices depending on the kind of ad you’re running, where those ads are served, and how much ad inventory you want. This makes it easier for advertisers to budget for their marketing campaigns.
Pricing is more flexible with programmatic advertising. As you pay for each impression separately, prices can wildly vary depending on the user, website, or other demographic data. If you want to use programmatic ads, you need to be aware that specific impressions can cost considerably more than if you bought them through direct sales.
Programmatic ads are effective tools to target specific audiences, and because you’re paying per impression, you’re guaranteed to have your ads in front of users that match your demographic criteria. While you’re not paying for your ad to appear in a certain space, it means that your ad is only served to target audiences that have a greater chance to convert.
Direct sales, on the other hand, doesn’t guarantee that your target audience will see your ads. Using this method, you’re paying for where you want your ads to appear, not who you want to target. You can target certain websites and ad space depending on the behavior and interests of your target demographics, but this is significantly harder with this method.
Both programmatic ads and direct sales ads are vital tools in any marketer’s toolbox. However, for the marketer who doesn’t have the time to manually pursue advertising sales, programmatic offers the most value.
The way your audience watches video content is changing. More customers than ever are switching from traditional cable plans to streaming services, and video creators on platforms like YouTube are becoming just as popular as the biggest names on TV.
As audiences increasingly move to internet-based TV plans and video platforms for entertainment, it’s led to more opportunities than ever in the digital video advertising industry. But what, exactly, is driving this change, and how can you take advantage of this cultural shift?
Today, we’re taking a look at how content creators and marketers can thrive in this new normal of digital video advertising, and why you need to adapt to survive.
Where video marketing was once focused on creating 30-60 second advertisements that would run between TV programs, newer generations are “cord-cutting” and getting rid of expensive cable plans. It’s estimated that 69% of Americans are now subscribed to a streaming service such as Netflix or Hulu, and with the rising popularity of streaming hardware from companies like Roku, even more people are expected to shift their consumption of entertainment online.
However, that’s not to say that everyone is cord-cutting. There is still a large amount of Americans who actively pay for and use cable services, and even more who pay for cable as part of a bundle deal with their internet provider. With that in mind, here are some key statistics about digital video and cable use, and how these can inform your future advertising.
2017 was the first year that digital video ad spend overtook cable TV, with an estimated revenue of $209 billion worldwide. While revenue from streaming service advertising can be hard to track, this increase in spending on digital marketing shows that your competitors are turning to this new method to gain a competitive advantage.
In a recent survey, 43% of cable subscribers said that live sports were the main thing stopping them from being cord-cutters. Even though live sports are increasingly being streamed through platforms such as Amazon Prime Video, this statistic shows that cable can still be a valuable platform for advertising in this instance.
2017 was also the year that digital streaming overtook cable as the TV platform of choice for under 45s, with 72% of16-24-year-olds citing Netflix as their streaming platform of choice. This makes advertising on connected and smart TVs and Roku boxes a great choice to target these age groups, as both of these devices are popular for accessing Netflix and other streaming services.
70% of all new smart TVs sold in the US have some form of ad placement within their interface, making them a great opportunity to get your content in front of your target audience. Many connected TVs have ad space within their first navigation points, with many of them having video capabilities to show trailers and short clips.
This form of digital video advertising is perfect for content creators as these advertisements are often presented as suggested content to viewers, allowing you to increase your reach through smart TV interfaces.
With a reported 36.9 million active users in 2019,the Roku streaming platform is beginning to overtake cable TV in terms of popularity and active users. Because of this, Roku has a robust platform for advertisers looking to capitalize on the rise of streaming services. Using this platform, you can access data from millions of TVs across the US to narrow down your target audience, and with certain outcomes guaranteed by Roku, it’s a great opportunity to advertise around streaming services that don’t have their own advertising platforms.
As the larger YouTube content creators are starting to become celebrities in their own right, YouTube’s advertising options have grown exponentially since they introduced monetization. Using the Google Display Network, you can decide to run ads before, during, and after a video, and you’ve also got more opportunities to include links and clickable elements in your videos. Also, in-line ads both in the YouTube search and in the suggested videos column on individual videos means you have even more options to put your content in front of your target audiences.
If you are looking to sell winter sports equipment, would you want to locate your store in southern Texas? Perhaps you would make some sales from people who vacation to colder climes, but generally your choice in location will have hurt your sales. In much the same way, advertisements for senior living facilities are probably not doing much being played during 15-hour loops of Baby Shark on YouTube.
The issue at hand is ad targeting: getting the proper advertisements seen by the proper audience.
There are several ways to address this issue:
· Using succinct metadata to ensure that the various pieces of advertising machinery (exchanges, DSP’s, SSP’s) are able to properly identify the content the ad is being requested for.
· Curating a specific platform that has one type of content that can be targeted generally.
· Actively managing the ad campaigns for specific content and manually seeking out advertisers.
· Require logins which would give advertisers specific self-reported info about the viewer.
As with most things, each of these methods brings with it a set of pros and cons. Expert tagging is neigh impossible when it comes to user-generated content as evidenced by the recent issues where unsettling content was found spliced into content present on YouTube Kids1. Creating a specific venue where all of the content is generally the same such as news platforms like NewsON or Haystack carries content limitations, and actively managing each piece of content is generally out of the question as it is a very time-intensive procedure.
Requiring, or at least suggesting, users login has generally been the best route for getting the right ads to the correct users but even this method has its limitations. People generally fill in correct info when signing up for an account, but there is no way to make certain of this, and people often fail to log out of devices that may log them back in automatically regardless of who is using it (Xbox, PlayStation, etc.).
Algorithms for speech to text and other automated methods will likely allow better tagging, and therefore better content targeting in the future, but have yet to find widespread usage. For the time being, a mixture of the methods above such as grouping generally curated content and using an optional login is probably the best way to connect advertisers to their intended audience.
https://www.today.com/parents/pediatrician-warns-parents-after-finding-scary-content-youtube-kids-t149501
As more and more content becomes ad-supported on the internet, there’s no wonder that many services are starting to offer premium plans in which a user can pay a monthly fee to remove ads. In many ways, premium content subscriptions sound like a win-win scenario, with users being able to enjoy their content without interruptions, and with platforms still being able to make an income without advertising partners.
However, if you’re a content creator, you might not be sure which of these two content models will serve you best.
● Potential to gain passive revenue from your uploaded content
● Free for users to access your content, meaning higher numbers of views, listens, etc.
● Revenue generated scales with your audience, meaning viral content can earn you more
● You may have little control over the ads your users see
● Users can be frustrated by poorly-made ads, which they will associate with your content
● Ads can be frustrating, particularly for passive content like podcasts, radio shows, etc.
● Most platforms pay creators a portion of premium content subscription payments if those users subscribe or follow your content
● Offers a frustration-free experience for your subscribers
● You get a consistent income vs. ads, which can give you a varied income depending on their metrics
● A monthly subscription may not be accessible for all of your consumers
● Most platforms take a larger cut of Premium subscriber fees than they give to content creators
● Users have grown to expect ads on some platforms like YouTube, meaning they may be less willing to pay for a premium subscription
Another vital statistic you need to be aware of is your earning potential with these two content models because both of these models generate revenue in different ways.
Video ads are typically paid for on a pay-per-click (PPC) or pay-per-view (PPV) basis by advertisers. This can vary depending on the advertising platform being used, and many content platforms only use certain platforms.
Audio ads, on the other hand, are paid based on your audience, and if an advertiser wants to target that particular audience. You can often charge more if you have a valuable audience, draw in a lot of listeners, or broadcast live during prime listening times.
Premium plans generate revenue by charging users a monthly fee. Depending on the platform, a cut of this is then paid to you if a user with a premium plan subscribes to your content. Users might also be able to purchase a premium plan for your channel alone if they enjoy your content, and platforms that offer this functionality pay content creators a larger cut of this subscription cost.
There are pros and cons to both premium plan supported vs. ad-supported content, however the biggest consideration you have to make is what your audience is willing to pay for your content.
For instance, if you’re a video creator, your subscribers may be less willing (or able) to pay for a monthly subscription to get rid of ads, because they are less intrusive. In comparison, music platforms often find their premium plans perform well because users don’t want to have their music interrupted.
If you have a larger audience, or your audience is more engaged, you might find that you have a higher earning potential with a premium subscription plan. In comparison, smaller and/or newer content creators will be better off using an ad-supported content model.
As new technology gets folded into the marketing world, it seems like new acronyms are being casually used every day without any explanation of what they mean or represent.
CTV/OTT are just two of the newest acronyms being used in the digital video advertising space and often are used interchangeably by digital marketers.
But what is CTV/OTT, and are these terms interchangeable? Let’s take a look.
CTV stands for Connected TV, and this refers to any TV that can stream video over the internet. More often than not, these are devices that have to download video-specific apps to stream video content. Confusingly, not all CTV devices are television sets, and this term encompasses the following devices:
A TV that can connect to the internet and either has pre-loaded media apps or access to an app store to download them.
Streaming devices like the Amazon Fire Stick, Roku, Chromecast, and Apple TV plug into your TV and connect to the internet so you can stream content regardless of if your TV has an inbuilt internet connection.
Most modern gaming consoles like Playstation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch all have downloadable apps that let you stream video content to your TV.
OTT stands for Over The Top, which refers to video content that you pay for separately to traditional cable services. As the majority of content is served over the internet, you don’t need to pay for a cable or satellite service to watch video content from these subscription services. Streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, YouTube Red, and Amazon Prime Video are all considered OTT services.
In short, these terms should not be used interchangeably, as they both refer to very different things. However, that doesn’t mean that digital marketers don’t get confused when they’re referring to these two different types of internet-based video services.
To combat this, a lot of digital marketing agencies are beginning to use the phrase “CTV/OTT” to avoid confusion with clients, particularly because the difference between these two terms can be very subtle when discussing advertising and revenue.
So, it’s worth noting that the key difference between the two is that OTT is the streaming service itself, while CTV is the device you use to stream video from that service.
Where most marketers get confused is that there are OTT boxes available on the market. Devices like the Chromecast, Roku, and Amazon Fire Stick all allow users to stream video content, however, the main distinction is that paying for one of these devices doesn’t give the user access to streaming services. This makes them a CTV, as they are a platform for streaming services, regardless of if they were built for a specific streaming service.
There’s no doubt that CTV/OTT is the future of digital video advertising. With OTT services like Hulu having multiple levels of payment plans, some of which including advertising, the fact that half of their users watch their content with ads goes to show that there is a future for mid-roll advertising along the same lines of traditional cable commercials.
Roku is also one of the most popular CTV devices on the market with it having an audience 3.5 times larger than Apple TV users. As Roku has a comprehensive advertising platform and can host multiple OTT services through one box, it’s not surprising that digital video advertising is expected to reach a hefty $4.75 billion in revenue in 2020.
Netflix, Amazon Prime, and YouTube have become synonymous with streaming, but what about the tech that lets us watch these services in the first place? Roku streams our favorite movies and TV shows on the small screen, with a line of digital media players and other internet-connected devices. Now savvy entrepreneurs are using Roku as a lucrative revenue stream...
But how?
Roku has become one of the most powerful names in home entertainment, with total revenues increasing by 120 percent to a massive $1.1billion in 2019. Experts predict revenues will increase further, totaling $1.6 billion by the end of this year. But what is fueling its growth? And how can you make money from Roku right now?
Roku has grown substantially in recent years. The company released its first digital media player back in 2009 (when few people knew what streaming was.) Today, Roku has nearly 85 million users in the United States alone, making it the No.1 connected TV (CTV) platform in the country. Experts predict Roku's user base will increase to 95.2 million users in the U.S. shortly.
Other numbers are just as impressive:
• In the first quarter of 2020, Roku boasted 39.8million monthly active users in the U.S.
• Roku generated around $325 in total sales in2018.
• Roku generated around $300 in advertising revenue in 2018.
• Roku users streamed almost 9 billion hours of content in the first quarter of 2019.
If you're not familiar with Roku, it's most famous for manufacturing digital media players that let users access video content from various sources —broadcast networks, cable networks, streaming services, and entertainment apps. Users access all of this content through a single dashboard. All they need is an internet connection.
There are various ways to make money from Roku. The company generates revenue primarily from subscriptions, advertising, data access, and TV network deals. However, entrepreneurs can generate profits via the following methods:
Advertising Via the Direct Publisher Program
Roku has a huge global audience base, making it a great platform to generate advertising revenue. Through the Roku Direct Publisher program, you can launch a network on the platform, start running ads, and set up a lucrative revenue stream. (Tech experts call this Ad-supported Video on Demand or AVOD.)
The great thing about the Direct Publisher program is that it requires little input from you. Roku sells advertising on your behalf so you can concentrate on content creation. Just remember: The company takes 40percent of the advertising revenue you generate, and you have no say over the ads that run on your network.
Whether you're a small business or non-profit (like a church), you could benefit considerably from the Direct Publisher program.
Advertising Via a Custom Ad Server
If you prefer to control the ads on Roku, you could create a custom ad server for your network. This takes a lot more work than the Direct Publisher program because you'll need to negotiate ad space with advertisers. However, you can set your prices, so it could work out to be more lucrative in the long-run.
Whether you choose to create a custom ad server or use the Direct Publisher program, you can access real-time reports from your Roku dashboard and discover valuable insights about your advertising streams. Find out which ads provide you with the most value, for example, or where your viewers originate from.
Advertising Via a Video Advertising Network
A Video Advertising Network, or VAN, provides you with commercials from companies, so you don't have to negotiate prices or contact companies directly. This is a great idea if you have a network but need to fill ad slots. You will share advertising revenue with your chosen VAN. Like the Direct Publisher program, you can't control ad content on your network, but this method could prove lucrative. It all depends on the VAN you choose.
Donations/Sponsorships
Another way to make money on Roku is to set up a network and ask for donations from viewers. Alternatively, you can negotiate sponsorships with companies who will advertise on your network in some way. Some of the most successful networks on Roku generate revenue from lucrative sponsorships, while non-profits often rely on donations from viewers.
Roku is one of the most lucrative platforms for entrepreneurs and content creators right now. (Viewers spend, on average, 50 hours a month watching Roku!) Whether through advertising, donations, or sponsorships, you could generate a profitable revenue stream for your business or non-profit.
Want to make money from Roku? Let us help. Click here to learn more.
Whether you’ve already got video advertisements ready to go, or you’re just getting started with the world of video ads, then you need to know the basics of how your ad is going to feature before, during, or after a video.
As with most other forms of online marketing, where your ad is placed can make or break the results that you see. However, video marketing, and particular YouTube marketing, is vastly different from other forms of PPC advertising that you may have used previously.
YouTube is, by far, the most popular plat form for video advertising, as statistics show it increases purchasing intent by an estimated 53%. However, it’s not the only platform out there that uses video advertising. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and even LinkedIn also allow video ads on their network, which is why it’s vital to know how to adapt your video marketing across platforms.
Video advertising has come a long way since the commercial breaks of our childhood, with technological advances allowing marketers to not only advertise between videos, but before, after, and even during. This is typically referred to as In-Stream Advertising and is the most common kind of advertising on video platforms like YouTube.
As we talked about earlier, video ads can be used either before, during, or after a video.
Pre-roll ads are played at the start of the main video content.
Mid-roll ads are played in the middle of the video. The amount of these can vary depending on the platform and a creator’s advertising settings.
Post-roll ads are played once the featured video content has ended, and before the next queued video begins.
No matter which of the above placements you use for your video advertising, you need to decide how long your advert is going to run based on the following factors.
Skippable ads tend to have the longest run time of all advertisements because users can skip them after 5 seconds. They’re one of the most popular methods of video advertising amongst all advertisers because, particularly on YouTube, marketers only have to pay if their advert is viewed for more than 30 seconds.
Non-skippable ads usually run for 15-20seconds, but as the name suggests, users can’t skip through them. These tend to be used only by larger companies as they also operate on a pay-per-view model.
Bumper ads only run for a maximum of 6 seconds and they’re non-skippable. Because these tend to be paid on a per 1000 views model, they’re only used by the largest companies with the most brand recognition.
If you’re considering running a video ad campaign, you might be wondering why you’d even choose the skippable option given that your target audience can decide to not see your marketing.
However, nearly every modern internet user expects to skip through advertisements. That’s why non-skippable ads only run for a maximum of 20 seconds, otherwise users get frustrated and click away. If you’re running a longer ad, and don’t give your audience the option to skip it, then chances are it’ll have a negative effect on your brand image.
Modern viewers don’t like to have their video content interrupted by constant ads, which is why bumper and skippable ads are the most successful choice for mid-roll ads. So, if you want to advertise during video content, it’s important to keep your content short and to the point.
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