How Subscription Online Video Courses Can Help Grow Your Business in 2021
As competition for audience attention becomes more challenging due to the rapid rise in online video consumption and the onslaught of countless new video content, learning providers are finding new innovative ways to reach their audiences. It’s become essential for every provider to find solutions for reaching, engaging, and monetizing their products. Of course, with the pandemic drawing more people online and temporarily shutting down physical places, online instructors have found some truly unique ways to still engage with their audience.
A new market of opportunities has risen with the pandemic. Any and every business can now operate as a video company today. Whether it’s a focus on courses for career development, finance, or photography, instructors are now using digital video as their primary medium to provide valuable, insightful instruction in an increasingly digital world.
With the pandemic affecting nearly every aspect of our lives, JW Player has enabled hundreds of new learning instructors with the ability to reach new and existing audiences through SVOD (subscription video on demand) online courses. Even as more of the world begins to open back up, there are still plenty of reasons why to plan an SVOD digital strategy for your online course.
Benefits of teaching an SVOD digital online course
1. Reach a larger, global audience
The technology JW Player uses allows for TV-quality online streaming to be played at scale. By transitioning online with a course (whether it’s a fitness class, photography tips, or career development lessons), it’s possible to reach more people than ever. JW Player’s multi-CDN approach with POPs in 130+ countries means reliable delivery to any region, with 99.99% global delivery uptime.
In 2020, US adults spent an average of 7 hours, 50 minutes (7:50) per day consuming digital media, a 15% increase from 2019. Of that time using digital devices, US adults consumed 2.2 hours per day of just digital video content. If you’re not making your course content available online, you’re missing out on a growing audience segment.
KelbyOne is a membership-based online photography training company with over 148,000 members and 875+ digital video courses. Operating as a family-run business for over 25 years and with a team of just 25-30 employees, they’re able to reach thousands of subscribers around the world by using JW Player for their SVOD model. In the past year, they’ve seen a 142.98% growth in video plays!
2. Create a long-term model for profit
A new outlet for course instruction creates the opportunity for new revenue streams. As more consumers cut the cord to cable, 34% of US consumers added new video subscriptions during the pandemic. And according to an eMarketer report, the trend is only expected to rise in the coming years. Every creator, instructor, teacher, and business has the opportunity to generate long-term revenue through an SVOD model.
3. Get set up quickly, easily with low-overhead
Buffer-free, consistent playback across any screen your students choose. Robust and user-friendly customization tools for you to manage instructional content with ease behind-the-scenes. Adjust color, speed, thumbnails and more to deliver premium online courses everywhere.
4. Use easy-to-set-up live streams to increase engagement
Providing your students with both live and on-demand videos improves long-term engagement and keeps your brand top-of-mind. With JW Player’s award-winning Live Player, it’s easy to integrate a live video solution into existing workflows via API access. A user-friendly dashboard and a simple, flexible backend gives you more opportunities to offer unique and engaging content.
Live streams can be launched instantly in less than 30 seconds with replays available in under a minute to provide the best experience for all viewers. Multiple latency settings are available to make your course content even more accessible for students.
Quickly and easily stream live events for your students with Live Channels.
5. Make your content accessible 24-7
JW Player offers buffer-free, consistent playback across any screen your students might choose. Robust and user-friendly customization tools make it easy to manage instructional content behind-the-scenes. Adjust color, speed, thumbnails and more to deliver premium online courses everywhere.
With support for both Chromecast and Airplay, it’s easy for viewers to broadcast your live streams or VOD onto TVs or other devices (if you allow it). Reach audiences anywhere on any device or platform! JW Player supports live streaming on the web, mobile, OTT, and even social channels. JW Player also includes geo-blocking to protect your content if there are geographical limitations to your course content.
6. Scale your content production beyond the physical classroom
With a digital video strategy, you can use new content types to engage with fans in more meaningful and exciting ways. Live and on-demand videos are easy to upload and with more engaging content such as exclusive web-only interviews, behind-the-scenes storytelling, or live streaming of special virtual events, you can reach more people in more engaging ways. Scalable content protection measures, including DRM, ensure maximum security with minimal fuss for your videos.
7. Broadcast where your customers are with a mobile-first player
Video creation and consumption by users was already on the rise before the pandemic, but in 2020 the trend accelerated quickly for many content verticals. Cisco reports that in 2021, 82% of all created content would be video. And much of that content is mobile-first, especially considering the additional rise in mobile use per day. While US adults spent close to 8 hours per day consuming digital content, over 4.5 of those hours were spent exclusively on mobile devices.
JW Player makes it easy to provide video content in a mobile-friendly format. Whether it’s buffer-free playback for your website viewers or the functionality to create your own native Android and iOS applications with our SDKs, making your online course content mobile-friendly is built into JW Player.
8. Access more in-depth reporting, analytics, and valuable insight
Dive into unparalleled real-time insights to better understand your student engagement and content adoption. Leverage analytics to build better classes and to motivate viewers at drop-off points with cross-device insights and custom reporting.
Being able to access real-time analytics across desktop, mobile web, and even mobile & OTT apps, it’s possible for course creators to adapt according to usage. With custom reports including views by player ID and playlist ID, you can access unique insights on students and courses you won’t get from third party video analytics providers.
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