4 Tips for Making Money With OTT Ads

If you're producing content, your hope is likely to turn it into a long-term source of passive income. Just as sitcoms pursue syndication, content creators seek monetization. OTT ads are one of the easiest ways to get revenue from viewers. However, how you access and leverage them will depend on your OTT platform ("OTT platform" meaning where you publish your content). OTT marketing is on the rise, so start planning to get your slice of the pie.

4 Tips for Making Money With OTT Ads

1. Make OTT Marketing-Friendly Content

Advertisers have slowly transitioned into the OTT space with caution. After scandals rocked YouTube, advertisers threatened to pull out after having their ads placed before extremely offensive content. OTT platforms have since implemented technology that automatically parses the content and looks for excessive violence, foul language, or potentially offensive material. If your content is flagged by the system, it could be demonetized entirely. Ads may still run on your work, but you won't receive any compensation.

Repeated violations could lead to being kicked off a platform entirely. If you want to be able to get ad revenue, your content cannot be seen as risky to advertisers. Stay within each platform's guidelines. Most platforms are slow to respond to disputes about these automated decisions, so it's best to err on the side of caution.

2. Know the OTT Platform Meaning and its Implications

An OTT platform allows third parties to publish video content on the platform in exchange for some opportunity to make money. That's the basic meaning and modus operandi of an OTT platform. However, each platform has its own approach to monetization. YouTube, for example, pays far more than Facebook or newcomer TikTok for video content given the same number of views. YouTube has a much larger network of advertising partners who pay for ads, but revenue is split amongst more creators.

Smaller services like AppleTV can pay quite well, but they will also be stricter with content moderation. There are pros and cons to every platform. So instead of trying to choose the perfect one, why not publish to as many as possible? Get multiple streams of ad revenue by broadcasting simultaneously to every platform possible. The easiest way to do this is with a media cloud that automatically transcodes and distributes your video.

3. Work Directly With Advertisers

While OTT ads can provide a steady source of income, making deals with brands for placement in your content will be even more lucrative. You can reach out to brands or marketing agencies to look for opportunities. Consider products and services that are closely linked to your content's niche. Sponsored segments or entire episodes can help you pay for more interesting content and reduce operating costs.

4. Know Your Audience

The more you know your audience, the more you can attract advertisers to your content. Product placement, sponsors, and even OTT ads are best when they are targeted to the right viewer. No one but the content creator will have more data and knowledge about the audience. Engage with your audience, find out what they like, and seek out quality partnerships that benefit everyone.

However, you need to grow that audience first. Lightcast's Media Cloud helps you distribute content to multiple platforms so you can grow faster and earn more. Contact Lightcast and request a callback to talk about how we can help you monetize your content.