As the video subscription world grows, faith-based networks and faith video on demand continues to represent one of the fastest-growing genres in the “over-the-top” (OTT) space. Increased viewership through TV and mobile apps allows faith channels to connect with community members within their local communities and around the globe. Streaming faith on demand also allows subscribers the benefit of being able to interact with your content on their schedule.
The cancellation of in-person faith-based services hasn’t limited the number of content consumers are seeking. Even as lock-down policies change begin to shift, the digital presence of religious practices continues on, becoming as regular as driving to church on Sunday. According to CNN Business, many places of worship said they had seen digital demand soar — from app downloads to virtual Sunday service attendance. From small churches looking to live stream their sermons to faith-based content creators who want to build their digital presence, creating a faith-based subscription network or OTT channel allows you to deliver your message to viewers on any device.
"About a year into our journey, we started looking at other ways we could reach more people. The VOD, digital, and live streaming became more and more obvious for us. So we launched Hillsong Channel with Vimeo, and it's been awesome ever since."
Is a faith-based subscription network right for my community?
Faith-based organizations have historically brought communities physically together, but also create a larger web that goes farther than the local community. For faith video on demand services, having an existing community base — whether in person, online, or both — will make it much easier to grow a subscription site. But it is important to note that, across the board, OTT and VOD have experienced exponential growth in the last few years. 50% of viewers now consider an OTT channel their “home base” for TV. Here at Vimeo, we’ve seen 20x more net new subscribers and 5x the number of channels being created in the last year.
Every industry has benefited from pivoting to online streaming or sharing on-demand content via the web. Before developing your own faith-based subscription network, it is critical to consider your audience. Not only their demographics — age, education, location — but whether or not they would respond and return to watch faith video on demand. This will not only impact your content, but will ensure that the time and resources you put into developing your channel are worth it.
- Vimeo OTT creators who have a branded app see increases in subscription video signups by 20%, and a reduction in the number of viewers who choose not to renew by 33%.
- Linear broadcasting, as opposed to a faith-based subscription network or OTT channel, is another option for content distribution. However, these services provide limited insights into their viewers’ behavior and have historically offered a sluggish transition into the mobile and TV app space.
- Faith organizations, more than any other, are composed of a large age range of people. While Boomers continue to trail Gen X and Millennials on most measures of technology adoption, adoption rates for those between 56-74 years old have been growing rapidly in recent years. For example, Boomers are now far more likely to own a smartphone than they were in 2011 (68% now vs. 25% then).
- Faith OTT channels have an average revenue per user of $16.92 with a churn rate of 8%. This means that while the average revenue rate isn’t astronomical – those customers are here to stay for the long haul.
What is the future of faith streaming?
Streaming faith on demand won’t replace the need for in-person services. But research shows many people like virtual worship.
According to a recent Pew Research Center survey, nine out of 10 Americans say they are either “very” satisfied (54%) or “somewhat” satisfied (37%) with the experience.
5 Things to consider when launching a faith-based subscription network
1. Find an affordable service partner
An OTT partner should provide reliable live streaming capabilities that deliver a quality, uninterrupted video, app partnerships and custom app solutions, and support in content migration or service set-up. In addition to eliminating the need to work with expensive third party organizations, Vimeo OTT makes content creation and distribution quick and simple.“It’s the easiest, most turnkey solution to get your content on a digital platform,” says Sean Lee, Operations Director for Word On Fire. “With its ease of use and no upfront risk or cost, you can distribute content to your followers in a matter of days. In our space, that’s key.”
2. Offer faith on demand and live streaming
Part of the flexibility of an OTT network is providing options for every type of consumer. Live streamed services are a great way to interact with your customer base on a weekly basis, but faith video on demand provides members with the flexibility of watching services on their own time. Streaming faith on demand also allows for the power of choice. By providing a library of content, viewers can choose what they want to watch and when to watch it. Faith video on demand also creates opportunities to create bite-sized content on specific topics – allowing for a more customized experience.
3. Create content prior to launch
Having video content prior to your channel launch is crucial for success. Compared to other genres, faith networks do well with starting out with a slightly larger library of videos; we suggest at least 70. The most successful networks start with over 200 videos when they launch.
4. Capture emails for communication
Requiring email from subscribers is the best way to keep in touch with your community and create a relationship with your viewers who may never set foot inside your organization. Email allows you to follow live services with the lessons and sermons that were covered, ask for donations, communicate changes within your platform or organization, or even gather feedback from your audience.
5. Offer a variety of streaming options
A vital aspect of any kind of OTT channel is a seamless user experience. This shouldn’t just include viewing content natively. To reach a global audience, streaming faith on demand via an app will cater to those who are looking to consume content on their mobile devices.
What works best for faith-based networks?
Faith networks tend to charge between $8.49-$19.99 a month
Finding the right price point for you depends a lot on who your customers are. Networks that are composed of mostly individual community members as subscribers are more successful if they set the price point on the lower end of that scale. If your customer base consists of more congregations, parishes, or groups, then you can charge more.
Across the board, offering a free trial helps acquire more subscribers
What’s more, over two-thirds of free trial sign-ups convert into paying customers. Specifically for faith content, we’ve found that 7-day free trials are the most popular.
Faith network customers are loyal
On average, faith organizations see only an 8% churn rate. You can help keep your churn rate low by making sure you are releasing content on a regular basis. We’ve found that the most successful faith-based networks tend to release new videos at least 3 times a week.
They watch a fair amount of content
According to our numbers, the average minutes per play on a piece of faith content is 13 minutes and 14 seconds. Your live streamed events will likely be longer than this, but if you’re creating faith video on demand content, keeping it within that sweet spot will likely increase your video completion rate.
Successful faith SVOD tips
1. Know your audience
Again, audience demographics are your most important marketing and selling point. Where are your viewers located? What is their average income? How much time are they willing to spend streaming faith on demand? Besides demographics, knowing your audience allows you to piece together the exact content they’re looking for. For example, if your congregation serves a lot of young families, dedicating time to creating content for kids would serve your channel.
2. Choose your pricing
Choosing your pricing also comes with knowing your audience. What are they willing to pay for a faith video on demand subscription? More than 6 in 10 of 2,600+ U.S. consumers surveyed say they are willing to pay at least $10 to $20 per month for streaming services. For smaller faith organizations with locally-oriented communities, starting small and growing based on popularity is never a bad idea.
3. Offer a free trial
Keeping subscribers and turning them into long-term viewers is one of the hardest parts of the SVOD game. Offering a trial period helps break down this conversion barrier. Free trials have become an industry standard, and have been shown to increase the number of subscribers that stick around. According to Parks Associates, 58% of US broadband households who trial an OTT video subscription service convert to paying subscribers.
How can I create a faith video on demand subscription network?
1. Establish a content creation strategy
If you’re a faith content creator or organization who is just getting started with streaming faith on demand, start creating content today. Whether you’re a one person production team or you have sound and video editors on board, the most successful faith channels have content ready to go before launch. Starting with filming your weekly programming and figuring out a posting cadence and schedule will help you strategize how much help you’ll need and how much time you’ll be spending on content creation. Are there any services or programs that translate well to live streaming or VOD? Focus your efforts there and grow your unique content identity.
"Every church and every organization has a different following and a different person. You never know who's going to watch at what time and have a life changing, impactful experience for them."
2. Create a subscription channel from your existing content
For Hillsong Channel, launching a faith video on demand subscription network was a way to keep up with the increasingly digital faith space. As a larger church organization, they had already amassed a large collection of content from conferences, live worship nights, and concert tours. OTT was the solution to package that content in a digestible way and provide an uplifting message to their audience.
3. Promote your faith video on demand network
There are many ways to market and promote the content on your faith channel. An obvious one is featuring new content everywhere from email communications to social media to notifications on your branded OTT app. Another way to promote content is to dive into your channel analytics and figure out what content subscribers are returning to. Is there a theme that is resonating with your audience more than the others? Are your shorter videos performing better than your longer sermons or services? Vimeo OTT allows you to see what devices people are watching from, how long they’re watching, the segments of content they’re viewing, and much more. Regularly returning to these metrics and promoting your most popular content in addition to new content will boost your videos’ performance.
4. Grow your community
Faith is about community. Luckily, the digital world provides a multitude of ways to personalize your online community, just like you would in-person. Engaging with your followers and subscribers through email and social media will make a tangible impact on your growing community. Engaging means more than just sharing promotional materials – you have to dedicate time to responding and engaging with feedback, stories, and comments.
One of the best ways to grow a faith-based subscription network is to improve the quality of your videos. Use tools like the Vimeo video player, video trimmer, merging feature, compression tool, and GIF creator.
How can I continue to grow my subscription community?
Once you’ve built up a budget for marketing, you can try using social ads. Lookalike targeting based on your existing subscribers is a great way to reach people who are most similar to your existing community and therefore most likely to want to join your network.
Branded apps are something to eventually consider — not just for attracting new customers but for helping retain your current base. Over half of subscribers who sign up on the web eventually migrate their viewing habits to their preferred devices.
"There's no better reason and there's no better time than now to increase our communities, especially within the ministry and faith-based worlds. We need to lean on each other and seek out each other in this time."
Wrap up: Streaming faith on demand with video
Streaming faith on demand gives your existing audience additional means to watch your content, and has the potential to extend your message to new people around the world.
Finding an OTT partner that provides reliable live-streaming capabilities that deliver quality, uninterrupted videos, app partnerships and custom app solutions, and supports in content migration or service set-up is vital to the success of your channel.
The most successful faith video on demand networks start with over 200 videos when they launch. That’s A LOT of content, so we recommend starting with around 70.
An additional content tip: Releasing new videos at least 3 times a week will reduce your subscriber churn rate. For faith networks, the average churn rate is 8%.
Knowing your audience is key for choosing your pricing strategy, your marketing efforts, and your content distribution.
