Create a religious-based subscription platform • Video on Demand

As the world of subscription video increases, the faith-based network and Faith video available for download continues to represent one of the fastest-growing genres within the "over-the-top" (OTT) sector. An increase in the number of viewers on TV and mobile apps allows religious channels to reach out to the members of their communities, as well as across the globe. Streaming faith in real-time on demand Also, subscribers get the advantage of being able to engage with your material on their own schedule. The suppression of religious services in person services hasn't limited the number of content consumers are seeking. Even as lock-down policies change are shifting, the digital presence of religious practices continues in the same way, becoming just as common as going to church on Sundays. As per   CNN Business , Many places of worship reported that they had seen digital demand rise, from app downloads to virtual Sunday service attendance. Small churches that want to live stream sermons to creators of content based on faith looking to establish their online presence, building a faith-based subscription network or OTT channel allows you to deliver your message to viewers on every device.

After a few years of our journey, we began thinking about other ways that to reach out to more people. Digital, VOD and live streaming became more and more obvious for us. We launched Hillsong Channel with , and the experience has been amazing ever since.   Will Peddie, COO/Strategic Partnerships, Hillsong

 Is a faith-based subscription service appropriate for my particular community?

Faith-based organizations have historically connected communities in physical form and also created the web which goes further than the local one. When it comes to faith-based online video offerings, having an established community base -- be it in person, on the internet, or both -- can make it easier to build a subscription service. It isn't the only benefit.  is It is important to remember that all over the world, OTT and VOD have witnessed exponential growth in the past couple of years. 50percent of people consider the service to be OTT channel Their "home base" for TV. Here at , we've seen 20x more net new customers and five times the amount of new channels that were created over the last year. Every industry has benefited by switching to streaming online or sharing content on demand via the web. Prior to launching your own subscription service based on faith you must consider your audience. It's not just about their demographics- age, education, location -- but the likelihood that they will react and come back to view the faith-based video they want to watch. This will not only impact the content you create, but also make sure that the effort and resources you put into developing your channel are worthy of it.

• OTT creators with their own branded apps see an increase in the number of subscribers who sign up for subscription videos of 20% and decrease in the amount of users who do not choose to renew by 33 percent.
  
• Linear broadcasting, in contrast to a religious-based subscription network (or OTT channels, are a different possibility for content distribution. However, these services offer limited insight into audience's behavior, and historically have provided an infrequent transition to the TV and mobile app market.
  
• Faith organizations, more than other organizations have a large age range of individuals. Even though Boomers still trail Gen X and Millennials on most measures of technology adoption the rates of adoption for people who are between the ages of 56-74 have been growing rapidly in recent time. For example the Boomers today are more likely to own a smartphone as they were in 2011. (68 percent now, compared to. 25% then).
  
• Faith OTT channels average of $16.92 and a churn percentage of 8%. This means that while the average revenue rate isn't too high, those users remain for the long haul.

What is the future of faith-based streaming?

The ability to stream faith-based services on demand doesn't replace the need for in-person services. Research shows that many prefer virtual worship.

According to a recent Pew Research Center survey, nine from 10 Americans declare that they are "very" satisfied (54%) as well as "somewhat" content (37 percentage) about their satisfaction.

 Five things to think about in launching a religious-based subscription-based network

1. Find an affordable service partner

An OTT partner It should offer reliable live streaming services that provide a quality, uninterrupted video, application partnerships and custom app solutions, and help with the process of transferring content or setting up services. Additionally, OTT eliminates having to deal with costly third-party organizations, OTT makes content creation as well as distribution speedy and simple."It's the easiest, most turnkey solution to get your content published on an online platform," says Sean Lee, the Operations Director at Word On Fire. "With its ease of use, as well as no initial cost or risk it is possible to distribute your content to your followers in a matter of days. It's essential."

2. Offer faith on demand and live streaming

The flexibility of an OTT network is providing alternatives for all types of consumer. Live streaming is great ways to communicate with your customer base regularly however faith videos on demand offers users the freedom of accessing services at their own pace. Faith on demand streaming also gives users the freedom to choose. By providing a library of content, viewers can select what they wish to view and when they want to watch it. The Faith Video On Demand provides opportunities for creating small-sized videos on certain topics that can be viewed in a personal experience.

3. Develop content prior to launch

The availability of video content prior to your channel launch is crucial for success. When compared to other genres of content the faith-based networks can do quite well by starting with a slightly larger library of video content; we recommend that you have at least 70. The most popular networks begin with 200+ videos as they launch.

4. Capture emails to be used for communications

Inviting subscribers to sign up for email is the ideal way to keep in touch with your community and create relationships with those who may never set their foot inside your company. It allows you to keep track of live services with the lessons and sermons that were presented, solicit donations, inform people about changes in your organization or platform, or gather comments from your viewers.

5. Offer a variety of streaming options

One of the most crucial aspects of every OTT channel is a seamless user experience. This doesn't only mean viewing content natively. To reach a global population, streaming through an app can be tailored to users who prefer to watch content via their mobile devices.

 What works best for faith-based networks?

Faith networks typically charge between $8.49-$19.99 per month.

The right price is dependent on the type of customer you are. The networks that have majority of individual community members as customers are better by setting their price at the low end of the scale. If your client base is made up of larger congregations, parishes or even groups, you can charge more.

All over the world, providing a free trial helps acquire more subscribers

Additionally, nearly two-thirds of free trial sign-ups result in paying customers. Particularly for content that is based on faith We've discovered that seven-day trial offers are among the most well-liked.

The Faith Network customers are loyal

In the average, religious groups see only a tiny amount of 8.8% churn rate . This can maintain a low churn by regularly releasing new content on an ongoing schedule. Our research has shown that the most popular faith-based organizations generally release new content every 3 to 5 days during the week.

They are exposed to a wide range of programming

Based on our research, the average minutes per video on faith content is 13 minutes and 14 seconds. Live streamed events are probably be more than that, but if you're creating faith-based video on demand, keeping it within that range will improve the speed at which your videos are completed.

 Tips for SVOD with faith that work

1. Know your audience

Again, audience demographics are your most important selling and marketing tool. Where are your viewers located? What is their income per capita? What is their time prepared to devote to streaming faith on the demand? Beyond demographics, knowing the viewers allows you to put together what they're looking for. If, for instance, your church serves lots of young families, dedicating time for creating content for kids would serve your organization.

2. Choose your pricing

Choosing your pricing also comes with knowing your audience. What price are they willing to pay for a faith streaming service? Over 6 percent of 2,600+ U.S. consumers The survey was conducted Say they'd be ready to shell out at minimum between $10 and $20 monthly for streaming services. If you are a smaller religious organization with locally-oriented communities, starting small and growing based on popularity is never a bad idea.

3. Offer a free trial

Maintaining subscribers and converting them into permanent viewers is among the toughest aspects of your SVOD game. Offering a trial period helps break down this conversion barrier. Trials for free have been an industry norm, and they have been proven to increase the number of users who remain loyal. Based on research Parks Associates 58 percent of US broadband households who trial the OTT YouTube video service convert into paying customers.

 How can I create an online faith-based video subscriber network?

1. Develop a content strategy

If you're a faith content creator or an organisation that's just getting started with streaming faith on demand, start creating content today. No matter if you're a small production team or you are a team of sound editors and video editors, the most successful faith channels have content ready to go before launch. Start by filming your weekly programming and figuring the best posting frequency and schedule can help strategize how much help you'll require and the amount of time you'll be spending on creating content. Are there any products or applications that can be easily converted into live streaming or VOD? Focus your efforts there and build your distinctive content identity.

Each church, every group is a unique place with a distinct following as well as a unique person. You never know who's going to watch at what time and experience a life-changing profound experience.   Will Peddie, COO/Strategic Partnerships, Hillsong

2. Create a channel for subscriptions from your content

For Hillsong Channel In the beginning, launching a Faith video-on-demand subscription service was an attempt to stay up with the increasingly digital space for faith. As a bigger church the church already had many pieces of content from worship events, conferences nights, and concert tours. OTT could be the best solution to put that information into digestible form and deliver a positive message to their audience.

3. Promote your faith on the demand-based network

There are many methods to promote and market the contents on your faith channel. One obvious option is to feature new content everywhere from email communications to social media to notifications on your branded OTT app. Another way to promote content is to look into the analytics of your channel and find out the content that your customers are returning to. Is there a theme which resonates with your audience more than others? Are the shorter video clips performing better than your longer sermons and services? OTT gives you the ability to know the devices that people are viewing from, the length of time they're watching, the segments of video content that they're watching, and so on. Relying on these statistics regularly and advertising your most-loved video content, as well as the latest content can boost the performance of your video.

4. Expand your network

Faith is about being part of a community. It is fortunate that the internet provides a multitude of ways to customize your online community exactly as you do on the ground. Engaging with your followers and subscribers through email and social media will have a tangible impact on the growing number of people in your community. Engaging goes beyond sharing promotional materials - you need to spend time answering and responding to comments, feedback, and feedback.

What can I do to continue to grow my subscription community?

When you've crafted the funds for your marketing campaign, you can try using advertising on social networks. The use of lookalike targeting to target your existing customers is an effective method to connect with people who have the most similarities to the existing members of your community, and thus most likely to wish to join your community.

Branded apps are something that you must be considered in the future -- not just for attracting new customers but for helping keep your existing customers. More than half of users who sign up on the internet eventually switch their habits of viewing to their favorite devices.

There's no more compelling reason and there's no more appropriate time to strengthen our community in particular within the ministry and faith-based worlds. It is imperative that we lean upon one another and seek out each other in these times.   Will Peddie, COO/Strategic Partnerships, Hillsong

 Wrap up streaming faith in the cloud with video

• Streaming faith on demand provides your existing audience additional means to access your content and could extend your message to new viewers around the globe.
• Find an OTT provider that offers reliable live-streaming services that provide high-quality, uninterrupted videos, partnership with apps and custom solutions. It also supports the process of transferring content or setting up services is vital to the success of your channel.
• The most successful faith video-on-demand networks begin with over 200 videos when they launch. This is a lot of content We recommend beginning with about 70.
• A further tip for content: Releasing new videos three times per week can reduce your subscribers' churn rate. Faith-based organizations that have a churn rate of 8%, the mean is 8%.
• The ability to know your audience's needs is essential for choosing the best pricing strategy for your marketing strategies, as well as your content distribution.

Hear Hillsong's story.

Find out about how Hillsong Church took their streaming channel to the next level by utilizing VOD and live content for the rapidly expanding viewership.