These days, businesses across several industries have had to dodge hurdles left and right — and the OTT streaming industry has not been spared. Internally, companies have been struggling to cope with changes in operations spurred by the pandemic. Externally, trends and consumer behaviors have shifted, and competition in the overcrowded market has increased. To address the changing market, we’ve seen businesses pivot on a dime while others have had to rethink their strategies for the new normal. Unfortunately, not everyone is agile enough to survive the fight.
The holy grail in the long-term success of a business is agility. Agility can mean a lot of things. At its core, it means having flexible systems and teams in place, allowing businesses to respond to both opportunities and threats with a snap of a finger. Now more than ever, businesses need to be quick on their feet, adapting to the market promptly to help them gain a competitive edge.
Putting the Consumer First
The customer is always right, and what a customer says goes. It only makes sense then that a critical aspect of agility in the OTT space is having the technology to innovate for customer-centric services and products. These services and products will change with the market and the anticipated needs, demands, and preferences of the customer.
Tailoring services and products to cater to customer needs is part and parcel of business agility. The ability to restructure resources and operational systems to adapt to these demands is key and can be done best through an agile system. Systems such as the Evergent Product Management Module allow businesses to manage their many offerings, such as the ability to configure, price, and quote offers to customers in mere minutes for success.
Beyond this, one constant need in the OTT space is personalization. This can be easily achieved through an AI-driven customer lifecycle management platform. To create stronger ties with their users, OTT businesses must be able to communicate with individual consumers through multiple touchpoints. From browsing and consuming content to subscription and customer service during challenging times, all must be individually addressed for a truly personal experience.
Riding the Tides of Change
Times are changing, and so are consumers. Trends can shift in a day, a month, or even a year. In today’s unpredictable climate, companies must be able to identify these constant changes and address them as they see fit. Addressing these trends promptly is easier said than done — ask anyone using traditional billing platforms that have been in use for the past 10, 15, and, in some cases, 20 years! These systems can’t keep up with a rapidly changing market and consumer preferences.
Traditional service providers must keep digital transformation at the forefront for long-term success. Rigid legacy systems may no longer be able to cope as future technological developments come to fruition.
Take the coming of 5G, for example. Many in the industry anticipate its arrival as it will alter the delivery and consumption of video content. What’s more, it will introduce new monetization opportunities for streaming services. Implementation dates are around the corner, and once 5G arrives, systems must already be in place to prevent churn and to quickly launch and keep track of future offerings born out of 5G.
Transforming digitally need not be a pain for traditional businesses. It can be done gradually and within budget. By choosing configuration through Evergent’s platform instead of developing a brand new system entirely, traditional businesses can save on time and costs while utilizing an agile system to ride the tides of change in the market.
Reinforcing Agility for the Long-Term
While having agile systems in place is essential, a big part of maintaining agility in the long-term success of a business falls in the hands of employees. They must be ready to get up and run to satisfy customer needs when necessary. At Evergent, we work in small and agile teams dedicated to each customer. These teams work directly with customer stakeholders to implement best practices, quickly configure usable features and get feedback from the market regarding what is working in a matter of hours or days.
We treat our customers as partners because that is what they are. Ultimately their success is our success.
Nurturing a growth mindset across the team is important in reinforcing agility for the long term. Businesses must welcome failure as part of learning, not as a hindrance to their progress. Like the team at Evergent, organizations must be well-coordinated to respond collectively to challenges and shifts. This can be achieved by ensuring clarity in task division and responsibilities and creating stable yet flexible internal systems and processes.
Beyond standing out in today’s overcrowded market, businesses must remain agile to withstand the test of time. Traditional businesses must consider shedding and building upon legacy systems bit by bit to remain competitive. By doing so, they can promote agility across the business, both through the systems they adopt or through the employee culture they intentionally create and nurture.
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