Monetizing Content in Emerging Markets

Over the last few decades, the telecom industry has undergone a revolutionary change. The advent of the digital age has ensured that this trend will continue in the near future as well. Comprising of smart devices, connected individuals, internet services, hosting applications and the increasing use of analytics isincreasingthe complexity of the digital ecosystem.

While over-the-top (OTT) players like YouTube are playing a substantial role in the revolution, telecom operators possess the greatest opportunity (see Figure 1), especially in the emerging markets. The top players in the telecom industry are gradually transforming their business models to line upwith the future digital world.

Digital Content or Digital Service Delivery

Today the traditional carrier services hold no sway over customers, and the only way you can improve the CLV is through offering monetizing VAS. Not just that, you will need to offer content based on the needs of your customer.Thus, customer engagement will require more than just the great content.It requires the operator to suggest specific content at the specific time (smell big data analytics here?).

Today, youhave an aim for content monetization which includes not just the content but also analysis of consumer behaviour and understanding of different situations your customer can bein while accessing the content. 

The time has come when telecom operators have to start focusing on change, the services offered and website traffic to remain an active part of the changing ecosystem of the digital world. If not, they are leaving a bright opportunity for the competition to grow and capture the market.

Telecom Services in Emerging Market

Fixed line connectivity has been outpaced by the growth of mobile connectivity. Simultaneously, internet connectivity has surpassed voice calls, allowing users to interact using different channels like video and chat apps. The growth list, in terms of internet penetration, is heavily dominated by countries like India, East African Nations, and West African Nations.

Having said that, the trends of telecom industry change each passing year and services offered reach a new milestone annually. From offering just voice calls to coupling them with mobile data (owing to the internet penetration), the future certainly looks bright.

Content Consumption Trend in Emerging Markets

According to data released by HootSuite, today more than 3.75 billion people in the world use internet and the userbase continues to grow by a remarkable 8% year-by-year. Surprisingly, most users are consuming digital content using their mobile phones (55% of global data consumption is through mobile)

Having said that, the numbers associated with data generated every minute are staggering. DOMO, a business intelligence, and data visualizationspecialist,in their “Data, Never Sleeps” report stated that every minute of the day, around the world, more than 4 millionvideos were watched on YouTube, while Vine users played 1milllion+ videos and Netflix subscribers consumed 77,000+ hours of videos each minute.

Users have become more inclined towards personalizedcontent in terms of videos, music, GIF, etc. As a result, subscription based content consumption is rapidly increasing, thus becoming a major source of revenue for the telecom operators.

Why & How of Content as VAS

The non-core services offered in the telecom sector are known as valueadded services or VAS. These services help build a customer base by offering them customised services to stand out of the competition. Interestingly, the trend of VAS has also experienced a drastic chance over the years and have become a credible source of content monetization.

Today, with the help of Digital Services Platform, the telecom industry can quickly identify content based audience through market research and planning. After the research, custom-designed promotions and campaigns help in thediscovery of the service, thus retaining a customer and making it a source of profit for the telecom company. The next necessary steps include fulfillment of the service, offering apt support to the user, obtaining feedback and retention as the primarygoal. Digital Services Platformfacilitates faster revenue generation by delivering content via thecloud, analytics, and mobile platforms.

To Sum It Up

The growth and proliferation of OTT content like songs, videos, images, GIFS, texts, etc. will undoubtedly prove to be a revenue source for telecom operators across the world. Through Digital Services Platform, the possibility of offering rich and customer-oriented content has become possible than ever.