It’s about to be the most wonderful time of the year — and that goes for your videos, too. This year we want to help make it easier than ever for you to boost sales on your awesome videos, even if you’ve never sold videos before. If you already use our over-the-top (OTT) platform, the holidays are a great opportunity to get the word out to your fans, boost subscribers, and drive sales.
If you’re not familiar with our OTT offerings, this refers to our video subscription services that let any creator become a video seller. With OTT, you can create subscription channels to share with the world, straight from the apps and sites you and your fans use the most. Think of it like creating your own personal Netflix. And now is the perfect time to get started.
It’s not surprising that gift subscriptions hit their peak during December. Last year, we saw gift purchasing on Vimeo OTT triple in December, and grow 12-fold between December 25-27 compared to the average for the rest of the year. But it isn’t just gifting where the numbers climb. In 2016, subscription sales went up by 34% in December, and went up as much as 78% the week after Christmas from those post-holiday shoppers. So, how can you capture the most sales during this consumptive season?
Promote gifting to your people
The weeks after Black Friday are often the best times for businesses. And that’s because people tend to buy way more stuff for the holidays. Digital video and subscriptions hold a distinct advantage for last-minute shoppers: they are fast and convenient. Delivery of a network subscription is instantaneous. If a package is on backorder, or if they forgot to include Aunt Alice on their shopping list, customers can go online to quickly purchase a gift subscription — and poof! That video subscription arrives in the giftee’s inbox.
Now it’s your job to remind your network just how easy giving the gift of video is. One quick and simple way to do this is to make an announcement on your social media channels. Just remind them to hit the “Gift this” option at checkout. Another effective method is emailing your community a holiday newsletter, encouraging them to give the gift of your videos.
Discounts go a long way
Shoppers are also very receptive to promos over the holidays. Last year, 50% off proved to be the most successful discount (we recommend offering up to 66% off), and discounts that last about three months tend to perform the best overall. It’s also a good practice to display holiday promos on your homepage and across your social channels, so customers can easily find it. For some real life inspo, check out the seasonally-appropriate banner MHz Choice put up on their site.
Start giving out free trials
We recommend always providing a free trial option, because it is such a powerful tool for acquiring new subscribers. In general, 66% of people who sign up for free trials convert into paying customers. If you use branded apps, that conversion can go up to as much as 72% on certain platforms. And that’s a huge incentive to offer your fans a test run of your video subscription.
If you don’t currently offer free trials, the holidays are the perfect time to start. The Life Project is a great case study to look at. Creators Sam Golbach and Colby Brock offered free trials for the first time last December and saw a 26% spike in their paying subscriptions as a result. If you aren’t sure how long you should offer a free trial, we’ve found that seven days works best for instructional networks, while 30 days is most successful for entertainment subscriptions.
Release some timely videos
If you have any holiday-related material you’re debuting, make sure to update your social media calendar and promote it. If you run an instructional service, maybe plan some holiday crafting tutorials or recipe videos. If you have any holiday films or episodes on your platform be sure to highlight those.
Get your social media campaign ready for the holidays
If you don’t include a call to action (CTA) on your Facebook page, you’ll want to get on that. You can use this to encourage your fans to subscribe. If you have a budget for social ads, the holidays are a great time to set them up. You can use lookalike audiences on Facebook to target prime prospective customers, and if you want to run some ads on Twitter, you can set up campaigns with your holiday promos at the ready.
Win back your former customers
In addition to your holiday gifting promos, you can set up an incentive for former customers who have unsubscribed. Email your offer to them as part of a winback campaign. It’s an organic way to promote new videos you’ve recently released, and highlight that your new videos are discounted to any and all former patrons.
You can employ a similar tactic with your followers on your customers page. Look at who is following your site, but has yet to subscribe to your series. Then send those followers a discount code, encouraging them to sign up.
Customize your receipt
Don’t underestimate the power of a thoughtful thank you. Customize your thank you receipt for new subscribers, and let them know how much you appreciate their support. The receipt is your final interaction with your subscriber during purchase, so it’s a great opportunity to leave a warm holiday message. Get strategic, and make the most of it! Share any charities or non profits you’re partnering with for the season, and let your new fans know that they can purchase gift subscriptions for others. You can even use Vimeo Create to make a thank you video for your subscribers.
Start planning before December
In addition to the increase in sales during December, we also saw an 11% increase in new subscriptions on Black Friday and a 55% jump on Cyber Monday. It literally pays to plan and promote your timely holiday materials, campaigns, and social outreach now so you can make the most of these busy and fruitful months.
For more tips on growing your network, delve into our best OTT practices. And for some holiday outreach inspiration, check out our guide on using email to grow your business.
If you’re not familiar with our OTT offerings, this refers to our video subscription services that let any creator become a video seller. With OTT, you can create subscription channels to share with the world, straight from the apps and sites you and your fans use the most. Think of it like creating your own personal Netflix. And now is the perfect time to get started.
It’s not surprising that gift subscriptions hit their peak during December. Last year, we saw gift purchasing on Vimeo OTT triple in December, and grow 12-fold between December 25-27 compared to the average for the rest of the year. But it isn’t just gifting where the numbers climb. In 2016, subscription sales went up by 34% in December, and went up as much as 78% the week after Christmas from those post-holiday shoppers. So, how can you capture the most sales during this consumptive season?
Promote gifting to your people
The weeks after Black Friday are often the best times for businesses. And that’s because people tend to buy way more stuff for the holidays. Digital video and subscriptions hold a distinct advantage for last-minute shoppers: they are fast and convenient. Delivery of a network subscription is instantaneous. If a package is on backorder, or if they forgot to include Aunt Alice on their shopping list, customers can go online to quickly purchase a gift subscription — and poof! That video subscription arrives in the giftee’s inbox.
Now it’s your job to remind your network just how easy giving the gift of video is. One quick and simple way to do this is to make an announcement on your social media channels. Just remind them to hit the “Gift this” option at checkout. Another effective method is emailing your community a holiday newsletter, encouraging them to give the gift of your videos.
Discounts go a long way
Shoppers are also very receptive to promos over the holidays. Last year, 50% off proved to be the most successful discount (we recommend offering up to 66% off), and discounts that last about three months tend to perform the best overall. It’s also a good practice to display holiday promos on your homepage and across your social channels, so customers can easily find it. For some real life inspo, check out the seasonally-appropriate banner MHz Choice put up on their site.
Start giving out free trials
We recommend always providing a free trial option, because it is such a powerful tool for acquiring new subscribers. In general, 66% of people who sign up for free trials convert into paying customers. If you use branded apps, that conversion can go up to as much as 72% on certain platforms. And that’s a huge incentive to offer your fans a test run of your video subscription.
If you don’t currently offer free trials, the holidays are the perfect time to start. The Life Project is a great case study to look at. Creators Sam Golbach and Colby Brock offered free trials for the first time last December and saw a 26% spike in their paying subscriptions as a result. If you aren’t sure how long you should offer a free trial, we’ve found that seven days works best for instructional networks, while 30 days is most successful for entertainment subscriptions.
Release some timely videos
If you have any holiday-related material you’re debuting, make sure to update your social media calendar and promote it. If you run an instructional service, maybe plan some holiday crafting tutorials or recipe videos. If you have any holiday films or episodes on your platform be sure to highlight those.
Get your social media campaign ready for the holidays
If you don’t include a call to action (CTA) on your Facebook page, you’ll want to get on that. You can use this to encourage your fans to subscribe. If you have a budget for social ads, the holidays are a great time to set them up. You can use lookalike audiences on Facebook to target prime prospective customers, and if you want to run some ads on Twitter, you can set up campaigns with your holiday promos at the ready.
Win back your former customers
In addition to your holiday gifting promos, you can set up an incentive for former customers who have unsubscribed. Email your offer to them as part of a winback campaign. It’s an organic way to promote new videos you’ve recently released, and highlight that your new videos are discounted to any and all former patrons.
You can employ a similar tactic with your followers on your customers page. Look at who is following your site, but has yet to subscribe to your series. Then send those followers a discount code, encouraging them to sign up.
Customize your receipt
Don’t underestimate the power of a thoughtful thank you. Customize your thank you receipt for new subscribers, and let them know how much you appreciate their support. The receipt is your final interaction with your subscriber during purchase, so it’s a great opportunity to leave a warm holiday message. Get strategic, and make the most of it! Share any charities or non profits you’re partnering with for the season, and let your new fans know that they can purchase gift subscriptions for others. You can even use Vimeo Create to make a thank you video for your subscribers.
Start planning before December
In addition to the increase in sales during December, we also saw an 11% increase in new subscriptions on Black Friday and a 55% jump on Cyber Monday. It literally pays to plan and promote your timely holiday materials, campaigns, and social outreach now so you can make the most of these busy and fruitful months.
For more tips on growing your network, delve into our best OTT practices. And for some holiday outreach inspiration, check out our guide on using email to grow your business. 