7 Hot Tips For Marketing Your Roku Channel


Many channel publishers launch their channel on Roku and then leave it up to Roku to grow their channel. While that is perfectly fine for many – and Roku will grow your channel – for some they want a quicker approach.

Yes Channels will grow organically as the platform grows and more people find it; and yes EVERY channel will experience growth BUT it takes TIME. Roku is expected to hit 100 million active account by 2025, so as far as they eye can see – there is nothing but upward growth.

However there are many ways in which you can be proactive and scale your channel faster.

Here are a few strategies that can help:

  1. Advertise on Roku

Roku has an EXCELLENT platform for fast tracking your viewership. Its called “Roku Solutions for Publishers” . Roku allows channel owners to buy advertising to target viewers where it matters most.

A few key points:

  • Publishers can advertise to consumers when they are first setting up their devices.
  • Uniquely grow your audience by targeting display and video ads on consumers Roku device (very effective).
  • Promote your channel on Roku’s remote control app.

Roku has a self serve link – meaning that it works kind of like google ad-words. You can sign up and start buying ads on your own. You can get started or learn more by visiting Roku’s publisher solutions by clicking here.


2. Facebook

Facebook has hundreds of millions of users – more than any other social platform. Since most Roku viewers also have Facebook accounts it only makes since to interact with them there. Create a Facebook page just for your Roku channel. This will allow you to run Facebook campaigns directly for your Roku channel.

You can also post an occasional video – but be sure not to post to many – the whole concept is to get people to go to your Roku channel, and watch it there – not keep coming to your Roku Facebook page to watch it.

Try announcements like this:

“Check out our new video from XYZ exclusively on [your channel]”. Make sure you include your Roku Add Channel link.

OR

“We Just added 7 new videos to [your channel]! Come check it out …Only on ROKU”.

Make sure you keep your updates consistent and short and sweet. Recommend your page to as many as you can and open up communication with channel viewers. The more you interact the more viewers you will get.


3. Website

If your channel features interesting content that people use google to search for then you need to have a website for your channel. Using google people looking for that type of content will discover your website and ultimately your channel. Your website should have links to add your Roku channel to their Roku device. The more niche your channel is the more you really need a website. Plus there are so many opportunities using your website to grow a mailing list of viewers (which leads me to my next point).


4. Mailing List

Your mailing list can be a STRONG factor in growing your Roku channel. Keeping viewers informed of whats in your production pipeline or whats new on your channel is important. Keeping viewers informed of upcoming live events can keep viewers engaged. The more the viewers are engaged the more revenue your channel earns.


5. Phone Apps

If you have a Tvstartup account and have elected to get one of our iPhone or Android apps you can use these apps to promote your channel through “push notifications”. Every one of your viewers that has the app can get notified every time you decide to release a new video OR for whatever reason you deem fit. We have all at one time or another received push notifications on our mobile phone whatever the reason…News updates, sports scores, YouTube, weather reports, Amber Alerts and so forth. Why not use this to get more viewers engaged in your channel?

To learn more about our mobile apps for iPhone and Android click here.


6. YouTube

YouTube is not your competitor to Roku. Roku’s viewership is living room entertainment. YouTube’s viewership is mobile phone entertainment. When people want to watch movies or real professional content most of the time they do so on their living room TV sets. Lets face it there is no signs of large screen TV sales slowing down.

However Youtube can be a great place to promote your Roku channel. The key is not to release all of your content onto YouTube. You want your viewers to open your channel on Roku where you have a much better rate of return on your investment (YouTube SUCKS for monetizing videos).

The idea is to give them teasers on YouTube and send them to your Roku channel for the full list of content.


7. Roku Channel Guides

If you search for “Roku channel guide” you will get a list of third party companies that publish whats on Roku. Hundreds of thousands of Roku viewers use this as a resource to find out what on and when. You should publish your channel and channel content to these guides. Do not underestimate the amount of viewers these guides could bring your channel for FREE. If you have good content it will peak their interest and result in more viewers ……simply by just listing your channel in these guides. These guides will also allow you too publish your channel url so that viewers can easily add your channel to their Roku channel lineup.

Obviously these are not the only ways to promote your channel. However as technology grows so do the ways to promote your content grow. However this should give you a foundation of how to continuously drive more and more new viewers to your channel.

If your not a current customer and would like to get your own Roku channel, sign up for a live demo to see how our turn key packages work by clicking here.

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Small Production Companies Take Advantage of Cord Cutting


Households around the country are cutting ties with cable and satellite TV. In fact its increasing faster than originally predicted. Experts are now saying that by the end of 2022 the number of cord cutting households will total more than a quarter of U.S. Households (according to a study done by eMarketer).

In 2019 over 22 million US households have already given up the traditional satellite and cable pay service making up of 17.3% of all U.S. Households according to the study. The number of cord-cutters is predicted to continually climb at a steady rate in the upcoming years. In fact by 2023 it is expected to reach 34.9 million households.

This may be bad news for pay and cable TV providers however its fantastic news if you are a small video production company. The opportunities provided to small broadcasters looking for an audience is like a “dream come true”.

Cord-cutters are not stooping or changing their viewing habits, but rather adapting to newer technologies. In other words they are still consuming video content, but they are finding new sources of video content that is more economical or more tailered to their exact viewing niche or interests.

There are also those that are we call generation Z (born after 1998) who will never pay a subscription fee to a cable or satellite operator because they were raised on online content. So the trend is set – Cable and satellite pay subscription will suffer a slow death, and online television will continue to rise.

Many small broadcasters and production companies are taking advantage of the cord cutting by maximizing the leverage that online TV brings. Never before in history has there been access to such large audiences for such a small investment. Its the best way to leverage production against large production and media conglomerates.

With companies like TvStartup a small production company or business can start their own online TV network for a fraction of the price it would of cost a decade ago. They give broadcasters the ability to broadcast live, create VOD experiences with categories similar to NetFlix, create playlists, schedule playlists and even simulcast to social media.

Verizon predicted the video tidal wave would begin in 2021 and last for several years. Smart broadcasters are positioning themselves to not only ride the wave but to cash in on it with technologies like ad injection. Ad injection is where advertisers can inject ads into your channel automatically through an algorithm. This allows broadcasters to automatically monetize their content library without selling advertising or needing a sales team.

If you would like to learn more you can schedule a live demo with a TvStartup Specialists by clicking here.

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