Kent Elliott
What in the world is connected TV (CTV)? Most likely, you’ve heard of one of the most popular connected TV devices: Apple TV. But there are many more that millions of households use to stream all kinds of video content on their smart TV’s and smart phones. If millions of people are using it, where is the church? I think it is important that the church, which, by the way, has the best message/content on the planet, should be center stage on all of these platforms. Why all? Because many of the households will have one or two of the major devices and you want to make sure you are not missing any household in your community. For example, if a household only has Amazon Fire TV and you choose to only have Roku and Apple TV, then you will be missing a family that needs to hear The Message.
So why pay for something when there are other platforms like Facebook and YouTube that are free to stream your content? First, I encourage you to use these free social media platforms to post and boost about your digital video content. I recommend using “teaser content” or as some might say, “the drip before the drop” content that is only 2-3 minutes or less. Combining the power of these platforms’ followers, search engines and the ability to boost and target regions and demographics allows you to capture the intended prospects attention and direct them to your CTV apps.
Once you get your prospects’ attention, then you can drive them to your own private channel free from ads, negative content and distracting video recommendations. This gives a better user experience so the viewer is not easily sidetracked by any other unwanted content.
Your first priority as a church for streaming is to find a platform that allows your church to have its own private channel that you have full control over. One option is FaithStream.
FaithStream helps churches and ministries build and maintain Netflix-caliber connected TV apps on the most popular streaming devices like Roku, Apple TV, Fire TV, Android TV, IOS and Google Play. You can find more information at www.faithstream.video.
Kent W. Elliott
President and Lead Consultant
FaithWorks Image Consulting