Report: 2020 the year of streaming
April 2, 2020
Mobile app intelligence specialist Apptopia, and customer engagement platform Braze have revealed key findings from a joint report, 2020: The Year of Streaming, analysing the state of the streaming industry, with streaming poised for a breakout year in 2020.
Disney+ has demonstrated that new streaming services can enter a crowded market and be successful, and in 2020, there will be further new streaming services launching, including Amazon Prime Video Cinema Hub, HBO Max, Peacock, and Quibi. Additionally, global conditions have rapidly changed consumer behaviour, and streaming services are quickly adapting to the new normal. The report compares 35 streaming services over a seven-month period to examine how successful companies used customer engagement strategies to drive business value.
“Apptopia looks at mobile app trends that drive business and consumer behaviour, and we’ve been looking for ways to extend our dataset to dive deeper and identify the reasons behind these trends,” advised Adam Blacker, VP, Insights of Apptopia. “We were enthusiastic to partner with Braze on this report to do exactly this. The findings of the report demonstrate that 2020 is going to be the year of streaming and dive into how new and existing streaming services can be successful in this new environment.”
“With the proliferation of streaming options over the years, today’s consumers are overwhelmed with choice,” noted Myles Kleeger, President and Chief Customer Officer of Braze. “The report proves that content combined with the right customer engagement strategies not only delivers relevant experiences, but also drives business growth. The best practices outlined in the report can really help any brand looking to connect with their customers in a relevant way.”
Key findings of the report include:
- Content that creates fandom is king: Adult Swim’s cartoon series Rick and Morty proved to be the most effective content for generating both short-term and long-term monthly active users (MAU). Over the course of the most recent season of Rick and Morty, the Adult Swim app’s daily active users (DAU) increased by 504 per cent. Amazon Prime Video’s The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, HBO’s Game of Thrones, and sporting events also drove DAU growth in a meaningful way.
- There’s enough room for new and existing services: In the first three months alone, Disney+ amassed over 28 million subscribers in five countries before it expanded to seven more in March. Apptopia and Braze identified strategies that existing streaming services successfully used to grow engagement with customers. Top performing brands are 21 per cent more likely to send push notifications and 300 per cent more likely to send in-app messages, and also saw an increase in in-app purchase revenue.
- Top streaming apps worldwide in 2020: One quarter of the way into 2020, a lot has happened in streaming. While Netflix tops the most worldwide downloads for 2020 (59.1 million downloads through Q1), Disney+ dominated Europe before it even arrived in major markets there. Additionally, the report found that consumers still gravitate toward YouTube, despite the emergence of newer competitors.
Looking ahead to the rest of 2020, customers are going to be presented with more streaming options than ever before, according to the report. To stay relevant and binge-worthy, it’s critical for new and existing streaming services to use customer engagement strategies that create personalised experiences and provide value to every customer, it advises.