Converting Your DVD Content Into a Subscription Business

DVDs might be a dying business, but their content doesn’t have to be. In fact, DVDs are a content vault for an on-demand recurring subscription business. What business doesn’t want that?

How does this work?  Let’s look at the fitness industry as an example.

According to IbisWorld, the DVD fitness business is worth more than $264.5 billion. There’s no question that people are willing to pay for fitness workouts making this industry ripe for moving to a subscription model.

Fitness instructors across the country are seeing the opportunity: we are living in a digital age and people want online content. Here’s a great example of a Miami-based instructor who’s reaping the benefits of moving her workout videos online.

So what's the benefits of moving to subscription?

No matter what industry you are in, there are several business drivers to consider in making the switch:

• Recurring Revenue: The shift to a subscription model for content distribution enables a brand to move from a one-time transaction to a reoccurring revenue stream.
• Increased Customer Engagement: A subscription model also increases ongoing engagement enabling you to upsell additional goods and services with your customer and ultimately provides greater lifetime value.
• More Customer Insights: With the right technology platform, a subscription model also allows for a great deal of consumer data and metrics. Gain insights including view times, drop-off points and most popular segments.
• Quick to Market: Without the same requirements involved with manufacturing and distribution process, online content be released much faster and at a much lower cost.
• On-Demand Content: An online subscription model allows for a consumer to access that content whenever and wherever they want it—and on any device they want.
• Adding Social Tools: Leverage the power of the people. By including social features such as galleries, chat tools and discussion boards, peers can share their work and offer encouragement.

While the future of the DVD may not be so bright, today’s technology is enabling us to revive DVD content and ultimately help brands to build a new business model.  In many cases, DVD content can be digitized with a fully functioning subscription site launched in less than four weeks. There is a huge consumer appetite for online content and a huge value proposition for brands in digitalizing content—now’s the time to think about the recurring revenue opportunity.