Video Monetization

From YouTube to Uscreen – How To Plan For A Smooth Transition

By James Johnson
9 Min Read

Learn More about Video Monetization

YouTube to VOD

This one’s for YouTubers.

Specifically, YouTubers with 500+ subscribers who want a stress-free way to transition their video monetization to an independent VOD platform.

If you fall into that category, you’re in the perfect position to launch a profitable VOD business. 

Time and time again, we’ve seen YouTubers like you move their video monetization efforts to Uscreen and achieve incredible levels of success. (Average monthly earnings of $5,800 anyone?)

Now whether you’ll be using Uscreen or another method to start your new VOD, you’ll need to plan your transition carefully and tactfully.

Transitioning your video monetization efforts to a new platform can be tricky; there are lots of moving parts, and you don’t want it to impact your audience.

You’ll need a plan, and we’ve got one for you.

In this guide, we’ve outlined the smoothest possible way for you to transition your YouTube monetization to your new independent VOD, along with the average conversion rate we’ve seen our users achieve using this plan.

This plan will save you time, build anticipation and provide you with a stable marketing foundation.

For this post, we’ll assume you’ll be using Uscreen to launch your VOD, but this plan can essentially work for any VOD platform you decide to go with.

Let’s take a closer look…

The Perfect Pairing: Uscreen + YouTube = Video Business Success

Before you make the transition to Uscreen we need to talk about YouTube. Mostly, what’s going to happen to your channel once you’re all set up.

It’s normal to think that you are about to make a transition away from YouTube. That once you launch your VOD business, you won’t need it anymore.

But, that’s not true.

The transition you’re about to make is to a new style of business; a better, more profitable, way of generating income in a way that you control.

Think of it this way:

  • Uscreen is about to become the “hub” of your business; it’s where you’ll sell videos, accept payments, and host your premium content
  • YouTube is about to become your most valuable marketing tool; it’s where you’ll connect with new customers and build an effective marketing funnel

In other words:

  • Your VOD is for your paid content
  • Your YouTube is for your free content

Always remember that.

In the rest of this guide, we’re going to look at how you can make the smooth transition of your video business hub to your VOD.

Are you ready?

5 Steps To Smoothly Transition From YouTube To Uscreen

There are five steps you’ll need to follow in your YouTube to Uscreen transition:

  1. Outline: get clear on what content you’re going to offer
  2. Strategize: plan how you’ll connect potential viewers to your video website
  3. Build: create your video website, your way
  4. Announce: share your new site with your YouTube subscribers
  5. Promote: create an offer your audience will love

In the next sections, we’ll go through each of these in detail and give you some pro-tips on how to set yourself up for success.

Step 1 – Get Clear On The Content You’re Going To Offer

The first step in this process is to clearly outline the paid content you’re going to offer on your new VOD service.

You’re going to need to create a clear plan of how the content will:

  • Look and feel
  • Differ from the free content you’ll offer
  • Bring extra value to your audience

There is no one-size-fits-all rule for this and you will need to make decisions based on your audience’s wants, needs, and goals.

It’s important to remember this is your platform now; you can create your content your way. You don’t have to answer to advertisers (and their algorithms) anymore.

You can be like Magic Stream and create super cinematic tutorials; you can be like Wanderlust TV and make beautiful follow-along courses.

The choice is yours, so play around with different…

  • cinematography 
  • content formats
  • topics and themes
  • course modules
  • standalone videos
  • additional resources

…to create something truly unique that your audience will love. 

We recommend that, whatever you decide to do, you aim to keep certain elements consistent and predictable for your audience, like:

  • Intros and outros
  • Branding on additional materials
  • New content release dates

And, if all of this sounds a little intimidating, or has you asking the question, “but what if my content isn’t good enough for people to buy?” don’t worry.

People have become more than willing to pay for content they could find for free elsewhere. Oftentimes, they’re paying for the ease of access and knowing the content is all in one place.

So, if you follow the principles in this article, you’ll be able to ensure your content is profitable and positively-received by your audience.

Step 2 – Create A YouTube + Uscreen Strategy

This is arguably the most crucial step of this transition.

We mentioned earlier that YouTube and your VOD can work in harmony to create a phenomenal business and marketing strategy.

And, before you start migrating videos or building websites, you need to have a clear idea of how this is going to work.

Based on our thousands of users who have transitioned from YouTube, we recommend you take the following steps:

  1. Earmark your highest-value YouTube videos to be migrated to your VOD
  2. Plan a short trailer for each of these videos to be uploaded to YouTube in its place
  3. In that plan, include a clear call to action to check out your new VOD website
  4. Earmark related videos on YouTube where you can add a link to your paid content

This will give you:

  • Premium videos for when you launch your VOD website using Uscreen
  • Free videos that will keep attracting new customers
  • Early opportunities to plug your new paid platform

Having a clear plan of what videos are going to be on what platform will help make this transition as smooth as possible. 

Once you have completed the transition to Uscreen, the steps you’ve just taken will provide a foundation for the YouTube marketing funnel that is essential to the success of your business.

Step 3 – Build Your VOD On Uscreen

With your planning and strategizing you’ve ensured that your transition will go as smoothly as possible. Now, it’s time for the fun part. Building your website! 

If you’ve been running your YouTube channel for a while, you probably have a good idea of what you’d like for the look and feel of your website.

But there are a couple of subtle differences between branding and optimizing a video on demand website and a YouTube channel.

As such, we recommend you check our free Video Business School modules on:

  • Branding
  • Copywriting
  • SEO

These will give you tried-and-tested ways to create a website that looks, feels, and performs like the one you are imagining right now.

Remember, it doesn’t need to be perfect, just good enough to launch! 

Here is a checklist of everything you need to have on your new VOD website before you announce it to your YouTube subscribers:

  • All of your premium content has been moved from YouTube to Uscreen
  • You have trailers for each piece of premium content
  • All of your content is logically categorized and tagged
  • All extra resources (like PDFs) are uploaded and in place (if you have any)
  • You have a simple sales page to convert your traffic to a paying audience (learn more)
  • Each page is optimized for a relevant Google keyword
  • Your payment gateways are connected and tested

Once you can tick each of these boxes, you’re ready to move on to the last two steps! 

Step 4 – Create A YouTube Video Announcement

With your site up and running, it’s time to let the world know about this epic platform you’ve created. (Basically your YouTube audience.)

To do this you’re going to create an announcement video where you talk about your new platform, what it is, and how you’re going to be uploading all of your best stuff there.

How you create this video is up to you; you know your audience and what they like far better than we do!

But you will need to ensure your video has the following elements:

  • Strong focus on the benefits of your new VOD site
  • Previews of the content they can access
  • Pricing information
  • A clear call to action to check out your website

Let’s take a quick look at two examples of the different ways you can include this.

Your Book Of Memories launched her Uscreen website by creating a simple update video that talks about why she created the platform and what users can find there:

This approach is great because her channel is pretty casual and conversational. It doesn’t feel too “hard sell” which would be pretty out of character for her.

Ink Workshops, on the other hand, decided to create a full-on cinematic trailer for their announcement video:

This video works as a quasi sales letter that aims to build anticipation and desire around the product they’re about to launch. It’s an excellent option for standalone courses and videos.

The most stand out thing for each of these videos is that they are on-brand and created in a way that fits the content they’ve created in the past. They don’t catch their subscribers off guard! 

You can learn more about how to launch your VOD service by checking out our free launch course module here.

You can also supercharge this announcement video by following step five…

Step 5 – Create A High Converting Offer

If you want to sweeten the deal for your existing subscribers –  or just increase the number of people who try your new service – you can create a coupon offer using Uscreen.

You can create coupons that offer:

  • Discounts
  • Free trials

And they can have a huge impact on your sales.

In fact, when we looked at our 1.1 million Uscreen subscribers, we found that 52% of people who signed up to a free trial converted into paying customers.

This is definitely a tactic that provides high levels of value to both you and your subscribers, so we really recommend using it to see how it impacts your business.

Sub-question: How much of your YouTube subscribers can you expect to convert to your paid VOD?

While there is no guarantee of how many subscribers you could potentially convert, we have seen our most successful users convert between 0.5% to 2.5% of their digital following into paying VOD customers.

In fact, Your Book of Memories converted 3.7% of its YouTube subscribers to paying VOD subscribers, generating over $13,000 in its first 4 months with Uscreen.

By following this plan for Youtube to VOD transition, and implementing the Youtube marketing funnel we developed, you can do it do.

Transition Complete: Here’s To Your New Independent VOD

If you’ve followed each of these steps you should have made a smooth and stress-free transition to your new VOD business with Uscreen.

Better still, your audience will be ready and waiting with their wallets out to sign up for their first subscription! 

If you’re not that far yet, don’t worry; here’s a quick checklist of everything you need to do:

  1. Outline: earmark the content you’ll be using on Uscreen platform
  2. Strategize: create a YouTube + Uscreen marketing strategy for the future
  3. Build: create your video website, optimize it, and get it ready for launch
  4. Announce: create an announcement video for your YouTube subscribers
  5. Promote: create an offer – preferably a free trial – that will convert subscribers into customers

And, if you have any questions on the process, feel free to leave us a comment on this post and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible.

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