A Metadata Strategy to Accelerate Viewer “Time to Enjoyment”

A scientific experiment performed in 2000 by psychologists Sheena Igyengar and Mark Lepper, took a straightforward look at how to solve the challenge of choice overload. In the study, a display table selling different jams was set up at a supermarket. Sometimes the table held 24 different types of jam. At other times, only 6 types of jam were displayed.  Sales were higher when the table only held 6 options. In the end, limited options outperformed extensive options even though more people stopped to check out the table when it had 24 jams displayed.

These results lend credibility to the idea that intelligently curated and limited options will outperform an abundance of options. When applied to content publishers and distributors, a tight metadata strategy can help reduce a viewer’s choice paralysis and accelerate their “time to enjoyment” or the time it takes them to find, select and start watching a program. 

As a reminder, metadata is the data that describes and is attached to your content. It is not the content itself. It includes program name, episode title, posters, thumbnails, reviews, synopses, genre tags, age rating, series number, episode number and more. 

Metadata is very useful in helping to organise content. It is also critical to the success of  algorithms that help video service operators present content in more meaningful ways to their subscribers. Metadata helps with:

1. Curation. Selecting and promoting content most interesting to the viewer and creating a captivating experience can increase subscriber engagement and reduce the time it takes a user to start watching content. Curation is enabled by algorithms that use metadata to define the content most interesting to viewers.  For example, only specific genres of content or series starring favourite actors will be displayed and recommended to the viewer.

2. Clarity. Differentiating between similar yet different programmes is another way to help viewers find the content they want. Metadata provides incremental levels of detail that can help subscribers distinguish between options. This includes options to share sub-genres, trailers or reviews; more detailed synopses or to prevent titles that are too similar from being displayed adjacently.

3. Stickiness. If viewers can find all of the details they require to learn about their content choices, they are less likely to leave your platform and visit an alternative service to understand where content is available. Additionally, robust metadata allows the viewer to make informed choices that will positively impact their perception of your platform.

A metadata strategy brings all decision-making information together in one place. Each content provider will decide which metadata (e.g., thumbnails, genres, recommendations) will be prioritised for its site and how they will use metadata to improve the discovery process.

At MetaBroadcast, we believe that metadata can transform the way video service providers curate and present content to audiences. Meaningful content discovery is a process dependent on organising and presenting content in a structured manner. We automate the processes to aggregate, normalise and cleanse the metadata our customers have prioritised –  giving them high quality data to support their content distribution strategies..

This blog is an extract from our whitepaper “Understanding and Combating Viewer “Paralysis of Choice’. To access the full white paper, please request it here.