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Set up a free with registration subscription product on Vimeo OTT

This feature requires an Enterprise plan on Vimeo OTT.

Learn how to create a free subscription with user registration on your Vimeo OTT site. This guide will walk you through the simple steps to set up this product.

In this article: 

Free registration

Adding your videos to a free registration tier works similarly to a paid subscription product. If you want to know how to get started on creating a paid subscription, you can refer to our help article here.

⚠️Note: Free Registration products are currently a Beta feature and require a Vimeo OTT Enterprise Account. If you are interested in this feature, contact our Sales Team for more info. This is a feature that requires activation before these settings will be available on your OTT site. 

To set up a free registration tier, follow these steps:

  1. Navigate to the Manage Products to Create Product.
  2. Select Free Registration from the menu.

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  3. Click Create. You will be taken through the Subscription setup page (see below). 

Note: All subscribers (previous and current) will be given access to the free registration product automatically once the free product is published.

When you offer both a free registration and a paid subscription, your site will start promoting the free registration on the homepage, to entice users to sign up for a selection of your content and begin watching.

Users will still see prompts to subscribe on the navigation bar or if they click on any video that is only available to paid subscribers. They can then upgrade to being a paid subscriber after they initially sign up.

Users accessing free content in apps will see a Watch Now option for content that requires registration to access, which will lead them to a prompt to Create an account.

 

Subscription setup: basic info

In the Basic info tab of the subscription setup page, you can set up the following for your product: 

  • Title: Set a name for your free subscription. 
  • Description: Add details of the offering to be shown on the checkout form.
  • If you have a translated version of your product title and description, click Add translations, select the language(s), and type in the translation. These translations will appear for users who select the corresponding language anywhere on your site, including the checkout page.
  • Thumbnail: Provide a 16:9 ratio image (3840 x 2160 pixels works best) to represent your product. This image will appear in customer emails, trailers, Facebook, and Twitter when you share your website and on your website.

Subscription setup: content

To add content, follow these steps:

  1. Click Manage Content. A new tab will open on the manage/videos page, where all your videos that have been uploaded are located.
  2. From the checklist, select all the videos that you want included in your free registration product.
  3. Click Edit, then select Plans from the dropdown menu.

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  4. Check the Registered Members option, then click Add. (Note: Subscribers are checked by default, which includes Free Trial users. Any video you select for registered members will by default be accessible to paying subscribers.)

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  5. A second menu modal will appear to confirm your selection. Select confirm for the next steps. (Note: Make sure that the selected videos belong in a category or collection to ensure they are discoverable by a customer.)
  6. Return to the previous tab to complete the free registration product setup. Fill out the following: 
    • Distribution Tab: Choose whether your videos should be available worldwide, only in certain countries, or blocked in certain countries.
    • Advanced Tab: In the Advanced menu, you can customize the messaging we send when a customer makes a purchase (optional).
  7. Hit Save and Publish Now.

Note: All the previous and current subscribers will be granted access to the free registration product when published.

Known Beta Issues

As this feature is in beta, you may encounter some buggy behaviors. We will be sure to address these before our general release and appreciate any feedback you can provide. 

Analytics: 

  • Google Adwords pixels cannot be used to track free registration signups.

Free registration in Apps

Important: Free registration products are not directly available on the app’s login screen. In multi-tier scenarios, the app primarily displays the higher-tier option (such as "Subscribe").

Here’s how users can still create a free account:

  • Explore the app: Users can browse content within the app. If they find a video available for free registration, they will be directed to a general Create Account screen without being prompted to subscribe.
  • Web registration: Alternatively, users can create an account directly on the website and then log in to the app with those credentials.

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