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Why would I want to give free access to my video products?
Whether you are sending free copies to your partners, friends and family, crowd funders, or VIPs, the "Add Customer" tool can give this exclusive group free access to your subscription or transactional (purchase/rental) Products. This feature is available with all OTT plans.
USE ADD CUSTOMER TO:
- Give your customers free access.
- Send a copy of your work to your cast, crew, friends, & family.
- Fulfill a crowdfunding campaign - Got a campaign you need to reward the backers of with a digital download of your work? We charge you $1 per backer.
Use the Add Customer tool to send a Product of your choice to your recipient(s). They will get immediate access to watch your content, without having to go through a redemption process.
An Add Customer link lasts until it is clicked, or for one (1) week, whichever comes first.
⚠️Note: Customers who are given free access will not auto-renew because there is no existing subscription to renew. After their access expires, they will be prompted to subscribe the next time they attempt to log in, which can be done via the checkout form.
You can wait until the customer's access expires and gift them another year of free access via "Add Customer". You can also reach out to us and we can disable the customer’s entry on our end, and then you can give them free access via "Add Customer".
How to add customers to a subscription product
To get started, navigate to Customers. On this page, you can not only add a customer but also keep track of the most recent activity of your entire audience. Click + Add Customer.
Select the type of product you wish to send out, in the case of this example, a Subscription.
Click Next. Fill out the Email and Duration fields. You can enter up to 100 recipients at a time, and grant them access for: 1 week, 2 weeks, 1 month, 2 months, 3 months, 6 months, 1 year, or Forever. You can also set a custom expiration date, where the customer's access will be active immediately but not renew past a specified date.
⚠️Note: At the bottom of the window, you will notice a charge that corresponds to the number of recipients you have chosen to include. Please note, we default to creating a new fulfillment for every month the user had access regardless of the actual duration of their access.
You can also opt to send an email notification to these users. It is unchecked by default, so make sure to check the box if you want to send these users an email informing them of their access.
Finalize the process by clicking Add. A message will appear confirming that the following recipients have been added to your Customers Page.
If you've chosen to send an email notification to your customers, the recipients you have selected will receive an email explaining that they have been given access to a subscription. The email will contain the product artwork, your message, and a watch link.
How to add customers to a purchase or rental product
Similarly, you can give special viewers access to your transactional (purhase/rental) products.
Navigate to Activity > Customers and click on the + Add Customer button.
Select Buy or rent in the menu and click Next.
Select the specific product you wish to give the recipient access to by clicking (+) next to the Products field and searching among your TVOD products. Add in the email of the recipient and the duration.
If you wish to send an email notification, check Notify customers via email, fill out the message field. Scroll down in the modal to notice that you will be charged $1 per customer.
Click Add to complete the process.
If you've chosen to send an email notification to your customers, the recipients you have selected will receive an email explaining that they have been given access to the rental/purchase content. The email will contain the product artwork, your message, and a watch link.
How to revoke customer access to a product
Should you want to revoke a customer's access:
Select the customer(s) from the list on your Customers page (Tip: Use the search tool to more quickly locate the customer).
Once you click on the customer, you will be brought to that customer's page within your admin. Navigate to Support and select Cancel.
A pop-up will appear asking you to confirm if you want to revoke access; click OK. You will then see the customer's account status update to Disabled.
Note: If you're hoping to showcase a product before release for publicity, a screener might be more appropriate. Click here for more information on screeners.