· Written by Drew Wilson

There are many different forms of digital advertising now, but some of them still tend to fall into a gap between "traditional" and "digital" marketing. Media buying can sometimes fall in that gap because radio and basic commercial ads can be considered a "traditional" form of advertising. 

TV advertising has long been considered thee most powerful and trusted form of advertising. But it is important to understand that CTV (Connected TV) is a different type of TV advertising due to technological advances, streaming services, smart TV's, etc. As of 2019, up to 92% of consumers have a smart TV, and more people are watching premium programming through streaming services.

Now, with OTT/CTV  capability (over-the-top devices like laptops, tablets, etc.), we have the ability to take the power of TV video advertising and attach it to the target-ability of digital advertising. Up to 20% of all TV viewing is done via streaming services like Hulu, Roku, Apple TV, and other easily accessible platforms. Here are three reasons why we believe OTT/CTV should be included in your overall marketing campaigns.

1. Easily Target and Retarget Your Audience with OTT/CTV

OTT/CTV is purchased programmatically, allowing you to buy OTT/CTV like a typical web display campaign. In other words, algorithms will determine the best place and time to show your ad depending on your target audience. We are able to use first and third party audiences, and we can create look-alike audiences as well. These audiences narrow down the radius to find the exact customers you are looking for.

What's A First Party Audience?
First party data is the information that you collect directly from your audience or customers. This could look like audience behavior, actions or interests demonstrated across websites and apps, data collected from your CRM, subscription data, and social media data.

What's A Third Party Audience?
Third party data is bought from outside sources different from the original collector of the data. Instead of buying it from one large company, data is bought from large data aggregators that are able to pull it from various platforms and websites where the original data was generated. These aggregators pay publishers and other owners for their First Party data. Many different companies sell this kind of data, and it is accessible through various avenues. Rest assured, this data helps your ad find the right person!

OTT/CTV can also be specifically geo-targeted, reducing the wasted coverage and allowing marketing to be more cost effective. We can also retarget OTT/CTV campaigns so that your ads are served to someone who may have been on your website or social platform.

2. OTT/CTV Is Affordable

Connected TV is bough on an impression basis. While most broadcast TV spots can cost between $400 and $5000 dollars or more, the CPM (cost per thousand impressions) of CTV can range from $30 to $100. This lower cost makes it far more affordable for most advertisers to add to their current marketing campaign. With the ability to layer specific targeting, an advertiser gets more for the money they spend.

3. Measuring Success Is Easier

A traditional media campaign, such as radio, can be extremely difficult to measure the performance and success. It can take months after the campaign ends to determine if there should have been changes made throughout the campaign. OTT/CTV can be tracked from the immediate beginning of the campaign, which gives you the room to adjust the audience, view time, and any other feature that will make for a better ROI. 

THINGS TO REMEMBER:

TV is not dying, it's evolving. There are many ways to reach an audience outside of typical cable TV commercials. With all fo the streaming services and different platforms to view them, putting OTT/CTV into your marketing campaign is going to give you a more accurate measurement of your stats and a better return on your investment. 

The media buying team at Sokal can help you get started with your CTV campaigns if you are looking to advance your advertising. To learn more about our media buying services, check out this page. If you are looking to go ahead and get started, please do not hesitate to reach out via our form or call directly!

Sources for more help: Forbes, StackAdapt.

Have a question or comment? Leave one below!

SHARE THIS