If there is one good thing that came out of COVID for marketers, it’s that now more than ever, at-home entertainment has increased in popularity. And that means ever more opportunities to reach your audience.
As households ditch cable for streaming services on Smart TVs, streaming time has skyrocketed.
According to Eskimi, 87% of U.S. television households have at least one Internet-connected TV device.
And as the connected tv landscape is still in its early days, your business has an opportunity to use this to its advantage, capturing consumer attention and increasing brand engagement like never before.
Add to that, Connected TV ad spend forecasts continue to grow, even in spite of the uncertain economic outlook. In fact, Insider Intelligence believes that advertisers in the United States alone will spend roughly $27B on this advertising platform in 2023.
But what is connected tv, exactly?
And what is connected tv advertising?
Do you need a big budget to create something that will resonate with your prospects?
The answers to these questions (and a few more!) are below.
What is Connected TV
Connected TV (CTV) is content on your television that gets streamed into your home. This is done through things like smart TVs or apps. Additionally, our cell phones as well as game consoles and streaming devices like Firesticks and Rokus contribute to Connected TV.
According to TechCrunch, streaming viewership reached new highs in 2022, exceeding cable usage for the first time in the summer months.
Popular CTV services include Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Disney+. Gaming consoles like Xbox and PlayStation can also be included in this lineup, as can long-standing video services like the ever-popular YouTube.
Currently YouTube, Hulu, and Roku together dominate about half of the connected TV market revenue. It is anticipated that YouTube alone will account for roughly 40 percent of the total CTV market by 2022!
Needless to say, prospects are becoming more reliant on tech. And in doing so, they’re becoming better versed in using it. According to Business News Daily, seven is the average number of hours people spend online daily! Therefore, today’s savvy marketers need to approach new ad opportunities to drive the results they want to see.
The importance of television as an ad tool
Marketers have long been aware of television’s power to captivate huge audiences. For linear media programming—that is, programming that occurs 24/7— prime time viewership typically occurs between 6 pm and 10 pm, leading to the most expensive ad placements as well.
However, there has been a big shift in the traditional workday over the last few years, giving households more flexibility—and TV has had to adapt in order to keep customers interested. Hence the invention of tv recording devices and streaming services.
Still, trouble remained on a company’s ability to measure the impact of tv advertising on their sales.
But when it comes to a company’s bottom line, understanding the impact of an ad is necessary to those using their budgets to create them. And because television advertising is so expensive—Stephens Inc. estimates that only 500 advertisers account for 85% of total television ad spending—only some businesses have been able to afford trying it. Therefore, using this form of marketing has been a “pie in the sky” idea for millions of businesses for years.
Until recently, most marketers have had to seek other opportunities, like search and social media, to reach their target audience as these platforms give them a clear picture of whether or not they are wisely investing their budget. According to Forbes, there are currently over 9 million advertisers utilizing such platforms, spending a staggering combined $200 billion per year!
What is Connected TV advertising
One of the most popular forms of Connected TV or CTV advertisements are in-stream videos.
You know the ones!
These ads consist of 15 to 30-second spots that cannot be skipped. They most often appear before or during the show you’re watching.
Of course, you don’t want your ad to appear to everyone watching a particular show—only those that match your ideal customer. And that’s what makes CTV such a great advertising resource!
Unlike old school commercials that appeared en masse, today’s brands have the ability to select what geographic locations their ads will be shown on, on premium networks. Specific ZIP Codes can also be utilized for target marketing with maximum effectiveness.
Why you should add CTV to your marketing toolbox
Connected TV ads are a powerful tool for advertisers. They enable more precise targeting and allow marketers to track consumer behavior, creating dynamic ad platforms that follow their audience’s journey.
Also, CTV viewers watch on-demand, meaning they are more likely to be engaged with the content of the ad.
Furthermore, CTV platforms are cost-effective, as every ad dollar reaches the intended target. As consumer behavior shifts towards streaming services, connected TV offers unparalleled opportunities for businesses to reach their customers.
Here are a few more reasons CTV will be a good investment for your business this year.
Growing viewership
In 2022 around 60% of American consumers watched Connected TV on a regular basis. The trend began in 2020, when experts noted that CTV usage skyrocketed to 3B+ hours per week.
Its unique capabilities
Use identity resolution through online and offline data matching to improve your CTV ad performance and an increased emphasis on metrics through new tactics, such as clickable ads.
Less reliant upon third-party cookies
CTV thrives on first-party data, based on user-authentication and respect for privacy preferences. Pseudonymous identifiers, such as IP addresses, are rooted in this type of user authentication, and will offer a way to keep track of viewers while still respecting their privacy.
CTV Best practices for beginners
It can feel daunting to try something new, so having a few best practices to riff off of when you first get started with CTV can be a game changer. Here are a few things to consider as you begin advertising with CTV.
- Set a goal for your CTV ad: Ensure you’re sharing a clear, informative message so you can easily spike interest from users who may not have heard of you before.
- Pick Your Selling Points: What sets you apart from the competition? From lower prices to better ingredients, target one or two big selling points in your ad.
- Identify yourself early on: Ensure prospects know who is talking to them within the first few seconds. Include an easy-to-remember URL if possible so they can visit your website.
- Make an immediate impact: What will make a user look up from their phone to pay attention to your commercial?
- Evoke emotion: According to the UK-based Institute of Practitioners in Advertising, using emotional content can significantly increase the performance of your ad compared to ads that use purely fact-based information (31% vs. 16%).
- Identify yourself again at the end: The last 3 seconds of your CTV ad should state pertinent brand info including your name, website, and a tagline if possible.
- State a strong CTA: What do you want your audience to do? “Visit our website at…” or “Call…” or “Get your free sample at…” are great examples of CTA’s.
At Data Axle USA we have seen over a 96% growth within the CTV industry. Advertisers are recognizing the opportunity in this growing space and are adjusting their business plans to capitalize on it. To do so, they are turning to us for guidance to get the most out of their CTV investment—and you can, too.
CTV is a channel you can’t afford to ignore. It’s where your potential customers will be this year, no matter who you’re trying to reach. So, whether your goals are raising brand awareness, increasing traffic in your physical locations or encouraging website clicks, CTV is a must-have tool in your arsenal.
