WHAT IS CTV ADVERTISING? CAN CTV ADVERTISING DRIVE LEADS?

Last year, traditional TV ad spend saw a sharp decline in sales since the Great Recession. This happened globally. Since entering the digital era nearly two decades ago, we have seen human behavior completely transform when it comes to content consumption. The introduction of arenas like search, social media, smart phones, and on-demand streaming has changed the landscape of advertising.

Conventional advertising methods, like positioning an ad or using a subject matter expert to build credibility, are not as effective as they used to be. People do not trust celebrity endorsements anymore because it is unclear if the celebrities are actually endorsing the product.

As people have more choices for what to watch, traditional advertisers are losing attention from their audiences. More people are also cancelling their cable subscriptions and switching to streaming services instead.

Advertising space is changing rapidly

The vocabulary changes all the time. In 2019, we heard a lot about OTT advertising. This is when you show ads on TV that people watch on their phones or computers. Another term people are talking about is CTV advertising. This is when you show ads on TVs that are connected to the internet. There are also a lot of new programmatic advertising techniques.

TV advertising is more popular than ever because of the COVID-19 quarantine. More people are staying home and watching TV, so businesses are advertising on TV more than ever. They can target specific demographics, like people who are staying home during the quarantine.

How can CTV ad attract leads

TV advertising that is connected to the internet is happening now. More people are cutting the cord and going to streaming services. This trend is happening with all age groups, but especially with young adults aged 18-34. So the question isn't if you should do TV advertising that is connected to the internet, but how you can do it best to get more leads. There are some important things you should know:

• Ads on streaming services are predominantly non-skippable,
• Internet-connected TV ads are nearly 100% viewable,
• OTT and CTV ads are more targeted to specific groups of people than traditional TV advertising.

Although it might sound great to have non-skippable, 100% viewable ads, if they are not relevant, they won't have much impact. To make the most out of your CTV advertising campaign, you need to focus on quality lead generation. You can do this by being tactical with your approach and using audience targeting, which is easier than ever thanks to the amount of data we have. You just need to be strategic about how you allocate your budget and plan your campaign.

It is very important that you use programmatic advertising to show your ads on OTT and CTV. However, this is not enough to get a lot of leads. You might be lucky and get some leads this way, but you need to do other things too in order to reach your goals.

This is what you should be thinking about

#1. Optimizing audience targeting

You should target your ad to the right people so they see it. You can do this by using over-the-top (OTT) audience targeting. This will help you reach your core audience more effectively. The more specific your targeting is, the more effective it will be.

OTT audience targeting is more sophisticated than traditional TV advertising. It allows for a lot of personalization. You can target people based on their behavior, interests, and even what they are doing at the time.

You can target ads directly to me because I am a gluten-free, fitness-loving college student who makes impulsive purchases between 11PM and 2AM on my mobile device, mostly on weekends. Other people's targeting concepts that are still at the rudimentary age, like only using gender and location, cannot compete with this level of targeting.

#2. Drive trackable conversion actions

CTV advertising is effective because full-screen, full-motion videos on the largest digital device in the household have a stronger emotional impact than other forms of advertising, such as influencer marketing or digital banners. However, the downside is that people cannot (and will not) click to go somewhere when they are watching their Apple TV or Roku.

It can be hard to measure how well customers respond to ads on television. That's why it's important to use other channels to target the same people, like retargeting. This way, you won't show them the same ad too many times and they'll be more likely to see it and respond.

After someone watches a CTV ad, we can show them ads on their mobile phone, tablet, or computer. This will help us know if the person who saw the ad was interested in it. We only show these ads to people who watched the whole CTV ad. This way, we know that the person is interested in what we are selling.

#3. Reporting and attributing performance

You need to track your results in order to know if your campaign is successful. This means measuring the right things. But even if you measure the right things, it's still possible to make mistakes.

We've noticed that CTV ads are not "clickable" which can make attributions difficult. But there are a few important pieces of data we want to think about. First, how many of the target consumers are watching the video all the way through? Second, how many of those consumers are then following up and visiting the advertiser's website? Third, what device is streaming content and which of those devices are showing your ad.

The bottom line

OTT and CTV advertising are new, and they are still evolving. In the current day, there is a lot of media overload and distractions on every imaginable platform. The marketers who figure out the best practices now will be the ones to leave their competitors in the dust.

Yes, you should consider using OTT / CTV advertising. People are no longer worried about big data. They are more interested in what the ads have to do with them.

We have more options than ever before. In addition, we are used to getting personalized, tailored ad experiences. Marketers have spoiled and conditioned us. TV campaigns may bring awareness, but conversion requires dedicated lead generation efforts.

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