CTV Advertising 101: Innovative Best Practices

It’s no secret that one of the fastest-growing digital advertising mediums today is Connected TV (CTV). According to forecasts, spending on programmatic CTV advertising is expected to reach $12.9 billion by the end of 2022, a 39.8 percent increase from the previous year.

As more and more people switch from linear TV to CTV, advertisers will “follow the eyeballs” and redirect their marketing budgets to CTV in 2022.

Given the existing scenario, there is no doubt that CTV advertising will be an absolute necessity for the foreseeable future. However, this does not oblige you to put all your advertising options on a single TV spot. Here are five things to consider in your CTV advertising plan this year.

Blended Approach of CTV Advertising With Other Supporting Ad Channels

We live in a time characterized by constant distraction and sensory overload. It is no longer enough to run a commercial between episodes of a program and expect the consumer to listen attentively.

When the conversation is interrupted, our first reaction is to look at our mobile devices, scroll through social media or do something else to distract ourselves from the situation.

One of the most critical things advertisers can do is make sure the right audience sees the campaign message. What’s so tricky about that? There’s a fine line between making sure a person can not miss your messages and being completely inundated with information. 

You can do this in a subtle but effective way by using a variety of different media. It’s also essential that you do this at a steady and consistent pace.

Think About What Metrics Do You Want to Achieve With CTV Advertising?

When optimizing advertising costs, we must consider the importance of time. Even though this seems to be basic knowledge, it is often overlooked! 

Let’s say it’s a weekday and you are watching your favorite show after a long day at work. Which will impress you more: a video ad for a $10 discount on a meal delivery or a video ad for a discounted online learning program? When you factor in dinnertime, the first ad is more likely to elicit a response because it’s more relevant.

While programmatic ads make timing easier, the pacing is another element you should pay attention to. It needs to be consistent, as mentioned earlier. After all, you don’t want to blow an entire month’s worth of money in the first four days. Instead, start small and gradually increase your spending once you have enough data to justify it. 

Finally, do you have an idea of who your ideal customer is? If so, are they really watching the commercial as it was intended? We don’t always have all the answers when we launch a campaign. If the campaign is unsuccessful, you can break down the goal and set frequent checkpoints to review and change the metrics.

Use Look-Alike Audiences and Hyperlocal Targeting

Parallel to OTT/CTV advertising, there is often discussion about dwindling attention spans. The “stickiness” of video commercials is one of the biggest challenges marketers, and media buyers face when developing a campaign strategy. Is the company name recognizable to viewers? Do people remember the brand well enough to act on it? 

Many rookie mistakes can be avoided by taking a closer look at the target audience. What exactly are we referring to here? Imagine running a phenomenally successful campaign and achieving a significant volume of attributed sales with a high click-through rate. That’s fantastic! But if you keep targeting the same audience repeatedly, your return on investment will diminish.

If you want to replicate your success, you should use this data to target similar audiences. Thanks to today’s landscape, we can study internet usage patterns, hobbies, activities, and other factors to create sophisticated groups of people who are most comparable to those already associated with your company’s brand.

Thanks to new technological advances in the field, we can take hyperlocal targeting one step further. Are you dealing with a physical location? We can now communicate with someone right down to where they are.

Not taking advantage of this would be a significant waste of time and money. To put it another way, consider this. What if your video ads were only available to people within walking distance of your store? Would you agree that this would lead to more positive results?

Consider the Concept of Seasonality With Your CTV Advertising

Make sure you know the expected supply and demand trends affecting the industry at any given time. The presidential election cycle, the upcoming holiday shopping season, and other major events impact specific audiences and stocks. Do not underestimate the competition or the supply constraints in the market.

Take the time to adjust your bidding strategy accordingly to avoid being shut out of the market. The effective CPM (cost per minute) has recovered from the lows at the beginning of the pandemic this spring and is starting to rise again, affecting your bidding strategy. 

Analyze current clearing rates, review high-demand inventory, and discover similar potential inventory to ensure planned campaigns meet market conditions and fully deliver on their promises.

Grab Attention With Eye-Catching Visuals

Since CTV advertising is a form of visual communication, you should use eye-catching images and a vibrant color palette to capture your audience’s attention. Once you have gained the viewer’s attention, you should display your logo and URL, as well as the logos of the app stores where they can download your app. 

You can display this information throughout the commercial or at the end of the ad in the last few seconds. Show how consumers can interact with and benefit from your app when you market it. 

CTA ad options also allow you to be more creative with your calls to action. For example, Burger King’s QR Whopper offer consisted of three TV ads with an on-screen QR code that, when scanned, gave the viewer a free Whopper. 

When using QR codes, place them at the end of the ad rather than in the middle. This allows users to absorb and respond to your message. Regardless of which CTA format you choose, it’s a good idea to prompt the customer to download your app right away!

Eye Catching. We had to!

Bottom Line 

Although CTV advertising is still in its infancy, we have seen an explosion of development in a relatively short period. There is no doubt that this part of the advertising landscape is becoming more and more popular as more customers turn their attention to it. With this in mind, it’s now more important than ever to know the rules for a successful CTV advertising campaign. 

That’s why we encourage you to contact us. We will be happy to guide you on the right path.

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