Television and digital media are colliding in the shape of internet-connected TV.
For advertisers, that presents the opportunity for enhanced targeting and greater control.
But, across the industry, people are learning what works and establishing what CTV should cost.
In this video interview with Beet.TV, Lee Doyle of the NitroC agency paints a picture of an evolving medium.
What’s working?
Given limitations in CTV’s feature set, like identification challenges, many in the industry believe CTV is best when it looks a lot like TV – which is to say, high-impact, top-of-funnel brand advertising.
But Doyle says campaigns that reach tightly-defined groups are showing success.
“The successes so far are really around businesses where there’s a very defined target – and, when I say defined, really a precise, narrow target,” he says.
“Things like American Express, where they’re trying to reach people of a certain credit score and income level; they’re not looking to have a mass message.”
Filling in the gaps
Many CTV campaigns are using geo-targeting, rather than going all-in on identifying individual households or viewers.
“Most recently, it tends to be a lot of retail and QSR (quick-service restaurants) that I think are having success in this space, where there’s a defined geographic footprint that they really want to focus on,” Doyle adds.
“I’m currently working with a retailer that is in 52 markets, and yet in some of these markets, they only have one or two stores. Therefore, it doesn’t make sense to do traditional broadcast television or even zoned cable in some instances. So addressable TV and connected TV, give them a way to use television cost effectively.”
Cross-platform can drive scale
OTT streaming services accounted for 25% of all US TV-viewing minutes during Q2 2020, according to Nielsen’s Streaming Meter.
EMarketer estimates CTV ad spending will reach $10.81 billion in the US in 2021 – up 56% from two years earlier, and representing around 15% of total US TV ad spending.
But Doyle added to the chorus of voices calling for a more joined-up approach, in a medium that is notoriously fragmented across a plethora of devices, services and buying routes.
“It’s becoming increasingly urgent that we get to a place where we have a reliable cross-platform measurement, so that we know simple things like the reach and frequency of my campaign,” he says.
Context impacts cost
CTV ads are generally higher-priced than TV ads thanks to their enhanced capabilities. Doyle says a relative constrained supply also helps determine that cost.
But he also says that ad buyers also want to interpret the value of inventory by interrogating the kind of content in which it sits.
“People that come at it from a digital perspective, where audience buying has been routine for a while, are like, ‘What does anybody really care about the inventory – an impression is an impression as long as it’s delivered against the right person’.
“But that’s not really the case when you get into the television realm. Context can matter. We’re not necessarily looking at a click-through rate.
“Understanding what I’m going to get as a buyer is really a key issue. All buyers are asking that question, ‘What’s the inventory?’ I think sellers need to be prepared with a strong answer to that, a clear answer that helps the buyer determine how to value this stuff.”
You are watching “Streaming Boom Accelerates the Adoption of CTV,” a Beet.TV leadership series presented by Simpli.fi. Please visit this page for more videos.
