If you’re like most people, you probably watch TV while browsing the Internet on your phone, checking email, or scrolling through social media.
It’s no secret that viewers are increasingly multitasking while watching TV.
In fact, a recent study by Accenture showed that 87% of connected TV users use at least two devices simultaneously.
As an advertiser, what is the best way to reach these viewers? By using connected TV (CTV) ads, of course!
But what are they and how do they work? Keep reading to find out everything you need to know about this growing advertising medium.
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What is Connected TV Advertising?
Sometimes referred to as over-the-top (OTT), connected TV (CTV) is ads that can be placed on any television or device that has the ability to be connected to the Internet (and can access video streaming content beyond what you can get from a typical cable provider).
This term can loosely be applied to programmatically purchased ads and then shown on computer/mobile streaming, consoles, gaming devices, smart TVs, and over-the-top (OTT) systems.
It lets you, as the advertiser, show ads on SlingTV, Roku, DirecTV OnDemand, and other types of premium content.
How does it work?
It’s a bit complicated.
This is a private marketplace deal that allows buyers and sellers to operate within multiple levels of auctions. Each level has its own parameters for price and access, meaning it can be tough to determine exactly how much connected TV advertising will cost you.
The private marketplace is invite-only and contains several high-caliber publishers. You can accessory [1] inventory within specific creative formats that you might not otherwise be able to access in the open auction environment. You can display ads in video, audio, native, connected TV, and display formats.
If you’ve relied solely on traditional TV advertising to date, connected TV is an avenue you need to begin exploring. It lets you reach highly engaged audiences while also enhancing targeting options and inventory options.
In other words, you can release ads that better reach your target audience.
How Do I Find My Connected TV Audience?
There are several ways you can target the right audience with connected TV ads.
One way that this is done is by retargeting visitors to your website, tailoring the ad experience to the content they’ve already viewed. You can leverage visitors to your website’s home page, video clicks, display clicks, or even form completions to get an idea of what kind of content your visitors are interested in.
You can also use demographic information, like intent, income, household, gender, age, and other variables.
IP targeting is another way you can reach your target audience in a certain geographic area.
The beauty of connected TV ads is that most providers make it possible for you to vary the ads that are displayed to your audience. In other words, you won’t be accidentally showing the same ad to the same person time and time again.
Where Are Connected TV Ads Shown?
Connected TV ads are shown across all supported devices, including smart TVs, computers, mobile devices, and more.
These ads work with the following streaming devices and services, including:
- Apple TV
- Firestick
- Roku
- Google Chromecast
…and more.
You can display ads on premium networks like:
- CNN
- ESPN
- Bravo
- Food Network
The beauty of CTV is that you don’t need to do much in terms of ad optimization. You can place your ads in televisions-like content without having to pay television prices – and you’ll have much more targeted ads with far better reporting capabilities.
How Much Does it Cost to Advertise on Connected TV?
In some cases, it may cost you more money to advertise on connected TV than it would on cable.
However, since you’ll reach a more tailored audience, those advertising dollars will be much better spent.
The rates and availability of inventory are subject to change, but usually, CTV advertising costs around $30 per 1,000 impressions.
How Can I Track the Success of My Connected TV Ads?
When you’re just getting started with connected TV advertising, it can be difficult to track the success of your advertising program – after all, the metrics are slightly different than the ones you typically track in display advertising.
Conversion tracking may include view-through conversions, like cost per view and video completion rate. Video completion rate is the percentage of impressions in the campaign that complete the ad. For TV, the rates are high – usually as high as 90-97%, since television usually doesn’t allow viewers to skip through ads.
For a cost-per-completed view, you’ll have lower targets of around $0.50- to $1.00 for cost per completed view. This is a good metric to examine if you’re leveraging connected TV, audio ad, or video formats.
Some CTV platforms also allow integration with Google Analytics. So if youryou’re TV ad contains a strong call to action, you can see who ends up visiting your site from an associated IP address after they’ve seen an ad. This is where connected TV really shines. Tracking site conversions isn’t possible with cable TV advertising.
Get Started With Connected TV Ads Today
Whether your business is large or small – and regardless of the industry you occupy – connected TV ads are excellent marketing tools to explore.
Advertisers are in a unique position to take advantage of connected TV ads. By understanding the different ways that people watch TV and using that knowledge to tailor your ad campaigns, you can reach more consumers – and see better results.
