This month we’re looking at the impact of Connected TV on the future of advertising, and the opportunities that will arise for marketers as a result.

HOW HAS TV CHANGED OVER TIME?

Connected television is quickly becoming one of the fastest-growing digital marketing platforms in the world. Over the past decade, the way we consume TV has changed drastically and we now want to have full control over what we watch and when. Prior to connected TV, linear TV was the traditional system used by everyone who was viewing a scheduled TV program when it was broadcasted on a specific channel. However, with the introduction of devices such as the Amazon FireStick and Apple TV, users can now stream TV shows and films at a time that suits them. This led to the creation of a new audience referred to as ‘cord-cutters’ who cancel their cable or satellite subscriptions and instead opt to buy a less expensive TV streaming service. The pandemic only accelerated this trend with a 50% increase in cord-cutters over the past two years.

WHAT IS CONNECTED TV AND CONNECTED TV ADVERTISING?

Connected TV advertising is advertising placed on a device that connects to or is embedded in a television to support video content streaming. This includes a range of devices from gaming consoles to smart TVs and portable streaming devices.

THE BENEFITS OF CTV ADVERTISING?

One of the biggest advantages of CTV advertising is the fact that it has all the benefits of linear TV but is a much cheaper alternative. Alongside this, with CTV ads you have the ability to target users based on their online behaviour, device, geolocation etc. In a similar fashion to other digital marketing channels, marketers can use first- and third-party data to reach their target audience. For example, it allows marketers to cross-screen target users and retarget them with CTV programmatic ads. Going forward, as the number of cord-cutters continues to increase, CTV will become a key channel to add to your marketing mix when targeting millennials. Creating data-driven CTV campaigns that deliver personalized ads to today’s modern TV audience will help future marketers evolve their marketing strategies.

CTV CREATIVE

CTV ads are bought programmatically and there are typically two main types of creative. The first is full-screen ads which are non-skippable and play with audio on. These ads can appear pre, mid or post position to the video content the user is consuming. The full-screen, high-quality TV ads are similar to traditional TV adverts but will come at a much cheaper price. The second type is interactive ads where users can engage with the ad through their remote, this ad type is effective when a brand wants consumer feedback.

SUMMARY

To summarise, CTV is certainly a growing advertising platform within the industry and offers targeting capabilities that make it futureproof once third-party cookies no longer exist. However, there are still some question marks over how big the ad space is in the UK as many users pay for ad-free subscriptions. Alongside this, the UK market is still dominated by major broadcasters such as ITV Hub, BBC iPlayer and All 4 and it can be a challenge to advertise on these channels unless you go through their exclusive self-serve buying platforms. But, as platforms such as Roku and Amazon continue to grow within the UK CTV market, it is expected that they will begin taking a larger share of the CTV ad inventory. We predict that over the next two years, the CTV market will continue to rise and will provide a big opportunity for marketers to combine the benefits of linear TV advertising with the targeting and measurement capabilities of modern digital marketing platforms.

https://www.oracle.com/uk/cx/advertising/measure-campaign-effectiveness/ctv-vs-ott/