The future of television is digital, and CTV ads will help your business reach almost every household in the US.
Global businesses are switching over from more traditional forms of content advertising, such as linear TV, to digital platforms for extended audience reach.
So, what are CTV ads, why do they offer more reach than linear TV, and what other benefits are there?
What are CTV Ads?
Connected TV (CTV) ads are video ads on devices connected to the internet, such as smart TVs and streaming devices.
These ads are similar to those on regular TV, but the internet connection gives advertisers a whole host of new opportunities, such as more accurate targeting metrics and the ability to create interactive commercial content.
By far, the biggest benefit of CTV ads is the reach they offer advertisers – 93% of homes in the USA.
CTV Ad Reach
So, why do CTV ads have such a wide reach?
The number of households with a connected TV has continually risen over the years, with a huge surge during the pandemic. However, this number kept climbing, and we’ve seen 20 million more homes become connected since then.
Today, 120 million of the 130 million homes in the US have CTV, either via smart TVs, streaming devices, gaming consoles, Chromecasts, or a host of other options. Digital TV has even surpassed traditional TV in terms of ad revenue – it’s a sign of the times.
Due to this success, more money is being pumped into CTV ads than ever before. The data shows us the growth of CTV ad spending over the years and the predicted spending in the future:
- 2019 – $6.5 Billion
- 2023 – $24.6 Billion
- 2027 – $42.4 Billion
So, if spending is increasing, aren’t CTV ads becoming oversaturated?
No, and here’s why:
CTV Ad Targeting
When you place an ad on traditional linear TV, you can only go off general figures and assumptions based on the content the audience is watching.
CTV ads offer various ways to target the audience you’re looking for. While a huge reach is great, targeting the best audience within that huge reach will lead to the best bang for your buck.
Businesses can target their chosen audience so accurately on CTV that not as many ad views are required to achieve your target return on investment, and this prevents oversaturation while keeping costs down.
So, how can you target CTV ads?
Contextual CTV Targeting
Similarly to traditional TV, contextual targeting is based on the content.
Say your business sells cooking utensils. What kind of TV show would be the best to advertise on? A cooking show, of course!
Audiences with an interest in cooking content are more likely to have an interest in cooking, so advertisers use contextual targeting to pair content logically with what is being advertised – that’s the theory, at least.
Behavioural CTV Targeting
This is where the digital nature of CTV ads starts to get interesting.
While contextual targeting assumes what the audience wants, behavioural targeting uses data to confirm the theory.
Your cooking business, instead of advertising on cooking content, can advertise to audiences who have previously shown an interest in buying cooking utensils.
The ad will be displayed to audiences who have recently searched online for cooking utensils or even people who have already interacted with similar ads, showing a high intent to purchase these products.
Also, the ads, while targeted, can appear during any range of content, whether in relation to cooking or not.
Geolocation CTV Targeting
This one is great for local businesses and time-sensitive promotions.
Say your cooking utensil business only has a few stores, and they’re all in Austin, Texas. The extreme global reach of CTV ads is, therefore, not of any interest to you, but you can still benefit from the percentage of those within Austin who have CTV.
You can choose to display your ads only to audiences whose IP addresses fall within this specific area, allowing you to target only those close to your shop.
Similarly, this also allows you to create time-specific promotions. Takeout companies love to advertise right before dinner time, and by using geolocation, you can guarantee that everyone seeing your ad is in the same area and, therefore, sees it around the same time of day.
Demographic CTV Targeting
If there are a few common threads between your customers, demographic targeting might be the option for you.
The most common demographics used in these kinds of ads are age and gender. CTV accounts collect information like this when users create an account, allowing you to target only the demographics most likely to purchase your products or services.
You can also layer demographics, such as advertising only to male audiences between the ages of 40 and 50. Depending on the number of demographics the platform lets you choose, you can be really specific.
How to Create Engaging CTV Ads
To achieve the most from your CTV ad campaign, you must ensure the content you create is engaging enough to demand attention.
Visually Appealing CTV Ads
Remember, your audience may have been watching visual content for hours, so how do you make them pay more attention to your ad than their favourite TV show?
You’ve got two options: create content that mimics the TV show or create content that’s wildly different.
The best way to grab your audience’s attention is to create an ad that stands out from the content they are watching. If you are advertising on a live-action TV show, create an animated ad. If your ad will appear in the middle of comedy content, create a very serious ad.
Immediately switching up the tone and visuals that your audience has become used to will successfully grab their attention. However, you need a hook. There is no point grabbing their attention only for them to realise that they are not interested.
Alternatively, do the exact opposite and create an ad that perfectly aligns with the content’s direct audience. If your ad targets kids, create something so colourful and energetic that it looks like another cartoon, and they will stay engaged. If you’re only advertising to Star Trek fans, record your ad with a Klingon voiceover – It shows that you made the ad for them, and they’ll appreciate it.
Clear Message
Once you’ve got their attention, it’s time to make your message crystal clear.
Some adverts will attempt to do this via live-action commercials, with a message integrated within the content. However, breaking away from the visuals that originally grabbed the audience’s attention and instead using a professional voiceover will usually result in a clearer message. It’s actually quite simple:
Use visuals to make them watch.
Use voiceover to make them listen.
Voice actors are trained to deliver your brand’s message in a way that sounds appealing and aligns with your brand identity. A high-quality human voiceover can build trust and ensure your audience takes in all the details, especially during your call to action.
QR Codes
While ads on mobile and PC are more likely to have clickable links to the products or services being advertised, CTV ads are a great opportunity to use QR codes.
Audiences are unlikely to click away from the content they are watching, but QR codes allow this audience to pull out another device, such as their phone, and scan the QR code in your ad. This way, you can give them an easy route to your business without having to convince them to stop watching TV.
Interactive CTV Ads
The nature of online content is more interactive than that of traditional TV, and you can use this to your advantage in CTV advertising.
Buick made the most of this in its car adverts, giving the viewer three options for what advert they wanted to watch: interior, design, or envy.
Asking the audience to engage with the CTV ad and letting them choose an option proved to be a smash success. It ensured audiences watched the version that was most interesting to them, piquing their interest with unusual interactivity. More traditional forms of advertising don’t have options like this.
Conclusion
Is traditional TV advertising dead?
CTV ads give advertisers a much wider range of opportunities, including more advanced targeting strategies, more accurate analytics, extended reach, and interactive content capabilities.
In recent years, brands have relocated their advertising budgets to CTV advertising, and when the list of benefits is this long, why wouldn’t you?
Reach 93% of households today and take your advertising campaign to every connected TV in the USA.
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