It’s an exciting time to be a TV advertiser! As streaming content continues to grow in the United States, opportunities to target audiences via Over-the-top Television (OTT) is an attractive tactic that delivers balance to a buy and unprecedented delivery control.
CTV refers to internet connected devices like smart TVs, the Amazon Fire Stick, and popular gaming consoles; and OTT refers to the specific content that’s being streamed via CTV.
While these terms are often used interchangeably, they’re not the same thing. CTV and OTT work together to deliver subscription-based and ad-sponsored content on demand.
Approximately 50 percent of U.S. households already own a smart TV; today, more than 40 percent of households can only be reached via CTV.
If you’re considering an investment in Connected television you’re in good company! Our experienced media buyers are excited to discuss how streaming frontiers like CTV can add incredible value to your media strategy.
Call 888-461-1016 to learn more or contact Network Affiliates online!
Will Connected TV Replace Traditional TV Advertising?
Despite the phenomenal growth of CTV, the reality is that true scale can’t be achieved through a single advertising medium, which is why linear TV still has an important role in any media strategy.
Traditional TV advertising is still a powerful and dominating force, especially for upper-funnel brand building. More importantly, roughly 60 percent of Americans still tune into traditional TV, whether it’s to watch a football game, the news, or reality programming.
Investing in Over-the-top advertising isn’t about abandoning what’s worked in the past, it’s about leveraging new opportunities to stretch the value of working media dollars.
Explore New Opportunities With Connected TV
So, what do media buyers really mean when they talk about leveraging new opportunities on CTV?
First, the number of CTV viewers is growing every…single…day. Streaming now accounts for 60 percent of all TV viewing time.
Connected Television reaches every age group, demographic, and lifestyle, and it does so with scalpel-like precision. While traditional TV largely operates via indexed-based content alignment (i.e., by show, network, or daypart), Connected TV is 100 percent addressable, using IDs and internet IP addresses to target specific audience segments.
In other words, when you place a buy on CTV, you’re not buying the show or the timeslot, you’re purchasing the viewer. This is an important distinction between traditional linear advertising and OTT advertising.
Connected Television delivers 100 percent of the buy to the target audience. This means you can actually increase your reach by exploring new audience segments with tools capable of zip-code level precision and third party data layering. Plus, reporting insights can be tied to campaign goals and other conversion targets with improved accuracy.
If CTV is a scalpel, traditional TV advertising a shotgun. Both are tools. Both serve a purpose. But they’re not interchangeable in your media strategy. You need both in your toolbox to outperform the competition.
Add Value to a Traditional Media Buy
Compared to other platforms, traditional TV tends to have an older audience composition. According to Nielsen, viewers aged 50+ spend less time interacting with connected devices and significantly more time watching traditional TV.
This is extremely relevant to attorney marketing for two reasons: 1) parents and grandparents are often involved in important decision-making conversations, professional legal services would likely fall under this purview; and 2) in terms of reach, nothing (not anything!) saturates a market like traditional TV advertising.
To be sure, there are limitations even in the vast streaming landscape. It’s fragmented, for example. With so many services and platforms available, no single platform has the reach of traditional broadcast. Our media buyers bring clarity to these important decisions, as they possess tools and the experience needed to ensure campaigns are implemented on the right streaming platform.
CTV supports a unique ad environment that’s distinct from traditional TV.
Some viewers even find that the extreme targeting delivers a more engaging ad experience.
What’s more, thedigital capabilities of CTV allows your media buyer to target specific audience segments by location and time. These capabilities alone allow us to explore your creative potential with unique OTT content! Reporting is also faster, which lets your media buyer pivot quickly and adjust for performance in real time.
Connected Television is a great way to update your media stagey amid an increasingly competitive legal advertising landscape.
If you’d like to learn more about CTV, call 888-461-1016 or contact our team online and we’ll reach out to you.