With CTV and OTT advertising, your brand can reach viewers beyond the traditional TV audience (those connected to cable, satellite, or antenna).
CTV advertising and OTT advertising are not simply different names for the same thing. Over the Top or OTT advertising is a broad term that includes CTV advertising as well as advertising across non-television devices like cell phones and laptops. Connected television advertising is a sub-category of OTT advertising.
CTV or “Connected television” is a term for any device or a smart TV that can connect directly to the internet and allow viewers to access streaming content on-demand. CTV is the way that most “over the top” or OTT content is delivered to viewers via services like Netflix, Peacock, or Hulu. Many of these OTT services offer unique benefits when it comes to advertising.
CTV advertising through OTT services is similar to broadcast television advertising but is delivered through streaming media platforms. As users begin shifting more and more towards streaming and away from traditional broadcast television, the potential of video advertising has grown massively. Companies with comprehensive digital strategies are including OTT & CTV advertising as part of their overall marketing plan to take advantage of the ever-widening variety of places to advertise and the powerful targeting potential.
Connected TV video ads can broadcast unique messages to individual viewers based on the data they generate using streaming platforms. Many streaming services offer contracts to advertisers, who can then use multi-layered data to choose when and where to place their video ads. Brands can use a wide range of performance indicators to measure their success.
One of the differences between traditional television advertising and CTV /OTT video advertising is the multiple layers of audience targeting that are possible with CTV. Depending on the streaming platform, your marketing strategy, and approach to ad buying, you can target your audience based on the provider’s user data, or in some cases, layering your own customer data. Most of the larger OTT/CTV service providers allow you to target:
- Demographics
- Location
- Interests and Behaviors
- Custom audiences (based on your 1st and 3rd party data sources)
Advertising through OTT via CTV gives your brand access to the living room, where families spend time together, often independent of what’s on at the moment. Connected TV advertising lets you show ads on Hulu, Sling, Roku, Direct TV On-Demand, and other premium content streaming service providers to reach cord-cutting households. Viewers, especially younger audiences, are shifting away from traditional media and spending increasing amounts of time watching content via streaming services and connected television devices.
For any Brand, it’s important to quickly adapt to changes in the marketing landscape. CTV video advertising is quickly becoming an important component of any advanced digital marketing strategy. At Blend, our professional creative team in Los Angeles has the experience to produce high-quality CTV commercials that compel your target audience into action. If you’re interested in incorporating video advertising on CTV into your digital marketing strategy we can help, contact Blend Today.