When economic headwinds blow in the wrong direction, one of the first areas to feel the chill is advertising - with CTV/TV often being the first on the chopping block. And while many might find it hard to understand the logic of a company cutting back on one of the most important elements required to increase sales, the fact is that this is what happens.
So why does this happen?
When it comes to Connected TV, this giant screen is often the first to go because -
Marketers would rather focus their investments on strategies, such as social marketing, that have historically delivered a reliable and predictable ROI. This makes sense on paper.
On a 'per impression' basis, Connected TV is more expensive.
It remains the prevailing opinion by most that the only benefit CTV has to offer is 'awareness'.
But the reality is not that simple.
What's being overlooked?
As you plan budgets for 2023, consider the following responses to the three points above:
With politics, privacy, egotism and unpredictable algorithms all throwing proverbial hand grenades into the world of social media, the performance traditionally seen from investing in these platforms has slowly been diminishing. And while a number of agencies and brands have noticed this, many have not and are instead banking on the hope that replaying the old playbook will work for another year.
While a CTV impression will indeed cost you more than eg a Facebook impression, it comes with a suite of advantages which can easily (and understandably) be overlooked. To name a couple:
A CTV ad impression is frequently running in what's called a '1-to-many' environment, meaning the CPM you are paying is being spread across a larger audience.
Living room content consumption is widely accepted as being a significantly more captive environment than content consumed on other screens.
With privacy and cookie deprecation making targeting increasingly difficult on personal screens, Connected TV has adopted other ways of ensuring the right ad is going to the right place.
A CTV ad impression wins over every other screen when it comes to viewability, completion and more. In fact, metrics that are associated with 'success' on smaller screens are table stakes for CTV (which we explain here).
Arguably the biggest misconception of CTV advertising is its purpose. While traditional TV advertising practices have programmed us to believe that investing in the living room is good for little more than 'brand awareness', the truth is far from it...
What makes CTV advertising more than an 'awareness' tool
Advances across the board has made Connected TV a viable and proven performance machine for marketers willing to tear up the traditional rule book. And while it would be easier for us to throw a bunch of client case studies in your direction proving it, we're not going to.
Instead, we're going to list just a few of the ways you can track, measure and prove both performance and cost-efficiency for yourself:
With solutions like TVision gaining significant adoption, you can track how attentive your audience is. Not only does this allow you to sleep at night knowing whether or not people are paying attention, but you can also use it to gauge how effective your creative execution is.
While many of the executions you see today are sub-par, the correct use of QR codes, such as those created with Flowcode, create a direct connection between you and a viewer who almost certainly has a phone in their hand or pocket. With the level of data you can get from scans, you can see precisely what you are getting.
If attribution is your thing, take a look at how solutions like Claritas can help you establish whether or not an ad placed in the home is leading to a site visit or conversion.
Finally, it's important to think twice about the questions you might ask in a brand study while your campaign is live. With solutions such as LoopMe making it easy to survey your entire audience with multiple questions, you can ask questions that go beyond establishing awareness into consideration, intent and more. Better yet, you can use the responses you get to change what they see next time (if you're an Origin customer that is).
At Origin, we are so focused on proving that our progressive approach to building the next generation of CTV advertising solutions is effective that we will often use ALL OF THE ABOVE to help give our clients the peace of mind they need to know that their CTV investment is delivering an ROI.
The fact is that the TV we have today is not the TV we had before. The TV we have today is more powerful, more effective and more cost-efficient than anything we've had before in the living room - and when coupled with creative solutions that affect what consumers actually see, you have a viable performance machine at your disposal.
If you would like to speak with one of our team about how you can amplify performance while at the same time saving money, email us at solutions@originmedia.tv
Origin is a creative technology company whose pioneering TV advertising solutions have reshaped the way brands captivate and activate consumers inside and outside the home.
Fusing first to market ad formats with proprietary technology and direct media partnerships that span the streaming ecosystem, Origin's solutions are embraced by brands, agencies and platforms who are seeking to elevate the efficiency and impact of their Connected TV investments.
Founded by media veterans Fred Godfrey and Stephen Strong, Origin is driven by a relentless belief that the time has come to question tradition and enrage the status quo. Learn more at www.originmedia.tv.