The benefits of CTV advertising for marketers are often understated. At Origin, 100% of our focus is next-generation CTV advertising (Native CTV advertising to be precise – of which we remain the proud pioneers), so because of that we think it’s worth pointing out a few things that perhaps deserve being pointed out.
Like our last blog, a lot of this might seem obvious to the reader and that’s fine. This is for people who are dipping their toes into CTV advertising for the first time and could do with a little honest 101.
First, the obvious things. Advertising on Connected TV comes with the benefits of:
100% viewability inventory
>98% completion rates
Large screen size
Next-level targeting. While this is indeed effective up to a household level, solutions such as TruOptik (a great partner of ours) make targeting on Traditional TV look like a square wheel being sold by a Caveman who's standing next to a an alien from the future who's mastered time travel.
Lack of competition with other ad units on the screen.
No ad-blockers.
Growing audience.
etc...
Secondly, the less obvious things that not everyone stops to think about as much as perhaps they should but in our eyes are possibly more important than the above:
The viewer is leaning back – in other words they aren’t going anywhere except perhaps to a much smaller second screen for a moment (or the fridge). This makes them captive and highly receptive to the right ad.
They have virtually no peripheral distraction like you’d get eg commuting (imagining a pre/post COVID world of course).
With more than one person potentially looking at the screen (eg a couple or family), the cost per actual impression can be lower if you back into it that way.
With the ad potentially being served to a group of viewers, you can spark an open and engaging dialogue between them (and what's more powerful than having someone still talking about your ad when someone else's ad is playing?).
Serving ads during a movie or TV show is how everyone (at least up until now and probably for the next 5 years) is raised. In other words – it’s natural and expected. PRE-ROLL IS NOT.
Speaking of second screens, there is a 90% probability that they have a mobile device either in their hand or in their pocket. This means i) they have what they need within reach to learn more about something they see on TV that interests them, ii) you have the potential to engage them on two screens simultaneously and iii) the TV screen is large enough to entertain the idea of using the second screen to scan something like a QR code. Yet to be leveraged to their full potential, a QR code can be used to direct them to a site, initiate them to send a text message (with the number already populated), send an email (with the email address already populated), or install a mobile app etc...
There we have it. If I had longer to write i could easily think of another dozen benefits - and perhaps this is why the biggest screen in the home deserves its own OTT-centric acronym (see last blog).
Connected TV is still TV - it's just younger, leaner and far cooler. As pioneers in Connected TV advertising, we take that position seriously, and welcome the debate!
Next time, we will discuss how and why Origin has taken the progressive approach of presenting the world with the next generation in CTV advertising - NATIVE CTV.