STV/OTT Advertising

I recently had the privilege of being a featured speaker at the New England Financial Marketing Association Spring Conference.

There were many amazing topics covered by others including a panel on A.I. in the financial/banking world.

The session I presented was on Streaming TV Advertising (otherwise known as OTT or CTV Advertising). I was a little surprised at the questions generated during this session. It was a good reminder that while living in the digital marketing space in MY day-to-day, doesn't necessarily mean everyone you speak with around you does.

So this article's goal is to help you, if you haven't yet, figure out how to at minimum dip your toe in the Streaming TV Advertising waters.

Let us start by saying that, like the services we can subscribe to as consumers, the Streaming Advertising waters are VAST, to say the least.

So where to start? Below are my bullet point tips to journey into this space and do it effectively for any type of business.

#1 - The Basics

• Start with someone you know & trust in the space even if they don't have services to offer directly. Even as a trusted advisor to ask questions to can be extremely helpful.
• Do your research (Google is your friend)
• Identify & Recognize what these platforms are meant to do. Some can be VERY targeted (Household Income, Home Ownership, In-Market Segments & more). As targeted as they can be, Streaming TV Platforms are meant to build Brand Equity, Trust & Frequency with your desired audience just like traditional platforms have done and continue to do.
• Here's the difference from traditional, by choosing specific geographies and in some cases, additional targeting layers, you're able to reduce waste which really mean, increase the frequency to which you get to deliver your message to your desired audience.

#2 - Set Yourself Up for Success

• One of the most important things you can identify is your goal. Do we want build more credibility in a competitive marketplace? Do I need to drive more foot traffic to our brick & mortar locations? Your identified goal will help you figure out which type of platform & perhaps partner to work with.
• Creatives - in many ways this is the new targeting and with STV Advertising, it's extremely important to tie this back to your goals. Want foot traffic? Why is the ad talking about visiting your website? Want that site traffic to increase? Did you add in a QR Code giving multiple options beyond your URL to find your website?
• Creatively Remove Yourself from your Business/Industry - look at your creatives from an outsider perspective, would you respond or take action? What would help you do that? What about others? Perspective is everything.

#3 - Options

• Self-Serve - there are a couple of self-serve platforms that have popped up such as Disney & Hulu (Disney Owns Hulu) that start at $500 per month. Now as enticing as that sounds, sometimes if it sounds too good to be true well, you get the idea. These platforms could be a great fit at the end of the day so give them a try if you're an experienced marketer but ask yourself, will $500 truly reach my desired area & target audience with the right frequency? Yes, I could also save myself a ton of money redoing my roof on my own but will I have the same result as a professional who is experienced in the space? No. So, just because you can, doesn't mean you should.
• Platform Agnostic - These platforms (the Company I work for, Townsquare Media utilizes these) seek your desired audience and geography. That's it. The traditional ways of buying TV go out the window because STV Platforms aren't relying on survey data. They utilize digital data of consumers & TV Consumption to more accurately target and deliver to your ideal audience. Whether someone is watching Tubi, Samsung TV, Pluto, and so on. It doesn't matter what they're watching or which platform for that matter because if they meet your targeting criteria, that's why they're receiving your ads AND with good frequency in most cases.
• Platform Direct - These are, in some cases, more costly. Especially if you go directly to them. One of the well-known platforms, YouTube TV (now the FOURTH largest cable provider in the US, that doesn't use cable boxes), directly can be tens of thousands of dollars per month. Same with other major platforms but many companies (including Townsquare Media) now offer these platforms at smaller entry points.

#4 - Types of Platforms & Targeting

• Many of the options listed above have various types of targeting and where you really get to hone in on your ideal audience.
• Run of Network platforms are just geographically targeted, nothing more. Delivering a higher volume of impressions to your desired geography than any other platform.
• Content Targeted platforms are based on the content consumers watch. Sports, documentaries etc. This, for the right reasons, can still make sense but falls more in line with the outdated Traditional ways of buying TV Advertising.
• Audience Targeted platforms take the above geo-targeting & layer in Demographics, Interests, In-Market Segments & more depending on the platform.
• Addressable Geo-Fencing platforms offer similar targeting to the Audience Platforms above but can also use CRM Postal Addresses, Direct Mail Address lists, and regarding reporting, can track directional metrics such as Foot Traffic Attribution captured within a 30-day window of the ad serving to someone.

#5 - Tools

• Partner with companies that provide additional tools to analyze your audience, measure additional metrics, and more. I can only speak from Townsquare Media's perspective, we have video creation platforms, AI Foot Traffic Measurement Tools, CRM analysis Tools, and so on. All of these can add additional layers of efficiencies to your Streaming TV efforts (well really ALL of the digital marketing for that matter).

I'll leave you with this. I have partners who have brought other STV Campaigns through other vendors to me in an attempt to help them analyze and look at what may or may not be working. I have seen it numerous times, no clarity on how much budget is going to their STV/OTT efforts versus the traditional portion or even the STV being targeted like a Traditional Strategy based on specific day parts, content (such as News), and so on. Sure there may be a place and time for that but with the majority of the platforms I mentioned above, that is a missed opportunity to properly utilize an amazing advertising platform the right way.

The bottom line is to start with the basics and your research. This will empower you to ask the right questions that will lead to making the right decisions.

Ryan Sheehy - Regional Ignite Sales Director at Townsquare Media

Ways to Connect:

• Mobile: 603.235.6184
• LinkedIn: Ryan E Sheehy
• Book a Meeting: Book time with Ryan Sheehy