Your Dealership Is Losing Sales Without OTT. A Once In A Generation Advertising Opportunity

TV has been flipped upside down over the last few years. Once upon a time, families across America would sit down at the dinner table, then walk over to the couch where they would tune in to prime time television for a few hours every night. But now, in 2020, prime time is anytime. 

Television revenue is free falling. According to a report by the Convergence Research Group, in 2019, an estimated 4.56 million television households ditched cable TV, and even more will cut the cord in 2020. 

Not only are millions of Americans cutting the cord on cable, but so are business owners. According to a study by eMarketer, US TV ad spending peaked in 2018 at $72.4 billion. It’s expected to drop to $68.89 billion by 2023. 

As more consumers move away from traditional TV, businesses, including RV & auto dealerships, are moving their ad spending away as well.

But are Americans tired of TV? Or are they just going somewhere else for entertainment? Where are dealerships following them?

Well, the easiest way to find customers is to follow the money. According to The Motley Fool, Roku announced its revenue soared 49% year over year from 2018 to 2019 to $411 million… and that was just in the fourth quarter. It’s total revenue from 2019 was $1.29 billion and it is expected to rise to $1.58 billion in 2020. 

Consumers are leaving traditional TV and heading to Over-The-Top (otherwise known as Connected TV or CTV) services like YouTube TV, Hulu, Netflix, DirectTV Now, Amazon Prime Video, FuboTV, and more. 

Businesses across America have already begun following consumers to these modern TV platforms. According to Emarketer, Over-the-Top, or OTT, advertising spend was $6.94 billion in 2019 and is estimated to reach $14.12 billion per year in 2023. 

Let’s dive into what Over-the-Top television is, what OTT advertising is, and how you can ensure your dealership can take advantage of this highly targeted OTT advertising in 2020. 

What is OTT? 

Over-the-Top (OTT), otherwise known as Connected TV (CTV), is a new method of media consumption. It refers to any media service that provides its online content as a standalone product. In other words, it’s content streamed through an internet-connected television.

On-demand streaming services used to only be available from your desktop or laptop computer. But now, you can access them right through your large, flatscreen TV. 

Some of the most popular streaming devices that millions of Americans are tuning into every day through their TVs include Apple TV, Roku, Amazon FireStick, Xbox, and Playstation. 

Rather than having to wait for your favorite show to come on every night, you can turn on your TV and access whatever you want, whenever you want. You don’t even have to DVR anything. Simply search for what you want and watch it any time.

According to Statista, by 2021, 73.1% of internet users in the U.S. will use an OTT video service at least once every month. 

OTT isn’t only limited to television, though it’s the biggest player in the game. OTT also includes music streaming services and messaging services. Just as Hulu is one of the main OTT video streaming services, Spotify is one of the most popular music streaming services in the OTT world.

So what does this mean for you and your dealership? Well, if you want to reach new customers and drive sales, you’ll have to ensure you’re taking advantage of OTT advertising. 

What is OTT Advertising?

Over-the-Top, or Connected TV is the new, evolved television in America. If consumers are heading there rather than traditional cable television, you can bet advertisers are already marking their territory. Since 2017, digital tv ad spend has outpaced traditional by a landslide.

OTT presents a new opportunity for dealers to reach consumers where they spend their time, through advertising. 

OTT advertising doesn’t only impact television as a medium. It’s on every device. It’s on TVs, tablets, and of course, smartphones. The incredible reach of OTT platforms has perked up business owners across the U.S. and become a major arena to advertise in the past few years. 

How does OTT Advertising Work?

OTT advertising refers specifically to video advertisements delivered alongside premium television content that’s typically professionally produced and streamed on an internet-connected TV. It’s essentially a replica of traditional TV commercials. However, unlike some internet video services, these advertisements aren’t skippable. 

These ads will run before or in-between content through on-demand streaming apps, in 15 second or 30 second formats. 

You can also find OTT advertising on Spotify, with audio ads similar to radio ads. 

Why Should You Use OTT Advertising?

So what makes OTT advertising so effective? And why should you consider advertising your RVs, cars or boats through OTT services? LEt’s take a look at the numbers.

Americans View OTT Content 13.5 Hours Per Week

Since streaming services were first launched in the early 2000s, they’ve exponentially grown in popularity. According to TechCrunch, the average American spends 6 hours per day watching videos on the internet and 2 out of 3 Americans now STREAM their favorite TV shows!

And they’re not just watching Facebook or YouTube videos. According to ReelnReel, Americans watch an average of 54 hours of OTT content per month. That works out to 13.5 hours per week. 

OTT Ads Are Highly Targeted vs. Traditional TV Ads

A 2019 study by Epsilon shows that consumers are 80% more likely to respond to an ad that’s relevant to them. With traditional television advertising, business owners are blasting their ads to massive audiences, most of whom the ads aren’t relevant to. It’s ineffective advertising. Traditional TV typically only reaches an estimated 5% of the target audience.  OTT increases that to nearly 100%.

However, with OTT advertising, you can capitalize on campaign messaging through hyper-specific targeting. Ad traffickers are able to input market data from different vendors so you can target viewers who are currently in the buying process for a specific model, make, or vehicle class. 

This means you can actually reach people who are ready to buy a car, and show them the exact type they want. 

OTT Ads Aren’t Skippable

Most online videos give you the option to skip the ad either right away or a few seconds in. TV commercials can be fast forwarded through DVR, or you can simply switch the channel for a few minutes. 

However, OTT ads aren’t skippable. 

This means OTT ad completions often exceed 90%, ensuring your dealerships ads will be seen by a much larger percentage of viewers. And these are already targeted viewers. This means you’ll be able to multiply your reach to those who want what you’re offering, increasing your conversions. 

OTT Ads Are More Affordable

Traditional television commercials cost, on average, $10-36 per 1000 viewers depending on network or cable buys, or 10-36 cents per viewer. On the other hand, OTT advertising costs about 4-7 cents per viewer on average.

Not only is it more effective and targeted than traditional television advertising, but it’s cheaper. While a traditional television commercial could cost you tens or hundreds of thousands for a single 30 second commercial, you’ll be able to save drastically on OTT ads. 

This means you’ll be able to save on the initial upfront cost, and in the long run since your viewers are much more targeted. 

Measuring Success With OTT Advertising

There are several ways that you can measure the success or effectiveness of your OTT campaigns.  The first, is to place a conversion pixel on your website and monitor the amount of traffic that visits your site after seeing an OTT ad.  You can also measure the number of shoppers who physically visited your store after seeing an ad as well.  

Dealerships can also keep a close eye on their Google Analytics tracking to look for brand lift and recall.  There are some unique ways to do this that ultimately help understand the overall impact of your OTT campaigns.

OTT Advertising Recap 

The goal of every dealership is to be able to reach the best audience with the best message in order to drive brand awareness and ultimately, sales. 

Here’s a quick recap on OTT advertising:

• Millions of U.S. households are cutting their cords on cable and satellite TV
• Over-the-Top (Connected TV) Television is growing in popularity every year
• Streaming devices and streaming services are experiencing exponential growth
• Investments in traditional TV advertising are declining every year
• Advertisers are able to reach OTT content viewers through TV, tablets, and mobile devices
• Americans are viewing 54 hours of OTT content per month
• OTT ads are highly targeted to specific audiences
• OTT ads aren’t skippable, leading to higher viewership
• OTT ads are more affordable than traditional TV advertising
• Millions of businesses, including car, RV, and marine dealerships, are switching to OTT advertising for better conversions
• Average of 2.5 Connected TV devices per household
• 2 out of 3 Americans now stream their favorite TV shows 
• 160% Projected increase in OTT penetration by 2021

How You Can Capitalize on OTT Advertising Today

If you’re not seeing the returns you want from your advertising budget and want to be able to capitalize on the highly targeted messaging of OTT advertising, a digital marketing agency can help you get started. 

In order to make sure your business can effectively advertise through OTT services, you’ll need a marketing agency who understands your industry. 

• Shynable has 10+ years of digital marketing experience in the dealership industry. We’re able to help you get the return your dealership deserves with highly targeted OTT advertising as well as other programmatic media buying. 
• There are over 820 million connected video devices in the U.S. Shynable can target almost every one of them with your ads. This includes, Apple TV, Roku, Sling, Playstation, Xbox, and more. 
• Your ads can be run across multiple devices. This means once a customer sees your ad on their smartphone, we can target their TVs, tablets, desktops, or any other device they own. 
• We ensure your business is protected. We triple-verify for fraud protection, ensuring your ads are being placed in premium inventory only. 
• Most agencies will charge you anywhere from $65-$100 CPM (per thousand). We will run your ads starting at a $55 CPM across all networks and can even hit primetime programming. 
• OTT is the biggest shift in media history. Now’s your chance to capitalize on this before your competitors.

We encourage you to reach out with questions or comments about anything you read in this article!  Have you seen success in running OTT or other programmatic advertising? We would love to hear about it. For further information, please contact us at [email protected]. Thank you.