Tag: ott advertising

  • Performance TV versus OTT

    Performance TV versus OTT

    5 Min Read If you’ve been following this battle series closely, you’ll notice one thing in common: Performance TV is the Remember our battle series, where we’ve continued to explore Performance TV’s place amid the other players in the digital advertising space? Whether you’re a first time reader or long time lurker, it’s time to bring back this much coveted series. This time, we’re digging a little deeper into some of digital’s most talked about topics, including attribution, creative and so much more. But, before we have a chance to get ahead of ourselves, let’s start with the basics (or, not so basic, depending on how you look at it). Performance TV and Over-the-top (OTT) have often been lumped into the same category, but are they really the same? Let’s set the record straight. Devices Performance TV: Streams video content via the internet across the biggest screen in the house—your television. With Performance TV, marketers only serve ads on Connected TV Devices—think your Smart TVs or TVs enabled with streaming devices, like Roku, Chromecast, Apple TV, Fire TV or XBox. Additionally, MNTN Performance TV serves only Living Room Quality—high definition, non-skippable 15 second or 30 second ads—direct to TV screens. Not only does this help drive attention to your brand in the best way (and format) possible, but it keeps your brand top of mind long after the ad has finished running. OTT: Streams video content across the internet and across any internet-connected devices, like mobile, desktop, laptop and tablet. In this case, too many devices might not be a good thing. Advertisers do not have control over where their commercial ends up, if they choose to advertise via the OTT route.  This means your commercial could end up on a mobile phone screen, and result in a subpar viewing experience.  Inventory Performance TV: Not all CTV networks are considered equal, so it’s important to do your due diligence on the type of ad inventory when shopping around for a CTV advertising solution. That’s why MNTN Performance TV takes both the legwork and guesswork out of the equation, by partnering with 125+ top tier networks like CNN, ESPN, CNBC—all household names known to drive performance. Since these are all brand safe networks, there’s no need to worry about where your ad will end up when it streams on Connected TV. Advertisers can be confident that their ad dollars will be spent on the right networks and to the right audience every time.  OTT: There’s a lot less transparency when it comes to advertising on OTT. Most brands buying OTT think they’re buying on streaming TV—only to find out later that the majority of their hard earned budget is actually being served on devices like mobile and desktop—and often on lower quality inventory that goes beyond the top tier networks. You have a lot less control on brand safety and run into brand misalignment risks, too. We’ll elaborate on that a little later down the page, so keep reading. Attribution Performance TV: Ah, attribution…often known as the wild, wild, west to many a marketer. First-touch and last-touch are the most commonly known attribution models, but both of them lack accuracy when it comes to crediting performance to CTV. That’s why MNTN created Cross-Device Verified Visits, a proprietary attribution model that takes into account the entire buyer’s journey—including their interactions with other marketing channels—to accurately assess who should take credit for what. Advertisers have insight into when a CTV ad captures the viewer’s attention and drives them to visit their brand’s site—all without the influence of a secondary marketing channel. In other words, if a viewer watches your ad and then visits your site, MNTN counts it as a win for Performance TV. But, if a viewer watches your ad and doesn’t visit your site; then later, they click on your social ad to visit your site, we would not count that as a win for Performance TV (though congrats on the site visit, social ad). This specific attribution ensures Performance TV is only being given credit when credit is due. That way, when a marketer sees that same viewer perform a secondary action, like a purchase or a lead form submission, they’ll know exactly when Performance TV was the proven, primary channel driving the conversion. OTT:  Most OTT providers apply the first-touch attribution model, which means the first touchpoint that the viewer has with your brand takes all of the credit for a site visit (and later, a conversion). In other words, let’s say a viewer is served your ad on their iPhone, and simply scrolls past without taking any action. Then a couple days later, they see your Facebook ad and decide to click through to your site. That OTT provider just took all the credit for that visit. You’re probably thinking the same thing as us—this isn’t a fair, nor credible way to measure attribution! And you’re right—especially when we know there are multiple touchpoints involved from first exposure to that coveted conversion (Salesforce cited that from their research that advertisers should expect between six to eight touchpoints). By leaning on a first-touch attribution model,  most OTT advertising solutions are able to take more credit than they’re actually due for site visits—and later conversions—that they “drove” through the first-touch attribution model.

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  • Ad-Avoidance or Ad-Seeking?

    Ad-Avoidance or Ad-Seeking?

    3 Min Read Nearly two-thirds of viewers said they would choose ad-supported TV over an ad-free subscription, and even welcome ads as long as they are relevant and not overly cumbersome—and as we had predicted, it’s not only the viewers who are turning their gaze to ad-supported instead of ad-free. In fact, the latest data cited in an Adweek article earlier this week revealed that ad-free streaming networks, including Disney+, Apple+ and Amazon Prime, were ironically among the top streaming advertisers by estimated national TV ad spend this year. Have Ad Dollars Finally Caught up With Eyeballs? While it’s certainly ironic, who can blame them? Leading market research provider, eMarketer, found that TV commercials are driving much of this discovery to new streaming content (34%) —and even more than social media (20%). And, for the first time ever, industry experts are seeing the gap closing between proverbial ad dollars and eyeballs. “This is the [first] time in my career that the dollars and the eyeballs are actually kind of in parity,” said Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) Senior Vice President of Research and Analytics Sue Hogan. An IAB survey of over 350 advertising executives found that Connected TV (CTV) advertising spending per advertiser increased on average by 22% in 2020, and that upfront negotiations this year were skewing in CTV’s favor, with ad spend increasing by nearly 50%.  Why Ad-Supported Streaming = A Better Viewing Experience CTV advertising is one of the fastest growing channels in the US ad spending market, and let’s not forget—marketers are as much consumers as the CTV viewers in this growing market. Sixty percent of US marketers said they were shifting their ad dollars from linear TV to CTV this year. So, why are ad-free platforms jumping on the ad-supported bandwagon? “While we are seeing growth across all digital video, the movement to more audience-based buying approaches has resulted in increased buyer demand for CTV,” cited Eric John, Vice President of IAB Media Center. From a user-acquisition perspective, Connected TV’s audience-targeting capabilities, combined with a superior viewing experience are hard to beat. Platforms like MNTN Performance TV help brands measure the direct impact of their ads, including revenue, cost per acquisition, conversion rates and more. Additionally, since such platforms serve relevant ads based on audience-first targeting (not network-first), there’s no guesswork needed. Brands can even generate insights on which CTV networks are driving the most performance, and can use this intel to test, iterate, and refine their ad strategy. If history is any measure (looking at you, Netflix), it’s apparent that ad-free subscription platforms can only sustain their business models through increasing their costs, which will eventually hit the cap of what consumers are willing to pay. Ad-supported networks meanwhile offer much more flexibility and are seen as better value to consumers—and can always offer lower price points than ad-free models. That’s good news for advertisers looking to reach consumers who are increasingly gravitating toward ad-supported streaming networks. Coupled with CTV’s targeting and measurement capabilities, it presents a major ad-supported opportunity for all brands.  Sign Up for the Connected TV ReportSubscribe to the report Apple, Amazon, NBC and more use to get their CTV news.

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