What else did your study tell you about this convergence shift?
Convergence is urgent and in fact, there’s a race to combine linear + ad supported streaming audience strategy, planning and buying for total efficacy and client satisfaction.
We’ve been saying that, without CTV in the mix, media plans are basically shortchanging themselves. Our study and the industry will continue to reiterate this. Traditional TV advertisers need CTV to broaden their reach and capture audiences that can’t be reached through linear alone. Otherwise, they risk missing out on a significant segment of the audience. There are also many light linear viewers out there who primarily watch CTV, so it’s crucial for advertisers to have a presence on CTV. That’s why it’s a must-buy.
Our study validates this notion and tells us that a large majority (76%) of CTV/OTT advertisers view CTV/OTT advertising as an extension of their linear TV strategy. And two out of three advertisers agree that combining linear TV with CTV/OTT advertising increases brand awareness and improves overall ROI performance throughout the entire marketing funnel.
Bottom-line, we’re seeing an acceleration of this convergence shift.
So, what’s driving advertisers to shift more dollars in CTV?
Collectively, our industry has made significant investments in the streaming shift, and we’ve witnessed remarkable advancements in targeting and measurement capabilities in just a few short years. At Premion, we talk about the ‘superpowers of CTV’ for its effectiveness, particularly in terms of data targetability.
With the disappearance of IDFA and cookies, targetability on digital, mobile, and desktop has largely diminished — and we’re seeing more digital buyers turning to CTV. Advertisers can now execute highly efficient CTV campaigns by precision targeting audiences who are actively in the market, such as those intending to purchase a car within the next six months.
The findings from our study tell us that advertisers are recognizing CTV for its effectiveness, and that’s driving the increased shift in dollars to the medium. Consider this: 86% of CTV/OTT advertisers believe that CTV/OTT’s value is greater than, or equal to, that of primetime TV, with 44% saying that CTV/OTT is more valuable. This was not a surprise given the increasing amount of premium programming that’s now available on ad-supported streaming services. CTV is always primetime and even more so, when the content is premium — and quality and efficacy have most certainly arrived in CTV and is here to stay.
Additionally, achieving brand awareness and performance marketing goals (38%), leveraging the advantages of TV with digital capabilities (38%), extending the reach of linear TV campaigns (37%), and capturing declining TV audiences (37%) ranked as top CTV advertising benefits. What’s more, seven in 10 CTV/OTT advertisers agree that CTV/OTT allows them to target audiences locally in ways that are not possible with linear TV.
Measurement is another superpower of CTV. With advanced measurement and attribution solutions, advertisers can get granular on measuring outcomes to track website visits, connect CTV viewership with sales through attribution — and truly understand the ROI of each and every impression in their campaign. In fact, advertisers told us that brand lift (42%), reach and frequency (41%), sales lift (37%) and linear reach extension measurement (35%) are the top KPIs for CTV/OTT advertising.