3 best practices for better CTV advertising

Consumers’ appetite for quality, on-demand content has contributed to connected TV’s (CTV’s) stronghold as the fastest-growing major ad format in the US. “There’s a lot more for [advertisers] to weed through in terms of the opportunities and options of where to place our clients’ ad dollars,” Jennifer Kohl, executive director and head of US media at VMLY&R, said of CTV during our virtual “Attention!” summit last week.

Here are three best practices for marketers to improve their CTV advertising strategies.

1. Invest in programmatic

• Boost ROI: Programmatic video offers advertisers efficiency in buying, precise targeting capabilities, and a wealth of data to use in campaign optimization.
• Gain insights: “The delivery of the [programmatic] campaign shows you where your audience actually is,” said Ali Haeri, senior vice president of marketing at MNTN.
• Follow suit: 87.2% of US CTV ad spending (including YouTube) is programmatic, according to our “Upfront TV and Digital Video Forecasts and Trends 2023” report.

2. Be aware of frequency

• Losing attention: “Buyers and brands should be thinking about how to minimize the burnout that happens when you see the same ad in the same pod,” said Eric John, vice president of the media center at the Interactive Advertising Bureau.
• Holding back: 30% of marketers and publishers worldwide believe that efficient frequency capping would increase their CTV advertising spend, according to a November 2022 survey by Lotame and PureSpectrum.
• It won’t be simple: A multicurrency upfront, expected in the next year, won’t solve the frequency management issue. Although measurement is evolving to accurately capture all TV viewership consistently, greater transparency in the ad market will be needed to control frequency across platforms and devices.

3. Elevate and increase ad variations

• Mixing creative: More versions of ad materials create opportunities to A/B test and optimize for engagement with a target consumer.
• Be less intrusive: CTV audiences that are accustomed to ad-free experiences will be more open to the addition of a light ad load when the creative is new and engaging.
• Lean on specialists: A need for multiple ad variations will place a premium on teams to create content, while generative AI will serve as a tool for refinement.

Watch the full session.

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