TV has long been a powerful advertising channel to reach captivated viewers. But now the rise of connected TV (CTV) has empowered brands to more accurately target audiences on the same engaging screens—programmatically.
And CTV advertisers know it. In 2023, CTVs passed desktops and laptops for share of digital display programmatic ad spending. Insider Intelligence estimates that more than two in five ad dollars in the total programmatic market went to CTV in 2023, with 80.5% of all CTV ad dollars spent programmatically.
The programmatic CTV opportunity is here
It’s clear that CTV’s growing reach and audience make it an ideal channel for marketers who want their campaigns to make an impact. And that massive amount of programmatic ad buying in the CTV space is further helping to make this channel a perfect performance marketing opportunity.
For marketers, the key to unlocking the full potential of your programmatic CTV campaigns is an audience-first approach. The channel’s robust audience targeting capabilities allow savvy marketers to reach consumers based on factors as broad as demographics and location, and as specific as personal interests and behaviors.
Programmatic CTV also gives marketers insights they can use to optimize campaigns—with access to data on impressions, clicks, and conversions, they can adjust strategies in real time. Combine this data with performance-optimized technology that can deliver measurable outcomes, and CTV advertisers have the power to refine campaigns and make them soar past the finish line.
Partnering up for success
So how can marketers set themselves up for success with their programmatic CTV campaigns? Quality inventory, for one, is paramount when serving ads programmatically. To ensure optimal results—and prevent undesirable placements that can dilute a campaign’s impact—marketers need to work with top-tier publishers.
Advertisers that work with a partner like MNTN know their programmatic CTV ads are served to the right audience, and at the right time and place. MNTN Performance TV utilizes automated optimization to achieve advertisers’ goals—streamlining ad buying based on specific, predefined performance goals. By taking the guesswork out of CTV advertising with data-driven decision making, marketers can reach their ideal audience and deliver consistent results.
The proof is in the pudding
For skeptics who still see the TV screen as a performance advertising wasteland and need hard numbers to change their mind, look no further than MNTN’s internal Q3 2023 results. Specific industry sectors, like fashion and apparel, reveal an impressive return on ad spend (ROAS) for CTV campaigns—jumping by 53% YoY to 8.95 times the average. And the home and garden category boasted a ROAS 13 times the average, growing by 25% YoY.
These year-over-year improvements in ROAS not only showcase the effectiveness of programmatic CTV, but also show how far the channel itself has come over the last year as a performance marketing solution. For 2024, MNTN expects technological advancements to continue refining CTV’s targeting capabilities and driving even better performance—and no advertiser will want to be left behind.