How to navigate fragmentation in CTV advertising

With most of the major US subscription streaming services offering ad-supported plans, marketers have their work cut out for them, having to allocate budget, buy, and attribute across multiple ecosystems.

“Fragmentation creates a headache in determining meaningful performance. That puts a lot of weight in the trust of the attribution models across all of your CTV ad buys,” Erik Gray, director of product analytics at MNTN, said at our recent EMARKETER Summit.

Here are 3 ways to boost the success of your CTV ad campaigns, despite market fragmentation.

1. Create incrementality across platforms

“Networks that have partnered with streaming services are creating direct buys or selling to different DSPs (demand-side platforms), so marketers have to go to each of these different companies to create relationships,” Gray said. Quantifying ad buys then becomes a challenge and so too does making informed decisions on where to serve your ads.

In addition, the more fragmented your ad buys, the greater your chances are of oversaturating the same audience and limiting your ability to reach new consumers, Gray said, recommending that marketers should consolidate ad buys into one platform.

2. Focus—and follow—your target audience

If you prioritize buying ads based on your target audience rather than buying on TV networks or shows, you’re more likely to reach people who are actually interested.

“[TV network reporting] is so important for your own brand safety and making sure that you’re only running on channels that align with your brand,” Gray said.

3. Create relationships on multiple devices

“[Marketers] are trying to understand how TV can be a part of their media mix and how they can align their attribution model,” Gray said. This stems from the disconnect between the device that delivers the ad and the device that the consumer converts on.

He suggests using systems that track website visits—whether on a tablet, desktop, or mobile—within a certain period of time after a consumer views the TV ad. From there, develop retargeting campaigns to move them down the funnel.

“TV is pushing up the performance across all of your marketing, mainly because of the quality of the inventory and ad unit,” allowing other channels to benefit, Gray said.

Watch the full session.

This was originally featured in the EMARKETER Daily newsletter. For more marketing insights, statistics, and trends, subscribe here.

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