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How Advertisers Can Stay on Top with the Expansion of CTV

Author Narender Kumar

 

CTV Myth Buster

This is the first entry in TripleLift’s three-part CTV Myth Busters series! Stay tuned for part 2 and 3 coming this Fall.

Authored by: Andrea Ravikumar, Senior Manager, Product Research at TripleLift

Fact or Fiction?: Consumer habits for CTV viewing are shifting faster than advertisers can keep up with. FACT!

We’ve heard the same narrative for over five years now: consumers streaming more than ever on a variety of devices. In fact, Nielsen just reported that time spent streaming TV surpassed linear for the first time in July 2022. 

This huge shift in consumer attention from linear TV to CTV has led to a significant opportunity for brands, marketers, and advertisers and thus more competition in the marketplace. In fact, the time spent viewing digital video will surpass TV viewing by 2024, with Digital Video ad spend hitting $76B and growing through 2026. Whereas TV ad spend will fall short at $68B and continue to decline. 

With increased ad spend and more unlocked inventory, it’s hard to navigate CTV’s unpredictable waters. That’s why you need a suite of partners who have your back and can help you to navigate the dynamic CTV landscape.

CTV that Works Smarter AND Harder
Anecdotally, in-break CTV ads are thought of as only an awareness, top-of-funnel driver. If a user can’t directly engage with the ad, how can it do anything other than getting a brand or product name out there? 

A recent survey of CTV buyers conducted by The Drum found that perception is changing. Today’s buyers see CTV as a format that calls to each part of the buying funnel. In fact nearly 50% more respondents indicated that in-break CTV ads for driving a purchase than awareness.  Gone are the days when performance is only tied to GRPs and directional lifts in sales. With CTV having the same measurement capabilities as digital, why should it be held to a lesser standard?

As consumer viewing behavior shifts to streaming on CTV, there are plenty of on-demand viewing and one-to-one addressable opportunities for brands, marketers, and advertisers to take advantage of. 

Picking the Right Swim Lane
How do you decide where to run your ads when you have so many options? Linear ads are traditionally purchased with individual network upfront commitments. The same is true of CTV. In fact, TripleLift’s CTV Buyer Survey found that 55% of the annual CTV budget is already committed to a specific network before the year even starts. So how should you spend the other 45%?

Strategic supply side partners providing thoughtful proposals can be the difference between running a spray and pray campaign without frequency caps and an innovative, targeted and campaign featured on the main stage at Advertising Week .

Here are two top tips from our research:

  • Explore FAST and AVOD networks to find a loyal and dedicated fan base that is leaned into both the content and, therefore the surrounding brand messaging.
  • Combine direct-to-publisher partnerships with deals that span multiple publishers to create a healthy mix of inventory and scale your campaign.

A True Partnership
You can’t chart your CTV path alone. It’s important to have tour guides to help you find the best path along the way. Asking the right questions and knowing some basics will help you level up your buys.

CTV has plenty of opportunities to discover what works best for your brand. If you’d like to learn more about the myths and facts of CTV, then download our free white paper. 

We have just begun to scratch the surface of all that’s possible with CTV advertising. Stay tuned for CTV Myth Busters Part 2 coming soon.

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