The NDA Predictions Hub, in association with Xandr, is dedicated to insight and inspiration from some of our industry’s leading figures to help you make sense of how digital marketing and media will develop in 2022.
The predictions of our experts though may leave readers wondering exactly how they can shape their own marketing strategies to fit the trends identified. So as part our Predictions Hub, Xandr’s own experts will be stepping in to help with the answers.
With an increasing number of CTV and digital video options to choose from, how can I find out what strategy and channels will perform best for my brand?
Back just before the turn of the millennium, a small box threatened to blight advertisers’ lives. The digital video recorder for broadcast TV arrived, and promised to save viewers from ad breaks and hastily brewed cups of tea in the middle of their favourite programmes.
Two decades on and the TiVo still exists but has, in many ways, been usurped by streaming services – you’d be hard pressed to find someone who wanted to TiVo and chill.
But it did herald the viewer’s changing relationship with TV and subsequently streaming, bingeing and skipping became the norm.
So where does this leave advertisers? Well, according to a recent IAB Europe report, 63% of CTV viewers watch ad-supported video on demand, or AVOD. This is proof for those who believe that CTV inventory doesn’t scale, that it provides premium content and opportunities for advertisers.
Of course, more opportunities doesn’t necessarily mean better – choice can create confusion, especially if relatively new formats like CTV are not as well understood from an audience and reach point of view.
Some of the challenges that face advertisers are the same as those presented by linear TV – do you know if consumers are watching your ad or making a cup of tea; are they reacting to your ads because they saw them on TV, or was the purchase the result of the same campaign viewed on mobile, or OOH?
The industry is still evolving and a standardised measurement solution equivalent to Nielsen may be some way off yet. But standard best practice in targeting is the most likely way to give dividends. Understand your audience, map their behaviours and their journeys, use digital targeting tactics and focus on tangible metrics like sales, rather than reassuring but potentially less meaningful alternatives such as reach.
CTV is building a growing audience that is actively invested in the content. It provides a unique opportunity for marketers to diversify their broadcast media portfolios with a highly targeted and contextual approach.
