Once upon a time, you had one television and a handful of channels to choose from when you consumed entertainment. No more. The internet has made OTT streaming video or audio content a regular part of our lives. With both pay-to-access and free-to-access, platforms seem to supply an endless supply of options, all ready and waiting for you.
What’s ready for you is also available to millions of potential customers. Narrow down your demographics, and you can reach a specific audience that’s perfect for what you sell. Is OTT streaming right for you?
What Is Advertising on OTT Streaming?
With streaming content so readily available on every device, it’s no wonder people are finding new ways to consume their entertainment. Cable providers are no longer required. Instead, you can easily access content on mobile devices, personal computers, smart TVs, streaming devices like Roku and Apple TV, and even from your gaming console. Who needs cable?
As a marketer, you may feel like your window of advertising opportunity has closed in, providing you with fewer opportunities. In reality, the opposite is true. Companies leveraging OTT advertising have more expanded, targeted, and creative ways to reach their audiences.
OTT stands for “over-the-top” and refers to technology that delivers streamed content via any one of the internet-connected devices. These services make their money in several ways:
- Ad-supported: The content is free, with paid ads displayed somewhere around the content.
- Subscription: Users pay a monthly fee for on-demand access.
- Transactional: Users pay for one-time access to specific content.
- Premium: Users gain early access or have rights to exclusive content.
For you, the advertiser, any one of these can be a game-changer when it comes to finding your audience. Dive deep, and you can further niche to specific markets. OTT often refers to video streaming, where the content sits and waits for you to enjoy. Live streaming increases the possibility of allowing viewers to tune in and watch live action.
For Some Industries, OTT Is a Game-Changer
There’s no denying that Live Sports is a massive driver in today’s OTT streaming environment. Consider the recent March Madness. Viewers could buy into live-streaming platforms that offered the games they most wanted to watch. How about a package to watch 32 channels with access to 50 hours of cloud-based DVR storage? Or maybe you want the upgraded Hulu + Live TV bundle with unlimited DVR storage?
Or maybe you’re salivating at the potential of this summer’s Olympic Games. With billions tuning into the 2020 games, 2024 offers unlimited opportunity. For the first time, NBCUniversal is opening advertising up to be purchased programmatically for all streamed medal events. That could be a game-changer when reaching out to specific target markets.
Can you see the benefits? Maybe it’s time to discover what advertising on today’s most popular OTT streaming services could do for you. Marketers that are now utilizing this technology have found many benefits, including:
Precise Targeting
This is where having a detailed customer avatar comes in handy. The more you know about your customers, the more detailed your advertising can be. Most larger OTT platforms allow you to get as detailed as you want. Advertise based on interests, behaviors, or demographics, or build out custom audiences. This is something you’ll learn to refine over time.
Additionally, if you expand to a cross-channel approach, you can target and retarget to reach your audience across platforms, at different moments. This is brand-building at its finest.
Increased Reach
Fewer people are receiving TV via cable or satellite. With more channels and platforms available, reaching your target audience can be more complex than ever before. An OTT advertising strategy may be an essential part of your digital marketing strategy to reach the right audience at the right time.
Privacy Friendly
If you’ve been in the digital marketing space for a bit, you might face issues overcoming data privacy changes. With the cookie phase-out, advertisers are looking for new ways to build and engage with an audience. OTT streaming might be an answer. OTT advertising has never used cookies and doesn’t approach targeting similarly. This manner of publishing will continue to see growth as the industry changes.
Engaged Audience
With traditional TV advertising, you pay for anticipated views. Your ad runs during specific shows and time slots regardless of who is watching. Not so with OTT advertising. Because viewers actively request video content, they are likelier to tune in and pay attention. That means the ads delivered will have a higher percentage of impressions with people who care about what you offer.
Advanced Targeting and Tracking
As with other forms of digital marketing, OTT advertising gives advertisers metrics like user engagement, click rates, skipped ad viewing, and more. The more you learn, the better you can build ads that reach specific targets. More engagement means better ROI on your ad spend. Yes, it might take finessing to move into the flow. But if OTT streaming is reaching your target market, a little work will mean a better marketing strategy overall.
How To Start Advertising Using OTT Streaming
OTT advertising requires extensive research to ensure ad placement reaches the right target audience. Most marketers interested in OTT streaming choose an advertising agency with the experience and tools available to handle OTT placement.
It starts with choosing your audience, picking the right OTT platform, and creating a strategy that works for your business. Together, we’ll need to set a schedule for when your ads will appear and keep an eye on how your ads are doing. Based on performance, improvements can be made on the fly to try to increase ROI. Reviewing successes is equally important as evaluating your mistakes. This helps you make effective ad adjustments in the future.
OTT streaming viewership continues to explode. That means opportunities are growing by leaps and bounds, and it makes sense to have video to support your sales and marketing goals. If this sounds like something that works for your business, why not schedule a conversation today?
We’re looking forward to helping you grow toward a brighter future.
