The TV streaming industry is one that has really rocketed into dominance over the past few years, especially with platforms like Netflix and Apple TV becoming highly popular.
OTT ads are known as TV streaming ads and are becoming a great way for marketers to deliver brand advertising directly to videos within the video content they’re watching. It’s an opportunity that many advertisers can utilize to help connect with their target audience this year.
In this article, you’ll get a good understanding of OTT platforms, the best practices that are useful for this type of advertising, and examples of brands that are already doing it.
The benefits of OTT platforms
There are many benefits to making use of OTT platforms for your marketing this year and to attracting your target audience in purchasing your product or services.
There’s a younger and wealthier audience available
The future generations are what any business should primarily be focused on attracting and OTT platforms provide that in ample amounts. There’s a younger and wealthier audience available on these platforms because, for the most part, the platforms are used mostly by younger generations.
For example, a survey done with US citizens found that 75% of 18-34-year-olds and 72% of 35-44-year-olds had a current Netflix subscription. This is compared to just 44% of 65-year-olds and over having a Netflix subscription.
The younger generations have more wealth as they’re more likely in full-time jobs or they’re still living with their parents.
Good for data transparency and microtargeting
With OTT platforms, you get better transparency when it comes to data and who is watching the content you’re delivering. This can be helpful when it comes to methods like microtargeting, where you’re specifically targeting the audience members that are most likely to engage with the advertisement.
It’s one of the most popular mediums for entertainment
OTT platforms are some of the most popular mediums for entertainment with Disney+ launching in 2019 and amassing over 116 million subscribers worldwide.
Many are choosing OTT platforms over traditional television broadcasters because of their accessibility but also due to their variety. Two factors that television broadcasters have had to adapt to in order to stay relevant.
Best OTT advertising platforms
What are some of the best OTT advertising platforms out there? With the popularity of them increasing, there have certainly been more popping up left, right, and center.
Apple TV
When you thought this major technology corporation couldn’t take over any more of the markets, they’ve cemented themselves into the TV streaming market.
It’s clear that it’s made an impression as it had a projected value of 40 million in 2020.
YouTube
YouTube is another great platform that has become a beloved social media channel for many generations. It’s great for video streaming as it has its own premium services in this category, as well as the standard video uploading option and shorts, a feature that’s recently been added.
Roku
Roku is considered one of the pioneers of OTT advertising. They recorded a whopping 51.2 million monthly users in the US back in 2020. It’s a growing advertising platform amongst many of the other OTT competitors.
These are just a small drop in the ocean of a big market that’s expanding year in, year out.
Best practices for OTT advertising
There are some best practices that can be used when it comes to OTT advertising. To ensure the success of your advertisement, consider these tips to help garner the most success.
1. Make sure the video has been formatted to show the ad clearly
Your audience is engaging with these TV streaming services on multiple devices, so make sure the video has been formatted to show the ad clearly.
2. Tell a story
Customers do enjoy storytelling advertising so when it comes to video storytelling, make sure you include this within some of or all of your advertising.
3. Keep the advertisement short and sweet
The attention span of your audience is going to be severely limited because in general, we consume so much content at such a quick rate of speed. Keep the advertisements as short and sweet as possible.
That way, you’re more likely to keep the user engaged from start to finish, where your CTA may be.
Examples of brands successfully leveraging OTT advertising
There are already plenty of examples of OTT advertising that you can use to inspire your advertising on these platforms. Here are just a couple of examples leveraging OTT advertising for their marketing needs.
Roku is a good example of using its own platform to advertise its own products. Nothing better than profiting and upselling what your audience is already interested in or purchased prior.
Another example of a brand leveraging OTT advertising is Tubi. Tubi’s TV advertising has over 250 partners, whereby the ad platform offers both 15 and 30-second ad spots which are all non-skippable. An example of this is below.
Challenges of OTT advertising
There are a few challenges that come with server-side ad insertions (SSAI) used on OTT platforms.
Audiences are broad
With digital advertising, the audience demographic is a lot broader, and therefore it can often make it difficult to target the right person, especially with multiple members of the household sharing the streaming services.
Higher costs
The cost of CTV advertising can often be a lot higher than other traditional advertising channels.
Difficulty measuring direct sales
With OTT advertising, the direct impact of video ads is often unclear, which can make it difficult to clarify the impact that this advertising has in general.
When it comes to your OTT marketing strategy, it’s important to target the right TV streaming platforms to guarantee delivery to your audience.
The OTT market is growing stronger and stronger every year. Adopting OTT advertising early on in business will certainly help with your marketing strategies in 2022 and beyond.
