Amid an uncertain economy, marketers across industries are getting creative and looking for ways to maximise their resources. Already-tightened budgets are facing close scrutiny, and marketing teams are under pressure to prove the ROI of their media investments.
Connected TV (CTV) has emerged as an increasingly valuable channel as marketers prioritise measurable, performance-based marketing. In fact, even as brands pull back on their budgets, CTV advertising is predicted to soar throughout 2023, with UK ad spend to grow to almost £9 billion.
Media buyers are following audiences as they shift toward streaming, but they’re also recognising that the digital capabilities of CTV make it an ideal vehicle to drive outcomes throughout the marketing funnel. With more control over campaign optimisation and efficiency, buyers are eager to shift more of their ad spend to CTV.
CTV advertising provides much-needed control and flexibility
With its premium, lean-back viewing experience, TV advertising has long been considered the gold standard for building awareness and driving consideration. CTV adds digital to the mix, bringing modern buying techniques to TV and transforming it into a highly targetable and measurable channel for the first time.
Not only can buyers tap into CTV’s scale for upper-funnel campaigns, but more granular control over targeting and optimisation means they can also influence lower-funnel outcomes.
As the industry improves and stabilises, buyers have a powerful way to reach a specific audience, in a specific location, at a specific time through CTV, then measure and attribute outcomes from that engagement. Combining that relevancy with the highly engaging and largely non-skippable ad format further boosts campaign effectiveness.
Programmatic adds even more to the mix, allowing brands and agencies to measure and optimise CTV campaigns mid-flight to improve reach and performance—something that is very hard to do with traditional linear TV campaigns.
Buyers can easily monitor pacing in real time and reallocate budgets from campaigns that are under-delivering to those that are achieving the desired scale. Programmatic also allows buyers to serve unique creatives based on age, demographic, location, and more to deliver the right message to the right audience across the same shows, all on the fly.
This level of flexibility is especially critical in today’s macroeconomic environment, where brands need to remain agile and adapt to ever-evolving business needs.
Curation enables more efficient programmatic buying
The sheer expanse of CTV inventory combined with near real-time campaign monitoring has created new efficiency challenges. Agencies have already been investing in supply path optimisation to improve efficiency by forming closer, consolidated relationships with SSPs and other partners.
Now, they’re looking to SSPs to develop programmatic tools, like curated inventory and improved targeting, that further improve efficiency while maintaining quality.
One-to-one deals have been the predominant transaction method for CTV advertising as buyers want control over what and how they are buying. While these will continue to be a big part of how CTV is transacted, there are other opportunities to help buyers take full advantage of programmatic in a safe and efficient way.
At Index, we’ve introduced new deals capabilities* with targeting features designed specifically for CTV to make it easier for buyers to access premium, relevant inventory and seamlessly execute deals to boost performance.
Our curated packages offer buyers a way to introduce more efficiency and expand beyond one-to-one deals to find scale across CTV. For example, buyers can apply basic targeting to reach audiences during live sports events, or a CPG brand could target cooking shows across multiple broadcasters, or an entertainment company could target drama shows to promote a new movie release.
With only premium and direct supply, buyers can be confident that they’re curating quality inventory and reaching the right audience in a safe, fraud-free environment. And, the control programmatic provides means that buyers can easily adjust targeting parameters to balance against scale in a way that best meets their objectives, efficiently maximising their media investment.
Merging TV’s immersive advertising experience with the control and efficiency of programmatic creates a powerful combination. Marketers can reach the audiences that matter most, tie performance directly back to ad spend, and efficiently grow their investments.
Learn how you can reach new audiences and realise the true value of CTV with Index.
*MNTN partnership only available in the USA – reach out to us to discover available CTV deals in the UK
