CTV impressions soared during the Covid-19 pandemic, and the Channel continues to be one of the fastest growing outlets when it comes to ad spend. Last year the pandemic accelerated cord-cutting and drove 40.6% growth YoY (eMarketer, March 2021).
According to a November 2020 poll from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), 60% of US advertisers planned to shift ad dollars from linear TV to either CTV or OTT in 2021. Among those planning to do this, 81% cited targeting and efficiency as a reason, while 55% pointed to incremental reach.
Shifting Consumer Consumption Creates Opportunity
Connected TV has transformed Television into the next great performance channel – combining the experience of television with the urgency, targeting, and timeliness of digital media. The most recent evolution includes creative overlays that have enabled digital-like interactive experiences capable of dynamic content, carousels and skins and the ability to drive leads directly from the largest screen in the house via SMS and QR code call-to-actions, as well as retargeting strategies used to intersect users who saw a CTV spot with a display ad to pull them through the funnel.
The Internet Advertising Bureau defines CTV initiatives as focused on video that is internet delivered, and viewed on a (big screen) TV. This includes:
- – “Smart TVs” that stream video directly over the internet
- – Internet connected devices like: Roku, Chromecast, Fire Stick, Apple TV and others that stream to a TV (often referred to as an OTT device)
- – Game consoles such as XBox, Playstation, Nintendo, and others that stream to a TV
- – Mobile and desktop devices are not included under the term CTV
- – CTV is not synonymous with “OTT” or “Over the Top”, which refers to content delivered over the Internet or through a cell phone network, as opposed to receiving the television signal from a terrestrial broadcast, cable or satellite
Determining if CTV is Right For You
For more on CTV, join us for our virtual session, ““As Seen on TV” May Have Come First, but now Connected TV is Driving Revenue for Catalogers” on September 15th for NEMOA. Senior Vice President, Digital Marketing, Erica DePalma and Senior Vice President, Tracy Egan, will provide a CTV overview, tips for how to realize the power of CTV as part of your media mix, and measurement and validation tactics for direct response advertisers.
Research provided by Ask Wonder. Specific sources include IAB, eMarketer and Wikipedia.
