In many ways, linear (or traditional) TV advertising has long been an imperfect science. Whether broadcasting to a national or regional audience, brands have had to keep their ads broad to address a large swath of people, risking appealing to no one in particular. If your brand is niche, as many are, spending big bucks on network advertising doesn't make much sense.
But now, thanks to the advancements of connected TV (CTV) and its numerous apps, streamers and capabilities, advertisers have more opportunities to reach their intended audiences. Coupled with the right strategy and platform, CTV can offer more precise targeting, which allows brands to cater their messages directly to viewers they want to attract.
We’ve already seen that the audience is there on CTV, and their attention is captured: Not only do over half of streaming viewers say they have discovered a new product from streaming ads, but a similar proportion has rated their viewing experience positively if the ads were relevant to them. With the targeting and measurement capabilities of CTV, brands are now well positioned to break free from the limitations of linear buying and level up their approach to TV advertising.
The challenges with producing traditional TV ads
In the past, creative production for linear TV has been time-consuming, expensive and difficult to adjust for various audiences. This has led to the following challenges:
- Costly and labor-intensive refreshes. Brands need creative refreshes. Research has shown that over time, the same ad creative offers diminishing returns as viewers pay less attention. Traditionally, TV ads have been developed for specific branding initiatives, be it seasonal offerings or yearly sales. Producing these spots is extremely expensive and time-intensive and therefore limits the number of creatives a brand can produce.
- The difficulty of managing various campaigns. When a brand wants to advertise on traditional TV, it usually has to go directly to the channel or network. This makes advertising on multiple channels incredibly taxing, between toggling creative management, media plans, budgets and measurement.
- Limited data that’s only available after the campaign ends. Data—especially timely and abundant data—is crucial to understanding the impact of an ad. And with linear TV ads, real-time results aren’t available, meaning that advertisers aren’t able to optimize their ad budgets as efficiently as possible.
CTV enables solutions to longtime TV ad problems
On connected TV, many of these cumbersome issues can be remedied. All it takes is an assist from the right advertising technology that’s equipped with precision measurement capabilities. By unlocking insights into what’s working in their messaging—and what’s not—advertisers can make creative decisions based on real-time data, changes that can be implemented before the next time they refresh their ads.
These innovative solutions also allow brands to create multiple versions of their ads to speak to specific audiences on CTV. For example, with MNTN’s Creative-as-a-Subscription (CaaS) model, advertisers receive a quarterly refresh of their creative, often with several versions that target different audiences or take different tactics. The creative is included in the price of media, thus bundling the two together and allowing advertisers to invest their entire budget into driving actual business-impacting results. And once the creative is ready, brands can quickly upload, manage and measure their campaigns all in one place, unlike many other TV solutions out there.
Here’s an example: Replacements, the world’s largest retailer of china, crystal and silverware, used CaaS to streamline its CTV ad process. Previously, when the company would advertise on TV, it often focused refreshes on the holiday season. But with CaaS, Replacements was able to refresh its creative quarterly, and launch campaigns with new ads and a fresh message to target users who had already viewed products on its site. The results were phenomenal: Replacements’ month-to-month return on ad spend (ROAS) soared by 417%, and revenue improved by 240% compared with the year prior.
MNTN’s Performance TV platform also makes uploading new content as simple as dragging and dropping. Once launched, the campaign is optimized to the advertiser’s goals to drive performance outcomes. This optimization is done automatically so there is no manual lift or time-consuming management required. The system looks at dozens of variables from audience data (like geography and demographics), ad inventory data (day-parting, pricing) and campaign data (performance metrics, frequency) thousands of times each day to maximize performance.
These optimizations helped the blanket brand Rumpl see great returns from CTV—64% higher ROAS than its goal, which ultimately prompted the company to sign up for CaaS. With CaaS, Rumpl doesn't need to divert any of that high-performing budget toward making new creatives. CaaS has given it the opportunity to invest its entire budget into driving performance.
Connected TV has opened the door to more targeted advertising with much less hassle. Add technology like Performance TV and a service like CaaS, and advertisers have even greater insights and time to strategize the best returns.
