OTT, which stands for “over-the-top,” describes the process of watching TV over the internet rather than through a traditional cable or satellite connection. In other words, OTT is the hardware and software that enable content delivery over the Internet.
So, marketing to this online audience while they stream content is known as over-the-top (OTT) advertising. This content is available on all internet-connected devices, including laptops, desktop computers, tablets, and mobile phones, not just televisions.
As TV-watching trends have changed, some well-known brands offer ad-supported services, including Hulu, Tubi, Paramount+, Peacock, Discovery+, Pluto, and Roku.
Unlike conventional display and search ads, video has a reputation for being difficult to measure for businesses and brands. But those times are now in the past, and OTT video ads are proving to be the most successful type of marketing.
Let’s look at why OTT advertising is a game changer for marketers.
Micro-Target Viewers
TV advertisements are a “wide-net” marketing technique instead of OTT advertising. As a result, most of the population will undoubtedly see your advertising campaign.
However, the target audience for most TV channels needs to be more diverse for a single advertisement to grab everyone’s attention. Unfortunately, this leaves some viewers slipping through the cracks to nibble on tastier promotions.
Contrarily, OTT content allows advertisers to profit from addressable advertising, which involves tailoring and playing various ads for various viewers according to their demographic and interests.
You can micro-target consumers with addressable advertising on OTT for the highest level of engagement.
Advertisers can choose to target particular demographics with OTT ads, including:
- Age
- Gender
- Location
- Income
- Education Level
- Ethnic Background
With the best OTT platforms, you can pinpoint the precise customer your business needs to reach instead of casting a wide net for TV commercials. For marketers, it makes perfect sense.
Engage Your Audience
One of our favorite OTT advertising benefits is that it only appears when a viewer actively requests video content.
When you purchase traditional TV advertising, you pay for a predetermined audience size, and the advertisement airs whether or not anyone is watching the broadcast.
The likelihood of an ad having a higher percentage of impressions viewed is higher with OTT advertising because the viewer actively requests the video content.
Measure Everything
With OTT advertising, everything is measurable. Which, of course, is the ideal situation for any brand, business, or marketer.
CTR – Click-Through Rate
Your click-through rate (CTR) is a standard OTT advertising metric used to assess the effectiveness of OTT ads.
The average number of clicks your advertisement receives concerning the number of times it is displayed is measured by the click-through rate.
You can evaluate the effectiveness of your ads and keywords using your CTR. As a result of your ad receiving more clicks due to a higher CTA, viewers will find your video content valuable and engaging.
A lower CTR, however, suggests that audiences need to respond better to your content and messaging. Therefore, you might also need to concentrate on the correct keywords or audience, or the content itself.
VCR – Video Completion Rate
Monitoring your video completion rate (VCR) is another method for gauging the effectiveness of OTT ads.
The median duration (VCR) viewers spend watching your OTT ad is a crucial metric for OTT advertising.
More people are watching long-form content on connected TV devices, which has led to an increase in VCR metrics. The video completion rate can be as high as 90% to 100%. The non-skippable nature of OTT ads and their infrequent airings are probably to blame for these high rates. As a result, people stay seated and watch the entire video advertisement rather than getting up for a snack break.
A high rate does not necessarily imply watching the entire video ad. You should monitor VCR as one of the most essential OTT advertising metrics and pay close attention to any data gaps.
This information will enable you to identify the demographic leaving mid-ad and when viewers’ attention is waning.
Attribution Rate
Even though having a high video completion rate is excellent, you ultimately want to demonstrate how your OTT ads influence conversion. And that’s where OTT attribution comes in.
Attribution tracking, a crucial metric for OTT advertising, connects the viewing of an advertisement with an intended action, like visiting a website or a physical location.
Since most OTT ad formats are non-clickable, unlike digital and mobile advertising, many OTT ad formats do not support the use of cookie data. In addition, measuring the information flow between touchpoints and actions is challenging due to the need for more access.
One option is to collaborate with an OTT advertising agency with access to digital data segments. Tracking user behaviors across various devices is possible if you can access a sizable data set of user and device IDs.
The way viewers consume television has fundamentally changed. As such, marketers, brands, companies, and advertisers must always go where their target audiences are.