Growth of Connected TV Advertising

The expansion of TV industry has taken the world of digital advertising by storm. Connected TV advertising is the new buzz word and has been the talk of the town. In last few years, audience is gradually moving away from cabled TV and migrating towards devices which could stream online content. Let’s understand what exactly is connected TV and how this platform poses great opportunity for advertisers and brands.

What is Connected TV?

Simply put, any device that has a screen for display and connects to the internet to stream online content falls under the category of connected TV. A connected TV can be internet-enabled television, PlayStation or Xbox gaming console. It’s a collaboration of internet and television which is why connected TV is also termed as Smart TV. Users can access wide range of content on internet through online apps like Amazon, Netflix, Hulu and Youtube.

Why audience is migrating to Connected TV?

Unlike the traditional television which requires a satellite cable connection or set top box, connected TV just needs the availability of internet. The viewership of connected TV devices is increasing at a rapid rate.  As per a survey, over 50% households in countries like US and UK have already got their cable connections disconnected and have moved on connected TV devices.  Millennial endorse the idea of viewing videos as per their interest and availability. On linear television, each telecasted show has a fixed timeslot unlike internet enabled devices where one can watch the shows whenever they want.  Brands just cannot afford missing out on engaging with this massive audience. Quality of web series and shows available on online apps is at-par with the ones telecasted on TV in terms of content and potential to engage viewers. 

Connected TV Advertising:

Connected TV advertising is displaying ads on content which gets streamed over the internet. Ads are served on online content using automated software. Programmatic TV is a technology that helps to automate the process of ad delivery. It’s a data driven method of buying and delivering of ads on internet. It’s this technology which lets the advertisers to show different ads to different viewers on same content. If same video is streamed by multiple viewers at the same time, not all viewers which see similar ads.

Brands create video ads focusing on the target audience. Ad space is bought and ad gets displayed each time user’s profile matches the parameters decided by the advertiser. For analysing the performance of the ad, connected TV platform provides critical metrics for advertisers to review.

• No. of times ad is shown to the users
• No. of people who viewed the ad
• Completion rate of the ad.

The ads on connected TV applications are either pre-roll or mid-roll. Pre-roll ads are displayed before the start of the video while the mid-rolls appear around the mid way.  These are more effective and produce better results. 

Advantages of Connected TV advertising:

A Connected TV as an open platform not only provides lavish features to its viewers but also presents huge opportunity for the marketers to enhance their brand awareness by reaching out to users on these smart devices. It enables the advertisers to reach that audience which they weren’t able to target on traditional TV.  OTT devices displays content just like cabled media service but over the internet. The ad viewership is comparatively higher on connected TV as compared to linear.  The viewers are willing to sit through the ad for longer duration. 

Millennial are not easy to target. With such varied interest, brands often find it challenging to come up with customized ad campaign that could interest them. Presence of such enormous millennial users at place has made connected TV a new frontier for the brands. In recent times no. of impressions served on connected TV devices have overtaken the impressions on mobile devices.

• Customized Targeting: Connected TV platform provides an opportunity for the brands to deliver personalized ads to their audience. For streaming online content, most of the applications require a user to login. With access to third party data like user’s location, device details, online behaviour, brands can get insight about the user and can display ads as per user interest. This enhances targeting precision and relevance of ad.
• Higher Ad viewership: Bombarding consumers with ads often end up users installing ad blockers which degrade the performance of advertising campaign. With connected TV advertising, users are not overwhelmed by ads as the frequency of ads on internet-enabled TV is comparatively lower. The completion rate of ads also goes up as ads being personalized are viewed willingly by users.
• Interactive Ads: Connected TV is compatible to displaying HD quality, high resolution interactive ads which enhances user engagement. Video ads with animation and call to action feature perform much better in terms of engaging with the audience.