Over-the-top (OTT) is an ever-expanding medium that's granting marketers increased access to target audiences. Today, more than 69% of consumers subscribe to an online video streaming service. The number of people engaging in OTT is only going to continue to grow, giving advertisers plenty of opportunities to use it to reach those who aren't watching traditional TV. If you're interested in advertising through OTT services, the following is a guide to OTT advertising to help you implement it in your small business marketing strategies.
Using OTT, you can significantly increase your reach because OTT viewership is somewhat similar to TV in its engagement rates, seeing as OTT ads are both full-screen and non-skippable. While ads on specific platforms such as YouTube allow users to skip after several seconds, many others require users to view ads to completion. People are also more likely to sit through OTT ad breaks because they're often shorter than TV commercial breaks, which further holds their attention.
OTT audiences are considerably more diverse than TV audiences, allowing you to reach a broader group of people. That particularly applies to younger audiences, many of whom watch less TV. Regardless of the demographics you wish to target, there are streaming platforms and programs that your audiences will enjoy, giving you the chance to establish a connection with them.
If you can implement OTT as part of a comprehensive integrated marketing campaign that uses other platforms, you'll further extend your reach.
OTT ads are launched online and collect more data about their viewers than other types of ads. This increased insight into your audience can improve your targeting, which can subsequently boost their effectiveness and ROI. You can monitor some metrics for your OTT ads, including video completion rate (VCR), along with attribution tracking. While VCR measures the number of people who watch a video ad to completion, attribution tracking enables you to connect your ad to the desired action. Through attribution tracking, you can measure instances of people downloading apps, visiting your website, or visiting your physical store, among other actions.
If you can track your analytics effectively and consistently, you'll be able to get much more out of your marketing.
OTT ads use location, demographics, and device information to reach the people who are most likely to become your customers. Whether your ads play on video streaming services, podcasts, or other streaming platforms, you'll benefit from ads that are both hyper-targeted and relevant to your audience.
With an effective OTT advertising strategy behind your business, you'll be able to maximize your reach and grow your customer base. Your goal might be to boost brand awareness and recognition, or you might want to increase traffic to your store. Regardless of your goals, OTT ads can help you achieve them in addition to the rest of a complete marketing strategy. OTT is a growing trend that's only going to get bigger, which is why you need to start using it for your business as soon as possible to reap its many benefits.