As an agency whose value is based almost exclusively on, well, value, we view innovation. It is a strategic imperative. This year, in our post-pandemic world, we have a new focus. Identifying and capitalizing on the new opportunities that presented themselves as our world and habits shifted. One of them is Digital TV.
Advertising on Digital TV may not be new. But leveraging it as a performance channel is – and we’ve got the secret sauce ingrained in our approach already. Inspiring action is what we do best
What is Digital TV?
This year, we were all shoved to the couch – and as we stayed home, we shifted from live, “appointment television” to binging content. At this point, I am resisting turning this blog into “what I watched during the pandemic” – but I digress…
Digital TV (all internet-connected TV, through consoles, sticks, or smart TVs, delivering streaming video content -), also known as OTT, CTV, and streaming TV, gave us all the opportunity to watch what we wanted, when we wanted, and for however long we wanted.
Your audience, old and young is already there – waiting for you.
2020 was the first-year advertisers could reach more households through digital, streamed TV than traditional TV.1
In fact, look at the pandemic’s impact – 48% of TV cord-cutters did so within the past year, with 9% in the first month of shelter-in-place.2 And they’ve stayed.
Opportunity is Knocking
We are always seeking new ways to target our audience effectively.
Digital TV gives us a way to reach the target audiences in a changing landscape, as traditional television viewership and radio listenership increasingly migrate to digital spaces. Our niche audiences – Christian viewers, Medicare shoppers, and so many more – are easier to target,
But when we say innovation, it goes deeper than trying a new channel. Instead, it’s focusing on evolving Digital TV into a performance media channel. Fact is, this is not direct response, and our typical direct response-oriented calls to action are not an ideal strategy.
So, instead we are modifying our approach for the right calls to action and measurement metrics for the digital channel. Users of digital TV and radio ads often do not/cannot click through the video and audio ads, blocking us from using direct conversions as a metric of success. This is a channel that is changing rapidly – once solely a brand awareness focus, the consistent calls to action from direct response media are already finding their way to the digital TV frontier.
Recall and reporting
We’re starting in a good place. With Digital TV there’s a 32% higher lift in brand perception compared to traditional TV.3 So, evolving to a performance channel is the next frontier.
Testing Digital TV
Are you convinced? Consider the value of targeting beyond geography and dayparts. We can bring the precision of digital programmatic advertising to television. Compared to traditional broadcast TV, Digital TV’s enhanced targeting capabilities give the clear advantage of greater efficiency in reaching the right audiences.
Now is the time to test. Digital TV can work in concert with and boost existing marketing efforts. We recommend structuring a campaign to run while other marketing is launched to measure impact on other performance metrics, including on SEM and Facebook.