You may not think it’s possible, but there’s an ad type that works even when consumers aren’t looking at or listening to the media format your client purchased. What is this witchcraft?? According to a study by GroupM, it’s connected TV (CTV ads).

The Unexpected Magic of CTV Ads

Why It Matters

“The U.S. Federal Reserve has raised and will continue to raise interest rates from historical lows, causing concerns that higher costs of capital will constrain economic activity before prices are under control, leading to fears of a stagflationary recession,” reports GroupM. With many Americans worrying and preparing for a recession, you may worry that your clients plan on slashing their advertising budgets. However, that shouldn’t be the case.

GroupM estimates that advertising in the U.S. will increase 9.3% this year. Brands that prioritize TV advertising are a huge source of growth within the realm of digital advertising. As these advertisers continue to adopt the digital extensions of traditional media, such as CTV ads, digital advertising spend will continue to grow, reaching an estimated $235 billion by the end of this year.

For advice on how to help your clients feel more comfortable maintaining their current advertising budgets, take a look at our article Efficient Advertising in the Face of an Economic Slowdown.

The Future of TV Advertising

Group M says that “television appears poised to produce solid growth… with a 3.4% gain for the overall medium during 2022, including slightly better results in national TV.” The credit goes to CTV ads. Increased adoption of CTV has led more advertisers to dedicate more ad dollars to CTV that would have otherwise been spent on other digital advertising formats.

“The growing ad offerings of streaming services, which in their nascency had no or very few ad breaks, better help marketers satisfy their reach and frequency goals and encourage marketers to retain large budgets within the overall medium,” says GroupM. So, CTV ads offer advertisers the best of both traditional and digital advertising.

CTV Ad Viewability

Now to the surprising data. If your client still isn’t convinced about the effectiveness of CTV ads, here’s what you tell them. “On average, 8–10% of streaming impressions play when the TV is shut off, primarily through ancillary devices,” says GroupM. According to a MediaPost article on GroupM’s data, here are some more notable facts:

“17% of impressions delivered only through CTV streaming devices such as dongles, gaming consoles, and sticks were delivered when the TV was shut off
Gaming consoles generally had lower rates of continuous play than dongles and sticks
Native smart TV Apps – which account for about 50% of all CTV viewing – had virtually no incidence of overcounts across streaming ad delivery”

Convinced yet?

CTV and Your Client’s Target Audiences

Generalized data is always a good starting point. However, more personalized data will always be better at driving points home. Points like convincing your client that CTV ads are worth the investment. For more personalized data, check out your client’s target audience’s profile on AudienceSCAN on AdMall by SalesFuel. There, you’ll find relevant information on the benefits CTV ads could have on your client’s ad strategy. For example, you’ll be able to see what percentages of your client’s target audience:

Took action after seeing CTV ads within the last year
How much time they spend watching TV on a daily basis
Which types of TV programming are their favorites
How they’re watching the majority of their TV programming
Which streaming services they’re using
And more!

Today’s economic slowdowns shouldn’t discourage your clients. Instead, look for ways to make the most out of their advertising budgets, like investing in ad media that works even when the TV is off.

Photo by Grant