CTV Advertising Trends That Are Transforming Media Buying

What will advertisers spend on CTV advertising this year? As the IAB highlighted earlier this spring, spending will increase by 11% to $29.3B. Clearly CTV advertising trends are positive, but marketers have concerns.

Do your accounts understand CTV advertising?

Keep in mind that your accounts might not understand the difference between CTV and OTT advertising. Remind them:

• OTT: Ads appear in video content that is delivered over the internet, and the viewing is not limited to TV screens.
• CTV: Ads appear in video content or on the home screen of smart TVs or streamlining sticks.

And your accounts should realize that CTV is part of the broader digital video ad ecosystem. This year, only 61% of marketers say CTV is a must-buy format. But 69% say social video is and they’ll spend $31.9B on the format.

Why smaller advertisers buy CTV

While large marketers are buying impressive amounts of CTV ad space, smaller advertisers are buying CTV inventory too. They want to reach niche audiences.

These marketers make their ad buys based on the following criteria:

• Targeting capabilities 49%
• Content quality 46%
• Overall reach 39%

But these smaller advertisers choose social video in larger numbers at all stages of the shopper journey. Here’s where they say social video is effective:

• Beginning – social video 67%
• Middle – social video 70%
• End – social video 77%

Why advertisers believe CTV is limited

Some of the concern about limited CTV investment is connected to the ability to present “Shoppable formats.” CTV is seen as less effective than social video, especially at the end of the funnel.

And this attitude prevails in specific verticals where there is a “shorter, low-consideration purchase journey.” A consumer who sees a video ad for a new type of performance wear on social media may click through the purchase quickly. 45% of advertisers in the CPG and retail fashion category expressed concern about CTV and lack of tools to enable an on-screen purchase. For the financial services vertical, only 25% of advertisers noted these concerns, likely because consumers are on a longer purchase journey in this case.

Lack of confidence in where CTV ads run

Advertisers have options when choosing how their CTV ads run. Their options include programmatic guaranteed to open exchange to private marketplaces. But none of the formats scored over 57% in terms of marketer confidence when it comes to knowing where ads ran. Even more alarming is that a similar number, 60%, are worried about whether their ads ran. This is among the chief concerns when it comes to CTV advertising trends.

In particular, marketers are worried that their ads placed through an open exchange could appear during “unsuitable content.” They also hesitate to pay for “suitability verification” services. In general, advertisers believe this is a service that the platform should provide.

Which CTV advertising trends will lead to success?

Some advertisers report good success from their CTV investment. For example, advertising during live programming leads to better view attention and business outcomes. But you clients may be looking for more cost-effective ways to use CTV advertising.

Because cost is always a concern, talk to your accounts about using AI to control costs of digital video ad creation. Over 60% of advertisers are using generative AI to either build or enhance the final product. To help them with ideation, check out the AI Idea Generator in AdMall. This tool will generate both video and audio scripts.

Another way to sell more CTV space is to boost technology that encourages viewers to shop while viewing. Many TV viewers must be prompted through screen or sound messaging to “buy now.”

And buying CTV HomeScreen ad placement is becoming more popular. These ads appear on the home screen of smart TVs. Teads reports that ads on this screen also reach consumers with ad-free subscriptions. Teads data shows that consumers notice these ads and act on them.

This is a growing audience. AudienceSCAN, powered by AdMall, reports that nearly 25% of U.S. adults are Samsung smart TV owners.

How to build trust with advertisers

Emarketer reports that brands aren’t always getting what they used to from paid search and social. They could be willing to buy more CTV but there needs to be a “unified success metric” offered by sellers.

JamLoop findings show that ad buyers want CTV, but they don’t trust what sellers offer. Before they take that step, they want to see better proof of outcomes.

Which KPIs are your accounts seeking for their CTV investment?

• 30% want to see the connection to online sales and revenue
• 24% want to see more store visits, appointments or calls

Buyers currently access dashboards that report ad outcomes, but 62% “express at least some skepticism.” When you’re selling CTV ad space, your accounts may need approval from leadership. And when it’s time to talk to senior leadership about how well the CTV investment is doing compared to paid search, many buyers don’t have a strong comfort level.

Several CTV advertising trends point to growing demand and success for the format. But you’ll need to educate your accounts on the benefits of this media format.

Image by Kaboom pics on Pexels.