Are you looking to get started with CTV advertising? For publishers, connected TV is a valuable channel for generating ad revenue. It reaches wide audiences and allows for precise targeting. It also supports a wide variety of ad formats. And lastly, it is projected to keep growing in the years to come. If there was ever a right time for publishers to join the CTV advertising market, it is now.
What Is CTV Advertising?
Before we talk about CTV advertising and why you should leverage this channel, you might be wondering what connected TV is in the first place.
Connected television (CTV), is any television set that connects to the internet and is able to host and deliver video content. Smart TVs are the best example of CTV. This also encompasses devices that can connect to the TV and internet, such as game consoles and streaming boxes.
CTV advertising, then, is a type of video advertising that takes place on CTV devices while a viewer is streaming content. CTV advertising is a great channel for promoting all kinds of products and services to targeted audiences. It is also a good way to reach viewers who don’t watch linear television.
Read more: OTT vs. CTV — All the Differences Explained
How Does CTV Advertising Work?
CTV advertising works much like other digital video advertising formats. By contrast, it differs greatly from linear TV advertising. Unlike linear ads, which have to follow a certain schedule and have limited duration times, CTV ads can be served to various users at various times.
In order to determine which ads should be displayed to which viewers and when, CTV advertising utilizes advanced audience targeting tools. For example, advertisers may want to pick the age, gender, location, general interests, or other metrics to specify their target audience.
This, of course, goes hand in hand with detailed performance data that tells advertisers just how well their campaigns are doing. Using this data, they can then adjust the campaign for better performance and higher ad revenue for publishers.
In short, CTV advertising follows the same patterns as other OTT advertising formats. The only thing that is different is the OTT device the audience sees the ads on.
So, how does connected TV advertising work? Well, the process looks something like this:
- A viewer streams online content to their CTV device;
- The content comes with an ad slot that an advertisement has to fill;
- The advertiser purchases this specific slot if the viewer matches their target audience;
- The ad is then served to the viewer.
Types of Connected TV Ads
Another great thing about CTV advertising is its versatility. CTV supports a wide range of ad formats. If you’re planning to monetize your CTV content through advertisements, you’ll get to choose among several different types of ads.
Display Ads
Display ads are quite versatile, so it is no wonder that they’re CTV-compatible, too. Within the CTV environment, they can show up as text-based or visual banners (e.g., on the home page of the streaming service). The banner can also be within the stream, usually at the bottom (in which case, it is known as an overlay ad).
Display ads generally have a great reach and are excellent for raising brand awareness. They are quite versatile, so they can be as intrusive or inconspicuous as you like. They can lead the viewer to a landing page, contact form, or another destination. Publishers can access these with the help of display ad networks.
Instream Video Ads
Instream video ads resemble traditional TV commercials and are one of the most popular video ad formats. They show up before, during, or after a stream (and are thus referred to as pre-roll, mid-roll, and post-roll ads). They take up the whole screen, which makes them practically impossible to overlook or ignore.
Instream ads are usually 15 to 30 seconds long. They can be skippable right away, after a certain number of seconds, or completely unskippable. Lastly, instream video ads are one of the best-performing ad formats out there. If you’re planning on monetizing CTV content through advertising, instream video ads are a must.
Branded Canvas Ads
Canvas ads show up within the stream, but, unlike instream video ads, they don’t interrupt it. Instead, they display an L-shaped banner that covers the left and bottom parts of the player. The area where the content is streaming is somewhat smaller for a certain amount of time.
Branded canvas ads basically bring the best of the two worlds together — the unintrusiveness of banners and the assertiveness of instream video ads.
Benefits of Connected TV Advertising
The emergence of CTV has brought about a whole new advertising channel with major, untapped potential. Whether you’re an advertiser looking to promote a brand or a publisher looking for additional income, CTV is the way. Let’s take a closer look at all the benefits of advertising through CTV.
The Current State of the CTV Advertising Market
According to Statista, 92% of US households are CTV users. Advertisers far and wide understand the potential of such a large audience reach. This is reflected in CTV ad spending, which is projected to exceed $20 billion in 2023 and almost double that in 2026. Of course, on the publishers’ side, this translates to a large earning potential.
In short, the CTV advertising market is booming, and it’s not going to slow down any time soon. So if you’re considering expanding your content offer to CTV, we say — go for it!
Precise Audience Targeting
The connected TV technology allows for very precise audience targeting. Viewers can be filtered by their geographical location, age, gender, the device and OS they’re using, and so on.
There is also behavioral targeting, which focuses on the behavior of the viewers — what they search for and watch, which types of ads they’re interested in, and so on. All this data tells us whether or not a certain viewer belongs to our target audience.
But CTV also supports contextual targeting. Contextual targeting matches the content of the advertisement with the content of the webpage, platform, or app where the ad is placed. It is based on the assumption that, for example, a user watching a video about the live streaming equipment will be more likely to click on an ad for a camera, microphone, encoder, or live streaming platform.
Actionable Ad Performance Data
Unlike traditional TV, connected television has the capability to deliver precise, often real-time data on the performance of a campaign. This, in turn, makes it easier to adjust campaigns for better performance and maximize ad yield for publishers.
How to Sell CTV Ad Inventory
In order to put ads on your app, you need to sell ad inventory. There are two ways to do this — through direct deals with advertisers or through programmatic advertising.
In general, direct deals are reserved for premium inventory. These ads usually perform better, have a higher CPM, and make publishers more money. However, if you’re planning on only selling inventory through direct deals, you will need a dedicated sales team, which brings additional expenses. You also likely won’t be able to sell all your inventory this way.
Another option for selling ad space is CTV programmatic advertising. This process of trading ad space is much more automated. Although inventory usually sells for less this way, you won’t have to worry about low ad fill rates or putting together a sales team.
To take advantage of programmatic video advertising, you will need a reliable CTV advertising platform. These are video ad networks that connect CTV publishers with advertisers looking to buy ad real estate.
They are responsible for the automatization of the process. They use video header bidding to do this, although many of them also facilitate direct deals. In return, ad networks take a portion of ad revenue.
Of course, this is all based on the assumption that you already have a CTV app as a part of your OTT streaming service. But what if you don’t?
What Should You Do if You Don’t Have a CTV App?
If you’re a publisher without a CTV app, it’s high time you got one. Building an OTT app for CTV is no easy feat, but it is worth the effort. However, hiring a developer can cost tens of thousands of dollars, and the final product won’t see the light of day for months.
A much better option is to find a white-label CTV app builder. The best builders have sufficient customization and branding options to make your app match the overall look of your brand. On the other hand, it will cost you a fraction of the price of hiring a developer.
With Brid.TV’s white-label CTV and OTT apps, you can create a user-friendly application to expand your broadcasting portfolio. Your audience will get the ultimate viewing experience on their connected TVs, and you will get to enjoy reliable video ad revenue.
FAQ
1. What is CTV advertising?
CTV advertising is a form of digital advertising that takes place on connected TV (CTV) devices. It is a great way to promote brands, products, and services to wide and well-targeted audiences.
2. What are the best CTV advertising platforms?
Some of the best CTV advertising platforms are Google ADX, Brid.TV Marketplace, and SpotX. Choosing the right one for your business depends on the features you need and the available budget.
3. What types of CTV ads are there?
Common types of CTV ads are display ads, instream video ads, and branded canvas ads. The versatility of ad types supported by CTV is one of the things that makes this technology a great advertising channel.
