Connected TV (CTV) has been transforming the advertising landscape for years, but as we venture deeper in the second half of 2024, it brings new opportunities that advertisers can’t afford to miss. With more viewers shifting from traditional cable to streaming services, platforms like Display & Video 360 (DV360) offer a unique and dynamic way to engage your target audience on a larger scale. The recent addition of Netflix as premium inventory within DV360 is one of the more recent standout developments, providing a powerful tool to reach consumers in a highly interactive environment.
As CTV continues to evolve, it’s crucial to develop a comprehensive strategy that includes clear objectives, a well-defined budget and a deep understanding of the available tools and inventory packages. This post is designed to help you navigate the complexities of CTV advertising, from setting strategic goals and budgeting effectively to leveraging advanced targeting options and maximizing cross-device measurement.
1. Set Clear Goals, Budget and Implement High-Funnel Strategies
Before diving into your CTV campaign, ensure you have clear goals and an appropriate budget. Define what success looks like for your campaign. Are you aiming for brand awareness, user engagement or direct conversions? Once you have your goals set, allocate a budget that aligns with these objectives.
CTV is particularly effective for high-funnel strategies, which focus on increasing awareness and interest. Consider the following metrics for your CTV campaigns:
- Completed View Rate (CVR)
- Audible and Visible on Complete (AVOC)
- Target CPM (Cost per Thousand Impressions)
- CPV (Cost per View)
- Reach and Frequency
These metrics help ensure your ads are seen and heard, maximizing the impact of your brand message.
2. Use High-Level Floodlight Tags for Awareness and Cross-Device Measurement
Leverage high-level floodlight tags, such as those on your home page or product description pages, to track users across devices. This allows you to measure the effectiveness of your CTV ads when users convert on other devices, such as their phones. With cross-device measurement now available in Campaign Manager 360 (CM360) and DV360, you can now capture users who saw your CTV ad and converted or went to your site on any device. Then, if you want to expand beyond awareness and into performance, build a new insertion order that remarkets to users with fresh CTV ads that measure purchases/lower funnel floodlights. Or you can even serve display ads targeting the same home page/description page audience and measuring sales, guiding users further down the funnel.
This strategy enables the platform to have individual goals by focusing one CTV tactic on awareness while a second CTV (or display tactic) focuses on driving performance, contributing to the campaign's overall efficacy. Think of it similarly to display goals and strategies for prospecting and retargeting, but apply it to CTV.
3. Target Remarketing Ads Effectively
When remarketing to an audience, use a high-volume list of users and target the open exchange or private marketplaces (PMPs) rather than individual publishers for broader reach across CTV screens. This approach ensures you reach a larger audience, enhancing the effectiveness of your remarketing efforts.
If you’re only targeting one publisher, either with a direct Preferred deal or a Programmatic Guaranteed deal, layer your audience on the supply side (if possible). Note: This may incur additional costs, so be sure to ask.
4. Leverage Existing Inventory Packages
Inventory packages can simplify the process of buying CTV ads. Here are some recommendations when shopping for inventory:
- Always-0n Run of Network (RON) CTV packages by exchange: These packages provide a wide array of publishers and scalability. They’re ideal for layering audiences from the DSP side.
- Contextual CTV packages: Tailor your campaigns to specific contexts such as Home & Garden, Travel, or News. This is particularly useful during the political season for election-related ads.
Consider packages from leading providers like Google Ad Manager, FreeWheel, Magnite and Xandr. These providers offer extensive catalogs of packages, including RON deals that encompass numerous publishers, providing broad reach and scale.
Why would you package all your inventory this way? In summary, leveraging economies of scale in programmatic media and ensuring a large inventory supply are critical for achieving cost efficiency, broader reach, precise targeting and overall better performance in advertising campaigns. By understanding and applying these principles, advertisers can maximize their return on investment, drive substantial growth in their CTV strategies and drive users down the funnel.
5. Create Your Own PMPs or Programmatic Guaranteed Deal
For more control, create your own Programmatic Guaranteed deal, Preferred deal, or Private Marketplace (PMP) deals. Curate your inventory by:
- Publisher/Media Owner: Access to premium content providers like Netflix (see below), Hulu, Disney properties, Warner Brothers media (CNN, Discovery) and HBO (MAX).
- Curate custom 1:1 deals with select publishers or networks to reach a specific audience or type of content.
- Device: Target ads on Roku, Samsung TVs and VIZIO TVs.
- See if these providers have any second-party data you can leverage off-the-shelf for more precise audience targeting.
- Virtual Multi-Video Programming Distributor: Utilize platforms like Sling TV, YouTube TV and Hulu Live to target cord-cutters who get cable-like content via streaming.
- Get more effective reach with multi-channel distributors.
Buyers should break these deals out into their own Line Items or Insertion Orders to keep bidding and reporting clean.
If you're planning to run a Programmatic Guaranteed deal, be aware of the publisher’s minimum spend requirement. Make sure you account only for pure media spend dollars and not the gross budget to avoid discrepancies. Knowing these details upfront will help you meet the necessary thresholds without any surprises.
6. Tap into Netflix’s Premium Inventory for Maximum Impact
Starting August 1, 2024, DV360 buyers can access Netflix’s direct deal inventory. As a leading streaming platform with a massive, dedicated audience, Netflix offers an unparalleled opportunity to place your brand in front of viewers who are fully engaged in their favorite shows and movies. This addition makes DV360 an even more powerful tool for CTV media buying, providing access to top-tier content that resonates with viewers. Whether your focus is on building brand awareness or driving conversions, integrating Netflix’s inventory into your strategy ensures your ads are seen by a wide and attentive audience.
7. Utilize YouTube TV and YouTube CTV Inventory
YouTube TV offers exclusive access to a wide range of television networks with ad-supported subscription options. DV360 is the only DSP with access to this inventory, providing personalized ads on live TV, on-demand videos and cloud-based DVRs.
Football season is just around the corner, and only YouTube TV offers NFL’s Sunday Ticket. Take advantage of this by targeting YouTube TV Sports content only. Magnite also now offers Programmatic Guaranteed Live TV sports inventory! This allows buyers to maximize their reach.
For more affordable CTV ads, differentiate YouTube on CTV devices from YouTube TV. YouTube on CTV devices offers traditional YouTube app content at lower CPMs ($10-$15 range) compared to regular CTV prices ($25-$35 CPM range). This is a great way to dip your toes into CTV at a cost affordable price if you’re new to CTV or are working with a lower budget.
8. Use GA4 Audiences and DV360’s Audience Tools
For advanced audience targeting, utilize GA4’s predictive and propensity audiences.
Predictive audiences in GA4 use machine learning algorithms to analyze historical data and predict future behavior. This allows advertisers to identify segments of users likely to take specific actions, such as making a purchase or returning to the site.
Propensity modeling is a sophisticated analytical approach used to predict the likelihood that a user will take a specific action, such as making a purchase, subscribing to a service or engaging with content. By leveraging data science and machine learning, propensity models allow advertisers to target high-value users more effectively, enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of their marketing campaigns.
If GA4 audiences aren’t available use floodlights or audiences created from floodlight tags for remarketing. Combine these with DV360’s audience expansion tool to increase scale and reach potential customers.
Be sure to layer these audiences on the DSP side when implementing.
What Next?
By adopting these eight strategies, media buyers can significantly enhance their CTV advertising, ensuring that they effectively reach their target audience and achieve campaign objectives. Staying informed about the latest tools, technologies and industry trends is crucial for continuously refining and optimizing your CTV strategy.
Staying up to date on new developments allows buyers to leverage emerging opportunities, tackle challenges and maintain a competitive edge in the dynamic world of CTV advertising. This proactive approach will not only help meet immediate goals but also ensure long-term success and growth in your CTV campaigns.
Questions? Don’t hesitate to reach out.
