A Tale of Two B2B Case Studies

5 Min Read

Connected TV may not be the conventional advertising platform for B2B brands, but for those that have explored this avenue, they have seen true performance results and been differentiating themselves from their competitors.

MNTN’s Ali Haeri, Vice President of Marketing, and Hooman Javidan-Nejad, Director of Performance Marketing, joined Demand Gen Report to discuss why CTV is a powerful tool for B2B advertisers. And they weren’t just speaking hypothetically. They brought two case studies of B2B brands that have seen results on the MNTN Performance TV platform and discussed how to apply their wins to your own campaigns.

TV is the Next Performance Channel for B2B Businesses

TV advertising has historically not been a key marketing channel for B2B businesses. Linear TV was missing key features that B2B brands required from an ad channel. It didn’t offer the precise audience targeting or detailed measurement that other channels such as paid search and social could. “Connected TV changes the game here,” Haeri explained. “Being that it’s programmatic advertising fundamentally, it’s a different ballgame for advertisers. And it just so happens that when Connected TV can be operated as a performance marketing channel…it presents a perfect opportunity for B2B marketers.”

Connected TV is less expensive than linear, making it more accessible to B2B advertisers who generally have a more limited budget than their B2C counterparts. The precise targeting and real-time measurement CTV’s digital roots offer means that each impression is reaching who it should, leading to a higher return on ad spend. Haeri sees another plus when it comes to advertising on CTV. “Everybody in B2B marketing uses the same playbook. We all do. But what are you doing to differentiate your brand and the way you market that brand from your competitors? One way to certainly do that is in your channel mix. And right now as a B2B advertiser, CTV is a fantastic platform because you have a lot of space.”

Haeri then handed over the spotlight to Javidan-Nejad to showcase real-life results from B2B advertisers using the MNTN Performance TV platform to advertise on CTV.

Bolt Used Out-of-the-Box Creative to Drive Increased Conversion Rates

First up was Bolt, the one-click checkout software. “What they were trying to do was to break this B2B advertising mold and create something radically different,” Javidan-Nejad explained. And they did just that, utilizing MNTN’s Creative-as-a-Subscription offering to bundle the creation of a unique B2B spot along with their inventory spend. The result was an emotion-provoking and humorous take on an animal adoption ad spot from the early 2000s. “A B2B creative is usually boring. It’s usually ‘download this whitepaper’ or ‘look at this guide.’ But it doesn’t have to be that way. I think that’s where B2B misses and where a lot of B2C brands do a good job,” Javidan-Nejad explained.

The results spoke for themselves. Bolt’s campaign had a higher conversion rate than both LinkedIn and paid search, and resulted in more time on site than Facebook and Twitter.

So what can other B2B brands learn from Bolt’s campaign? When it comes to creative, B2B brands shouldn’t let that be the barrier to entry. If you don’t have video assets, Javidan-Nejad suggests first checking with your social team to see if they have options to repurpose. If that avenue doesn’t work, there are non-agency solutions, such as QuickFrame by MNTN, that don’t cost an arm and a leg.

Additionally, Bolt was a great example of the measurement capabilities of CTV. “They were able to quickly launch their CTV campaign and immediately see the results, in Google Analytics, alongside their other digital channels,” Javidan-Nejad explained. He suggests looking for a platform with this integration to make the most of the comprehensive data that CTV provides. 

Built In Took Advantage of CTV’s Audience Targeting to Lower Their CPA and CPV

Javidan-Nejad then transitioned to talk about Built In, the job-hunting site. They were looking to reach both B2B and B2C audiences, which they were able to target thanks to Performance TV’s integration with Oracle Data Cloud. Plus, “they had certain marketing KPIs that they were trying to optimize against…you are able to do that MNTN Performance TV. Your campaigns are automatically optimized against the goal that you choose and the platform is going to work toward reaching those goals,” he explained.

With their CTV campaigns, Built In saw a 62% lower cost-per-acquisition than they had originally targeted. Their cost-per-view also came in 57% lower than their target, and their conversion rates increased 2.4x.

“What worked really well for Built In was their sophisticated audience targeting. They had to reach certain B2B audiences on TV and they could go really granular, by industry type and profession, getting their campaign in front of those HR professionals,” Javidan-Nejad highlighted. He suggests that other B2B audiences follow Built In’s lead, targeting by industry and profession. 

He also noted you should be looking for a partner that can auto-optimize. By defining KPIs at the outset of your campaigns, you can ensure that you are getting the most out of your ad budget and truly seeing the results that you want from a performance channel.

Watch the Full Webinar

Connected TV is a valuable tool for B2B advertisers looking to stand out from their competitors. “Being able to do television advertising as a B2B brand, no matter the size, is certainly a way to have that differentiation,” Haeri summed it up. To hear more about B2B advertisers’ CTV results and how to apply them, be sure to check out the full webinar here.