Connected TV

CTV Polishes the Halo of the Other Performance Channels in the Ad Mix

Not only is it a powerful demand generation tool, but it also makes the other channels perform better

CTV Polishes the Halo of the Other Performance Channels in the Ad Mix

4 Min Read

In this time of economic uncertainty, advertisers are carefully assessing their ad strategies to make sure they are getting the most out of their budgets. When it comes to performance marketing, Connected TV not only turns TV into a performance channel, it excels at generating new demand. That doesn’t mean you should be ready to ditch paid search or social, however.

Eric Hatzenbuhler, Senior Digital Marketing Manager at MNTN, joined Advertising Week to discuss why Connected TV is a powerful demand generation machine and how it can even boost the results of paid search and social.

The TV Viewing Audience is Shifting and Advertisers Should Follow Suit

Hatzenbuhler started by setting the scene. Last July, Nielsen reported that streaming made up the largest share of TV viewing, beating out linear for the first time. Despite this shift, CTV only accounts for 18% of video ad dollars. “Sticking with just linear TV in your strategy, you are missing out on a huge segment of the market,” Hatzenbuhler warned.

People continue to cut the cord and leave linear behind. Last year also saw a significant shift, as key streaming channels announced their plans for ad-supported tiers. Both Netflix and Disney+ announced that they would be adding this less expensive, ad-supported tier. Hatzenbuhler highlighted that this only means more opportunities for advertisers using CTV to reach their audience.

Connected TV Can Act as a Performance Channel and a Demand Generation Tool

Hatzenbuhler continued, “CTV isn’t really relegated to just a brand awareness tool. Of course, it offers that, being on the TV screen and the nature of video and the format that it appears in, but CTV can really be the third pillar of performance marketing for you, driving direct conversions and direct performance metrics.” The right CTV advertising solution can transform TV into a performance tool and allow advertisers to optimize their campaigns toward their key performance metrics. This helps advertisers prove the return on their ad spend when assessing how to make the most of their marketing budgets.

Connected TV is also great at generating new demand. Ads are non-skippable, which means an advertiser’s message is delivered in full. Plus, they are delivered on the biggest screen in the house, making a large impact. And the digital roots that allow for audience targeting and measurement capabilities ensure the ads reach the right viewers and measure their response. CTV ads can reach viewers that may be interested in an advertiser’s product or service but aren’t actively looking for solutions yet.

Paid Search and Social Results Increase When CTV is Included in the Ad Mix

CTV is a powerful tool, but that doesn’t mean it should be the sole focus of an ad strategy. “We don’t advocate for abandoning your paid search or paid social strategy altogether,” Hatzenbuhler said. “There are a lot of benefits of CTV having a positive impact on those channels. But we do not advocate eliminating paid search and paid social from your mix and moving everything to CTV. We more so advocate for a really healthy and balanced marketing mix.” Paid search and paid social are great tools to capture the demand that CTV creates.

We looked at our own data to confirm this trend. After analyzing performance across advertisers that used all three channels, it was clear that CTV not only drove strong performance in its own right, but it made other performance marketing channels better too. CTV drove more qualified site traffic than both paid search and social, generating longer average session durations than the other channels. CTV also boosted the conversion rates across paid search and paid social just 30 days after being added to the mix and continued to grow over the next 90 days.

CTV is an Easy Addition for Advertisers to Launch

What if you’ve never run a CTV campaign before? “You’ve run paid search campaigns, you’ve run paid social campaigns…even if you haven’t, I promise you, you can run a CTV campaign,” Hatzenbuhler confirms. Some of the same details of a paid search campaign can be applied to CTV, from campaigns that target each stage of the funnel and using the same keyword targets to reach top audiences. Setting up a CTV campaign is much like setting up any paid social campaign. After key details are identified, from goal type to budget, advertisers just need to select an audience and assign the creative and they are ready for launch.

Watch the Full Webinar

Advertisers looking to make the most of their ad budget during uncertain economic times would benefit from adding Connected TV to their ad mix. Not only does it drive performance on its own, but it also boosts the results of paid search and social To learn more about how to make the most of your performance channels, be sure to watch the full webinar here.