Connected TV

How to Scale Your Creative to Reach New Heights on CTV

Connected TV maximizes the impact of video advertising

4 Min Read

While economic uncertainty continues to send advertisers back to their ad mix to see what they can cut, savvy advertisers know that video paired with the right CTV platform can be an effective way to achieve their marketing goals and make the most of their tight budgets.

Chris Contreras, MNTN’s Chief Customer Officer, joined AMA to discuss developing a CTV creative pipeline to help deliver a return on investment. He discussed why video was an essential tool, especially during uncertain economic times, and how to get a steady pipeline of assets, even if you don’t have a large budget.

Why Video is Essential During Times of Economic Uncertainty

Even though we’ve entered 2023, the economic uncertainty from 2022 has lingered, Contreras warned. This means that advertisers need to ensure every dollar of their ad mix is accounted for and that it’s delivering results. Measurable and attributable advertising is an essential tool for this upcoming year.

“We’re constantly seeing the budgets shift; video is continuing to be an essential part of the ad strategy,” he said. In fact, 87% of businesses use video in their marketing efforts, since it’s an effective and expected touchpoint. Advertisers continue to use video because it works. Viewers retain 95% of an advertiser’s message when delivered by video, as compared to 10% of messages read in text. However, distribution challenges for video abound, as traditional locations have shown diminishing returns, brand safety concerns, and shifting business practices. This is where Connected TV can help.

Connected TV is Video’s Perfect Partner and It’s Continuing to Grow

Connected TV can help advertisers make the most of their video assets. “It combines sight, sound, and motion, which as we know is part and parcel to the power that TV advertising has, but the data component is where we normally see the most excitement from brands shifting more and more of their dollars into Connected TV. It can act very similar to the digital roots that you have for paid search and social where you can see a return on ad spend in real-time,” Contreras explained. CTV can even act as a performance channel so that advertisers can truly account for the impact of their ad budget.

Connected TV only continues to grow and become a more viable option for brands looking to advertise. Last July, Nielsen reported that TV viewing via streaming exceeded its linear counterpart for the first time. Key channels in the business, such as Netflix and Disney+, have added ad-supported tiers, making ad-supported TV even more robust. Despite this, Contreras noted, only 18% of video ad dollars are run on CTV. He advised that advertisers should be exploring this space before they are left behind.

Video Creative Does Not Need To Be a Barrier

Having enough video creative, or even video assets at all, may seem like a barrier, but it doesn’t have to be. Contreras recommends checking with your social teams to see if they have videos that can be repurposed. With Connected TV advertising, there is a wide range of creative that can be used, including user-generated content and testimonials. However, if these aren’t available to you, there are non-agency solutions that make it feasible to add CTV to your ad mix.

“At MNTN, we know that sometimes, creative is a barrier. It’s one of those things where it’s either time, cost, or repeatability of having access to refreshed creative. All those things could be blockers to you seeing high potential in the CTV space,” Contreras explained. That is why MNTN created Creative-as-a-Subscription, which includes creative with an advertiser’s media spend at no extra cost. Quickframe is another easy option to get videos that convert from a marketplace of knowledgeable creators.

Having enough video creative is essential, as brands should aim to refresh their creative regularly. Refreshing creative not only helps avoid ad fatigue and ad blindness but also has been shown to deliver compounding growth and fuel additional revenue.

Watch the Full Webinar

To learn more about making the most of video on CTV and developing a creative pipeline, even on a tight media budget, be sure to watch the full webinar here.