Want To Be on CTV But Don’t Have an Ad? No Problem.

5 Min Read

CTV’s popularity explosion has surpassed industry expectations and shows no sign of slowing. Every year, new streaming services are launched, existing services introduce ad-supported offerings, and more of your target customers cut the cord. To keep up, brands are producing more video content than ever imagined. But just because you don’t have an ad of your own doesn’t mean you’re left behind.

Join MNTN’s Lexi Tierney, Sr. Director of Customer Success, and Meg Ciarallo, VP of Brand and Consumer Marketing at Bolt, as they walk through how you can easily get on Connected TV and how brands can launch performance-driven ads that create major brand moments. Told through the lens of Bolt’s successful CTV campaigns, you’ll discover how bringing ad creative and media together can deliver memorable results. Don’t miss out on this important webinar—RSVP now for free.

Ad-Supported CTV: It’s So Hot Right Now

It’s no secret that CTV has seen a meteoric adoption rate in the last few years but the extent of its success may still be surprising. 213.7 million viewers watch CTV every month, with an average of 80 minutes a day spent streaming. As viewers surge towards CTV, the landscape has rapidly changed. No longer dominated by just one or two services, today’s OTT devices offer hundreds of different subscription services with countless hours of premium programming. Because of the amount of paid services there are to choose from, many consumers are starting to feel “subscription fatigue”—after all, there is only so much money that can be spent on streaming services each month.

In response, most streaming services have adopted advertiser-friendly offerings—usually in the form of ad-supported tiers that cost less. HBO Max, Hulu, and Peacock are just a few examples, with Disney+ following suit this fall and Netflix doing the same sometime next year. These ad-supported apps are wildly popular and often outperform their premium ad-free counterparts. Not only do viewers save with ad-supported offerings, they prefer them anyway: 60% of viewers enjoy CTV shows with ads customized to their tastes, and 73% of consumers prefer the “ad-supported” model over a “no ads” offering that costs more.

Creatively Creating Creative

CTV’s ability to target and deliver relevant ads to a captive audience means your ad gets to the right consumer when they’re watching their favorite shows with a mobile device in hand. Not only is this proven to result in conversions and engagement, but it’s also the prime setting to spark conversations and create viral moments. As outlined above, most CTV audiences are already receptive to TV ads—and the platform serving them ads from their favorite brands means they’re likely to both pay attention and share with friends. This ability to confidently reach a target audience also allows brands to get a little more creative with their video output. This can result in:

• A/B testing: Compare and contrast two different ads at the same time to see which performs better
•  Create unique messages: The ability to segment audiences and deliver ads to target demographics means that advertisers can create unique ads that create a more personal connection with the viewer. For example, a brand can run two ads in the weeks leading up to the Super Bowl and deploy them in the cities of the competing teams—both customized to promote hometown pride in each.
• Retargeting campaigns: After serving an ad to an audience, follow up again a few weeks later with another one to help keep your brand top of mind and engage bottom-of-funnel sales prospects.
• Measuring and optimizing: CTV’s ability to measure campaign performance in real-time means you can see what’s working and what isn’t—then tweak and optimize your ad to make sure you’re getting it right. This not only prevents the wasting of ad dollars on ineffective ads, it can be used to create compelling and even topical content.

Video…on Demand

Today’s advertisers are rethinking how they deploy video strategically and need high-performing creative that can be deployed quickly. Unfortunately, video creation is difficult for many to master without the proper expertise, budget, and resources. Steep costs, time-consuming shoots, creative challenges, and the need to refresh creative frequently to keep it effective have left many advertisers feeling locked out.

While CTV has democratized television and allowed brands of all sizes to achieve their TV ad dreams, not having creative has left some advertisers to write off the ad channel—but that doesn’t have to be the case.  Advertisers eager to get on CTV are relying on turnkey solutions to get up and running in a cost-effective and easy way. Premium CTV platforms offer the testing, measurement, and transparent reporting needed to create viral moments, and video platforms like QuickFrame by MNTN help brands scale their video output and create ads for every channel, audience, and objective. The result is that any brand can get on CTV and make impactful creative that drives engagement and converts lifelong customers.

Ready to Get Started?

CTV gives brands an unprecedented opportunity to target and deliver impactful video ads, but if you don’t have the creative to support it, you’re limiting the platform’s ability to scale performance and growth potential. 

Thankfully, it has never been easier for brands to clear that hurdle and get ads up and running. Join us for Building Buzz: How Bolt Used CTV to Create a Major Brand Moment to learn more insider advice, discover best practices for launching creative, and see how Bolt did just that with their own CTV campaigns. Click here to save your seat.