Your Paid Search Expertise Can Get You Started on Connected TV

4 Min Read

As a paid search advertiser, you probably have your strategy for capturing demand on lock. From the keywords to the best retargeting windows, you are an expert at this performance channel. So now that you’ve mastered existing demand, how about generating new demand? This is where Connected TV comes in and while it may seem like a foreign channel, it’s not as different from your search campaigns as you may think, even down to the setup. 

So what exactly are the best practices for making the jump from paid search to CTV advertising? Hooman Javidan-Nejad, MNTN’s Director of Performance Marketing, will be discussing the top 7 tips for success on this performance channel in an upcoming webinar with Ascent.

When It Comes to Campaign Structure, Look No Further Than Your Paid Search Campaign

Paid search has a lot to offer and it’s best when you utilize all of it. Great search advertising lights up all features and utilizes all available campaign types to ensure you’re capturing existing demand. There is often a misconception that this complexity is lost in CTV advertising, where your campaign will be relegated to one general awareness line item. However, CTV/OTT offers the same multi-functionality as your other performance channels. With the right ad platform, you can target your audience for general prospecting, but also upload your own audience information for CRM. Plus, you can track website visits and find those people when they are in front of their TV, retargeting them to help encourage conversion. All this means that when it comes to setting up your CTV campaign, you already have the structure outlined – just mirror your full-funnel paid search approach. 

The Full Funnel is Available through the TV Screen

TV is often associated with brand awareness and upper funnel marketing metrics, but with Connected TV, your TV campaigns provide many of the same benefits as your paid search strategy, capturing the full funnel all the way to a conversion. The benefits of paid search, including the ability to capture demand and increase touchpoints, are now accessible through TV advertising thanks to the measurement tools and flexibility that CTV offers. With cross-device attribution, you can easily see if people are converting on their various screens (who isn’t watching TV with a device in hand? Research shows that it’s not many. 87% of people use a second device while streaming). Real-time reporting dashboards make it easy to see what strategies are driving these conversions and test various messaging, the same way you would with your paid search campaigns. Plus, it’s easy to swap creative or run multiple messages based on the specific user and their stage in the sales funnel. 

You Don’t Have to Spend a Pretty Penny for Pretty Video

A lingering question may be – where do I find the video creatives to branch out into a new performance channel? We get it–one reason paid search is an easy solution is that there is no creative required. As a first step, check with your team to see what video assets are available. Does the social team have videos that you can put to use? Just like your campaign structure, there is no reason to reinvent the wheel when it comes to video creative. If they don’t have creative that you can repurpose, getting video creative made does not have to be budget intensive. Rather than engaging a creative agency, look for more streamlined ways to get video. For example, Quickframe by MNTN makes it easy to get video creative at scale so you can truly mirror your paid search campaign’s various messages and featured products or services.

Learn Even More About Adding CTV to Your Ad Mix

TV is a new and effective screen for paid search advertisers that doesn’t have to be difficult or expensive to master. For even more tips to successfully make the transition into Connected TV advertising, be sure to join Hooman Javidan-Nejad in the upcoming Ascent webinar, 7 Best Practices: The Search Marketer’s Guide to Connected TV.