How a Paid Search Strategy Will Change TV Advertising Forever

4 Min Read

Marketers everywhere are looking for ways to start off 2024 on the right foot, be it with new strategies or by elevating existing assets. And for good reason — between economic uncertainty and increased competition, brands are facing difficult challenges while trying to connect with their audience. 

As ad tech has become more refined, it’s created even more ways to drive results. For example, SEO and PPC experts might not immediately think of Connected TV (CTV) as a way to expand their performance mix, but it can be an incredible tool for them. In fact, many teams can use their existing digital marketing and keyword knowledge to improve their strategies. 

Recently, Eric Hatzenbuhler, Director of Performance Marketing, and Tyler Young, Senior Digital Marketing Analyst, both joined Search Engine Land’s SMX Next event to share how a paid search mentality can elevate CTV strategies. Let’s take a look at some highlights of their conversations: 

The Rise of CTV and Performance Marketing

Advancements in advertising technology have made powerful tools out of digital marketing channels. While many teams have been using paid search and social media in this capacity for a while, a third digital performance channel has joined this group. 

Now, marketers can precisely target their audiences and effectively measure CTV outcomes — concepts that were unimaginable for television advertising just a few years ago. Performance TV also allows advertisers to uncover new audiences, elevate their targeting strategies, and achieve improved results across the board. 

Searching for Better Results 

CTV combines two proven ad formats — digital marketing’s focused targeting and television’s high-impact format — to reach key audiences. This combination adds crucial elements to help create a holistic marketing strategy. 

TV has become an increasingly important part of the performance marketing mix, but other ad channels, including paid search and social media, are still essential, of course. Consumers are spending more time than ever on all digital channels, so brands should be building an omnichannel marketing approach. By connecting with audiences across channels, you can reach them regardless of where they are or what they’re watching. 

CTV’s Halo Effect

While running CTV campaigns, marketing teams have seen improved results across other platforms, too — including paid search. When brands add CTV to the marketing mix, channels like search see more attention, qualified visits, and conversion opportunities. This halo effect helps produce better outcomes and solve challenges for marketing teams across industries. 

The Performance TV Features You Need 

As more and more viewers tune into CTV, the channel’s ad tech has drastically improved in kind, creating new options and opportunities for advertisers. This means it’s never been more important to make sure you have all the features and tools your brand needs to make your unique mark in 2024 and beyond. Not all CTV platforms have the same features, so you’ll need to do some shopping and comparing to find the right one for your goals. For example, if you’re looking to make the most of CTV’s performance capabilities, you need a Performance TV platform. Some features to look for include: 

Targeting 

With CTV, you can combine the prestige of television advertising with the precision of digital targeting. Whether you want to retarget existing customers or acquire new ones, leading CTV platforms give you endless opportunities to reach your audience. 

Plus, you can use a paid search keyword structure in your CTV strategy. With over 85,000+ third party audiences, MNTN provides you with audience segmentation broken down by interests, purchases, and more. 

Measurement 

Once, it was nearly impossible to accurately measure television ad campaigns (which is why it was in the “awareness-only” realm). But with the latest ad tech, CTV campaigns can provide detailed insights to help you reach your audience and optimize your strategy. 

At MNTN, we created our own attribution model called Verified Visits™ to provide the most accurate performance data possible. With this model, you can track customers who visit your website on a device in their household after viewing your MNTN ad within a set window, the length of which you determine.

Effective Ad Creative 

With great targeting power comes great ad creative responsibility. In other words, when you’re working with precision targeting, you’ll be speaking to specific segments of your audience, so you’ll need to produce effective ad creative to resonate with them.

Whether you’re launching your first CTV ad or your 50th, MNTN has creative resources to help you create the highest-performing ad campaign possible. From QuickFrame to Creative-as-a-Subscription™, we can connect you with leading video creators who are ready to help you make the most of your video marketing budget. 

Elevating Your TV Advertising Strategy 

CTV’s digital DNA enables paid search marketers to use their existing digital marketing knowledge to launch powerful television ad campaigns. 

In other words: you already have the skills to elevate your 2024 campaigns with CTV — so what are you waiting for? Watch Hatzenbuhler’s session here and Young’s session here to learn more about using a paid search approach to enhance your CTV strategies.