Search Experts Have A New Performance Tool: Connected TV

4 Min Read

As new advertising solutions have come to the forefront of the industry, the chasm between brand and performance marketing isn’t looking as wide as it once was. Solutions like Connected TV are combining high-impact brand awareness with measurable, results-driven performance marketing.

Ali Haeri, Senior Vice President of Marketing at MNTN, recently joined Search Engine Land to discuss how to make the most of adding Connected TV to an already robust performance marketing lineup. Here are some of the top takeaways from his presentation.

CTV has made the TV screen measurable for both performance and brand marketers

Haeri began by acknowledging that TV has most commonly been thought of as a brand awareness play. “The perception that we have of linear TV is that it is inherently immeasurable, or that it’s got abstract measurement associated with it,” he explained. “Whether you’re doing brand or performance marketing, the exciting thing about Connected Television is the measurability of it.”

Connected TV offers advertisers what linear TV never could — access to precise audience targeting and measurement — and is a third pillar of a performance marketing strategy that includes paid search and social. But it goes beyond performance: Connected TV’s high-impact large screen drives upper funnel brand awareness, too. Haeri describes this as “Performance-Driven Brand Awareness.”

“Now, even if you’re doing a brand marketing campaign […] there is no excuse,” he said. “You can also get some precision measurement that’s going to help you understand the impact of your campaign.”

This works because of cross-device attribution. 87% of TV viewers watch with a secondary device in hand, which is why MNTN developed Cross-Device Verified Visits. A Verified Visit is a site visit driven by a campaign’s ad that occurs within a predetermined window of time. By measuring activity on these secondary devices, brands can truly understand the impact of their CTV buys, making TV just as measurable as other kinds of performance campaigns.

From SEO to halo effects, CTV’s benefits go beyond the TV screen

Connected TV’s impact on search means that there are multi-screen benefits to adding CTV to your strategy. The increased brand awareness encourages more direct searching by viewers. As SEO experts know, increased direct searches increase credibility with Google. This means that any additional searches driven by CTV can lead to better search rankings, as well.

CTV also creates a halo effect by increasing the results of other performance channels. “We did some research on our advertisers on our platform,” Haeri explained. “What we did was monitor the impact of running on CTV on advertisers’ other channels, after their campaigns had gone live. So, for example, with paid search, 30 days after running a CTV campaign with MNTN, we noticed that there was a modest increase in conversion rate (1.64%), but 90 days later, we noticed that there was a pretty seismic increase in conversion rate on paid search (22.27%).” The same held true for paid social and email.

A cross-device strategy is essential, Haeri explained. By creating a multi-channel strategy, brands can reach their prospects wherever they spend their digital time and immerse them in their message. CTV ads grab attention, while ads served on other devices keep the product or service top of mind.

Learning and measuring CTV is easy for seasoned search pros

One of Haeri’s favorite features of Connected TV: it’s a natural fit for advertisers already running performance marketing campaigns. “From a measurement standpoint, things are really exciting when it comes to Connected Television because you’re analyzing and you’re grading its performance alongside the other performance marketing channels that you’re running.” CTV offers extensive performance data organized in real-time reporting dashboards. The right platform will also offer auto-optimization by KPI to ensure that campaign goals are prioritized.

Haeri ended by reassuring Connected TV newcomers. “You really already have the skill set to run on Connected Television. This is my favorite point to make to marketers, because a lot of marketers worry about going into an entirely new channel that they haven’t advertised on before. What I’m happy to say—and what I can say confidently—[is that] you have what it takes to run on Connected TV. The experience of running a campaign on Connected TV, at least with a platform like MNTN, should feel very, very familiar to advertisers. A lot of it will feel specifically familiar to what it takes to run a paid social campaign.”

Adding CTV is easy, even if you don’t have video creative

As the line between brand and performance marketing continues to blur, Connected TV is a great tool to help drive all of your initiatives. It can be a welcome addition to a performance strategy that’s not only easy to master, but can also give your existing efforts a well-earned pick-me-up. To learn more about boosting your marketing strategy with CTV and how to develop creative that converts, be sure to watch the full webinar here.