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It’s time to put these learnings to work. Speak to an expert and discover how Performance TV can deliver consistently strong performance—whether it's summer, winter, spring or fall.

Summertime, and the Performance is CTV.

Summer’s here, and the only thing hotter than the temps is the opportunity advertisers have to drive some serious ROI. We analyzed a collection of Connected TV campaigns from last year’s summer season to reveal what works best for advertisers. Get ready, because these findings bring the heat.

We Analyzed Summer Connected TV Campaigns

The temperature is rising, the out-of-offices are being sent, and plans are being made. As the world prepares for a season of fun, marketers are prepping to find the most efficient ways to generate new website traffic, conversions, and revenue.

We analyzed campaigns launched from MNTN Performance TV, our Connected TV ad solution, to discover how marketers best used the platform during the summer months. We focused our attention on verticals closely tied to the vibe of the season (think travel, recreation, apparel, etc.), and sifted through more performance data points than there is sand on the beach.

Get those shades ready, because the future is bright for high-performing summer campaigns—read on for some need-to-know stats and facts that can help set your campaigns up for success.

Endless Opportunity at the End of Summer

Maintaining ad spend evenly throughout the season can pay dividends. Our data shows that consumers made higher-priced purchases as the summer wore on, which means it behooves advertisers to keep competitive budgets to ensure they land those conversions.

Average Order Values on the Upswing

Average order values maintained an overall positive upward trend throughout the summer. Consumers' carts saw higher values as the season wore on, peaking in mid-August. It appears shoppers saved their big-ticket purchases for mid-season.

Average Order Value Increases vs. First Week of Summer Average Order Value Increases vs. First Week of Summer

The 4th of July, the 1st in Holiday Ad Spend

Independence Day was a big focus for summer-oriented brands, with the week of the holiday taking the crown for highest ad spend. Labor Day was less popular—its ad spend was lower by double digits versus the 4th. Interestingly, ROAS for the week leading into Labor Day outperformed the one leading into the 4th of July.

+48% ROAS

Labor Day vs. 4th of July


Lessons for 2022 Connected TV Strategies

Consumers may be out exploring the world, but they’re still finding time to convert on big-ticket items. Don’t sell your campaigns short once August and September hit, as we found those two times to be strong opportunities to drive higher average order values and ROAS. Here are a few key items to consider while planning this year’s campaigns.

Average order values never dropped below what was seen the first week of summer, so be sure your campaigns are active and well-funded to capture increasingly valuable conversions.

Big-ticket items were most commonly sold in August, so if you have high-priced inventory, this could be a time to heavily feature it in promotions.

Don’t overlook Labor Day; it saw a strong ROAS for all measured advertisers, which means a high-return holiday-themed sale could be a smart move this year.

Campaign Insights For the Summer Season, Straight to Your Inbox.

Stop searching the internet for seasonal campaign guides—let them come to you. Sign up to receive in-depth seasonal tips and future best practices for every major event.

  • Audience targeting best practices
  • Data-driven creative insights
  • Need to know consumer trends

Don’t Let Your Budgets Go On Vacation

It’s no secret that TV viewership tends to drop during the summer. People are too busy getting off the couch and getting outside—thus lowering their time spent watching. But this drop in viewership shouldn’t lead to lowered ad spend—and the data suggests that a highly-targetable, performance-focused approach to Connected TV can pay off.

Surf (and Performance) is Up For Certain Verticals

Brands that let consumers explore the world, stay local for home improvement, or helped them look good doing the things they love saw great return on ad spend. If you find yourself amongst this set, you should be ramping ad spend and taking full advantage of the season.

Top 5 Return on Ad Spend by Vertical

01 Accessories

02 Travel

03 Recreation & Hobbies

04 Home & Garden

05 Apparel

Revenue Follows Spend, So Don’t Let it Drop

Advertisers in summer-themed verticals reduced their spend midway through the season, which had a knock-on effect on revenue weeks later.

Once budgets were adjusted in anticipation of the summer slowdown, order values still managed to rise before eventually following spend. Had advertisers instead maintained a high level of ad spend, we expect revenue would have maintained its trajectory.

Ad Spend's Relationship to Revenue Ad Spend's Relationship to Revenue

Lessons for 2022 Connected TV Strategies

There is plenty of revenue to capture during the summer months, especially if you’re in a vertical that aligns well with the sentiment of the season. Don’t reduce your ad spend too severely (if at all) as the summer rolls on, since Connected TV is at its most effective as an always-on performance channel. Here’s what we recommend for this year’s seasonal approach.

Embrace the revenue uptrend and don’t get shy about spending—even in the face of the usual summer slowdown in TV viewership—as the data shows strong spend will result in solid returns.

Keep your targeting strategy dialed in; Performance TV’s access to tens of thousands of audience segments keeps things efficient by serving impressions to high-value viewers—thus sidestepping potentially lower viewership with more effective ad delivery.

Run prospecting campaigns to reach new audiences and maintain healthy site traffic. Then, launch retargeting campaigns to capture more conversions as the season rolls on.


Conclusion

Summer may have a reputation for lower TV viewership, but the performance opportunities are still high. That was proven by advertisers still generating strong ROAS throughout the season. If there are shoppers out there buying, Connected TV campaigns are the way to reach them.

The back half of the season is laden with opportunity as consumers prioritize high-value purchases during that stretch. Advertisers would do well to keep their budgets well-funded through the summer months to make the most of this opportunity.


Methodology: Analysis was conducted on MNTN Performance TV advertisers using recorded performance/spend data from May 31st, 2021 to September 26th, 2021. To be included, advertisers needed to fall into a specific industry vertical (accessories, apparel, beauty, entertainment, health & fitness, travel, etc), and have recorded revenue and performance/spend data for 80%+ of the days that fell within the timeframe.

Let’s Get Started

It’s time to put these learnings to work. Speak to an expert and discover how Performance TV can deliver consistently strong performance—whether it's summer, winter, spring or fall.