How We Optimized Our Lower Funnel Performance With TV Ad Variations
Eric Hatzenbuhler | 8 Min Read
MNTN loves experimenting with ways to push the boundaries of performance marketing on Connected TV (CTV). I should know — I’m the Director of Performance Marketing here at MNTN. As an advertising software company with our own CTV ad platform, specifically a Performance TV ad platform, we’re always testing and exploring different ways to get more out of our own CTV advertising efforts. We drink our own champagne here, as the old saying goes.
What this testing ethos has provided is a lot of knowledge on what CTV can do — and even what it can’t (yet?).
And so, we’d like to offer a peek behind the curtain at a business that relies heavily on CTV to fill their full marketing funnel: MNTN itself. To give you a sense of our testing process and the kinds of insights we tend to get, we’ll break down one of our favorite past tests. One that ended up taking our Performance TV ads in a completely new direction.
Part 1: Getting Creative with the Product (and Why)
Every great marketing test starts with a question: What are we trying to improve?
We’ve run plenty of upper-funnel campaigns that featured our Chief Creative Officer, Ryan Reynolds (you may know him from his acting gig). In the past, our campaigns on CTV had been more of an extension of our brand-driven content, and often led with our big-name CCO. Here’s an example of an ad we’ve run in the past:
Not satisfied with strong performance at just the top of the funnel, we found ourselves wanting to lean more into CTV’s targeting capabilities. Specifically, we wanted to test a different creative strategy at the bottom of the funnel.
For us, this particular test came down to whether a product-focused creative approach might resonate better with lower-funnel audiences on CTV. We assumed that higher-intent viewers, those already introduced to our brand via Ryan, would benefit from seeing some specifics. And after testing some product-focused creative on social and seeing great results, we were curious to see if that approach would translate just as effectively on Connected TV.
Our hypothesis was simple:
- Audiences that were already familiar with MNTN would respond well to ads that clearly highlighted what our platform could do for their business.
- Framing our messaging as “you already know who we are, here’s how easy it is to get started” would resonate better.
- Instead of just building awareness, this would push those viewers who were close to making a decision.
We changed the focus of our creative message to our product, and highlighted its key features and benefits directly. And sure enough, the new lower-funnel ads outperformed our usual approach in some pretty big ways.
Pro Tip: When running your own CTV tests, we always suggest starting by rooting them in a logical hypothesis. Don’t be afraid to get a little experimental, of course — testing new ideas can sometimes lead to great results (more on that later).
Part 2: Building and Launching the Test
Once we had the hypothesis down, it was time to actually bring our message to life.
Without our CCO in the mix, we had to tweak our production approach. It’s no surprise that developing product-oriented TV creative requires a process different from — though no less rewarding than — the one used when filming with an A-lister. Here’s how we went about it.
We got things started with a kickoff call with a working group that included members of our product marketing, content, design, video, and digital marketing teams. The goal was to run everyone through the hypothesis, discuss our overall approach, and identify other important elements that would help it all come together (tone, messaging, campaign goals, etc). One crucial element we focused on was the fact that these ads were meant for the lower funnel — they were expected to drive action.
Next, we worked with our subject matter expert on the product marketing team to identify key areas of the product we wanted to highlight in our creative. We prioritized features we thought were compelling, giving special consideration to those that our data showed were popular among our customers and prospects.
Then came scripting. The goal was to draft language that would move the action of the commercial along, while still delivering key information. This was paired with rough storyboarding to align moments in each 30- and 15-second ad to their corresponding message or product UI component.
From there, our video director created rough v1s using temporary imagery and voiceovers to help nail timing. This also helped the team ID any additional motion graphic support we’d need from our talented design team.
Then it was just a matter of bringing all that work together for the final assets, ultimately resulting in a series of simple and effective CTV ads, one of which you can see below.
Once the creative was ready to go, my team got to work on the campaign setup.
We targeted our CRM and retargeting lists to make sure these product-focused ads were reaching folks who already had some familiarity with MNTN. Since these ads were more technical, we wanted to be selective with our audience. After all, ads with lower-funnel, “you know who we are” messaging aren’t the best way to introduce your brand to a new viewer.
Next came the actual testing. We ran these new ads against our older creative for a few weeks, and then fed the performance data into a confidence test to ensure the results we were seeing were statistically significant. Confidence testing is helpful because it adjusts for variables like audience volume and campaign duration — allowing us to accurately measure performance. A basic A/B test is probably just fine when you are running your own campaigns, but I personally like to run confidence tests as an extra precaution.
a user experience research method that compares two or more versions of a design to determine which performs best. It’s also known as split testing or bucket testing.
Finally, we were able to analyze the results. After determining which ad variation outperformed the other, we scaled the winning creative while pausing the lower-performing one. This step ensured that we could double down on what worked — making the most of our budget and resources.
Part 3: The Results (And What We Learned)
Then came every performance marketer’s favorite part of the process — the numbers. When we launched the first two versions of these ads on our CRM and retargeting CTV campaigns, we saw impressive improvements in performance:
- Visit rate +19%
- Cost-per-visit –9%
- Conversion rate +95%
- Cost-per-acquistion –53%
This means that these new ads — which only showcase our product and feature a voiceover by our video director (shout out to Ben) — actually outperformed ads that featured the extremely recognizable and charismatic Ryan Reynolds.
These results underscore why lower-funnel creative doesn’t necessarily need star power to shine. Consumers need different information at different parts of the funnel, and these ads delivered on those needs. It’s an example of how impactful messaging and creative can be when they align with where your customer is in their journey.
When you identify what your audience wants to learn more about, then adapt it to an ad format that drives them to take action, you’re building a solid foundation for success. For us, this looked like highlighting the power and intuitiveness of our self-serve platform, showing the software in action, then inviting the viewer to book a demo. I’ll bet there’s a similar opportunity waiting for you to seize it, too.
Pro Tip: It’s important that you be willing to mix things up. If you’ve been running with one successful approach for a long time, it can be tempting to stick with what you know works. But if we hadn’t tried this test, our team wouldn’t have discovered just how much more impact we could have on our lower-funnel campaigns with this kind of creative. It’s the difference between growing stagnant and leveling up.
Looking Forward
So, what’s next?
We’re pretty excited by these results, so of course we plan to keep the momentum going. Our next steps include creating more product-focused ad variations that dive even deeper into MNTN features — everything from reporting capabilities to the benefit of tools like MNTN Matched.
The plan is to have two or three product-focused campaigns running at any given time, with each iteration building on what we’ve learned so far. And if any of these perform particularly well on CTV, our team will look into extending this strategy to other channels, like social.
Performance marketing is an ongoing process of learning and iteration, and here at MNTN we’re big believers in pushing the limits of what Connected TV can achieve. With each new experiment, we’re getting closer to perfecting a strategy that consistently drives results. So stay tuned for more from this series — we’ve got plenty more insights to share.
Eric Hatzenbuhler is the Director of Performance Marketing at MNTN, where he oversees paid media, SEO, and email marketing efforts. Before joining MNTN, he worked at several advertising agencies managing paid media for clients ranging from SMBs to Fortune 500 companies across industries like B2B and CPG. As a proud, born-and-raised Minnesotan, Eric combines his drive to push boundaries and challenge the status quo with a passion for connecting with others and inspiring innovative solutions.