Connected TV (CTV) has become a powerful advertising platform as nearly half of consumers cut the cord and only watch streaming television. With its ability to reach a large and diverse audience, deliver targeted ads, and provide interactive experiences, CTV has become a popular choice for marketers. However, to ensure the success of CTV ad campaigns, it is important to identify the key performance indicators (KPIs) that will effectively measure their impact.

Measuring Reach in CTV Advertising

First and foremost, reach is a vital KPI for CTV campaigns. Reach refers to the number of unique viewers exposed to an ad. With CTV, advertisers can access a broad audience that spans various devices, from smart TVs to tablets and smartphones. By measuring reach, marketers can better understand how their ads reach the desired target audience.

The Importance of Monitoring Frequency in CTV Campaigns

Next on the list of KPIs is frequency. Frequency refers to the number of times an ad is shown to an individual viewer. Too much or too little exposure to an ad can negatively affect campaign performance. On the one hand, excessive exposure may result in ad fatigue and audience irritation. On the other hand, insufficient exposure may result in low brand recall and limited impact. Therefore, monitoring frequency can help advertisers strike a balance and optimize campaign performance.

How to Measure Ad Engagement

Another critical KPI for CTV advertising is engagement. Traditional linear TV ads are passive, offering limited opportunities for viewer interaction. However, the emergence of CTV is changing the game with interactive experiences. Metrics such as ad interaction rate, dwell time, and survey responses can provide valuable insights into the level of engagement with the ad content. Higher engagement rates indicate that viewers are actively involved with the ad, enhancing the chances of message retention and conversion.

Conversion Rate: The Ultimate KPI

Conversion rate is yet another important KPI for marketers. The ultimate goal of any advertising campaign is to drive conversions, whether it's sales, sign-ups, or downloads. CTV platforms offer advanced targeting capabilities, allowing advertisers to deliver personalized ads to the right audience at the right time. By tracking conversion rates, advertisers can measure the effectiveness of their messaging and optimize their campaigns accordingly.

How These Secondary KPIs Can Help You Achieve Your Marketing Goals

In addition to these primary KPIs, several secondary KPIs can provide further insights into the performance of CTV campaigns. These include:

• Viewability: Viewability measures an ad's visibility on the screen, ensuring that it is viewable by the audience.
• Completion rate: The completion rate tracks the percentage of viewers who watch an ad to its completion.
• Click-through rate: The click-through rate measures the number of clicks an ad receives, indicating viewer interest.
• Cost per acquisition: Lastly, cost per acquisition calculates the cost incurred to acquire a new customer or achieve a desired action.

Advertisers rely on sophisticated analytics tools and platforms to effectively measure these KPIs. These tools provide real-time data, enabling advertisers to track and analyze the performance of their CTV campaigns. By leveraging these insights, marketers can make data-driven decisions, optimize their campaigns, and maximize their return on investment.

Leveraging Analytics Tools to Measure CTV KPIs

The rapid growth of connected TV has increased the need for effective measurement through KPIs. Reach, frequency, engagement, and conversion rate are key performance indicators that can help marketers understand the effectiveness of their CTV campaigns. Additionally, secondary KPIs such as viewability, completion rate, click-through rate, and cost per acquisition provide deeper insights into campaign performance. By leveraging CTV retargeting and analytics tools and platforms, like IntelliReach Social’s IntelliMetrix® analytical reporting and its Streaming Partner Network, advertisers can measure these KPIs and make informed decisions on the fly to enhance the success of their CTV ad campaigns.

The landscape of television viewership in America is undergoing a radical transformation. Wireless TV, generally defined as television streaming through the internet, has been taking off and is on track to become the primary form of TV watching in the next year.

Linear Television Viewership Declining

According to the fourth Future of TV survey of more than 4,000 US adults by The Trade Desk (Nasdaq: TTD), wireless TV consumers are on the rise and are projected to overtake linear and cable television soon. The survey reveals that nearly half of the TV viewers in the US are already cordless (47 percent), and another 44 percent of US citizens with cable TV are looking to cut back or cancel their service in the upcoming year.

Why Is Linear TV Losing Popularity?

Streaming or Connected TV offers several advantages over cable and linear TV mediums. For one, wireless TV viewers are no longer tethered to TV schedules and can binge-watch their favorite programs and films on demand. Furthermore, wireless TV viewers can save additional money, as they pay only for the services they choose, rather than being stuck in a bundle that includes a host of channels they have never watched.

“We are entering a new TV normal, where new streaming viewing models sit side by side with traditional TV formats,” said Tim Sims, Chief Revenue Officer, The Trade Desk. “From an advertiser’s perspective, this shift presents a tremendous opportunity. They can reach those streaming TV viewers with more precision and accuracy than ever because they can apply data to those TV campaigns in a way that’s not possible with linear. So, it provides incremental reach that’s an important element of a comprehensive TV ad campaign.”

Streaming technology's rapid adoption and improvement is the other major factor driving the growth of cordless viewers. Streaming services now offer quality video to users in a fraction of the time it used to take, with picture quality now rivaling cable and satellite programming. So viewers no longer have to wait for buffering or experience low-quality visuals, allowing them easy access to the same content without a cable or satellite subscription.

CTV Advertising Is Essential to Reach Nearly Half of Cordless Viewing Audiences

So, streaming digital content is now a more convenient and cost-effective way to watch TV than linear or cable television. With an extensive online content library, live channels, and many free and low-cost providers, wireless TV is quickly becoming the preferred choice for many viewers. As a result, within the coming year, streaming TV is projected to become the dominant form of television in the United States. Therefore, brands not advertising on streaming television platforms, not reaching nearly half the US television audience, no longer consume content on linear, cable, or satellite television networks.

Connected TV (CTV) is a large and fast-growing segment of the digital advertising ecosystem. According to Magna Global, CTV is on track to represent 30% of video ad spend by 2021. Beyond its rapid growth, marketers find CTV appealing because of its ability to target users more precisely. By utilizing CTV retargeting, you can precisely serve your ads to those who have visited your site and shown interest in your brand.

Popular Methods for Retargeting Site Visitors on CTV

 One of the most popular ways of retargeting on CTV is with an 'ad stack', an automated platform allowing you to connect various data sources to serve highly targeted ads. By syncing cookie data, you can ensure that the most relevant ads are shown to the right viewers and that your budget is spent on those with the highest likelihood of conversion.

Defining Your Retargeting Audience

Once you have your ad stack platform set up, it is time to add data sources and start targeting specific audiences. For example, you can use cookie-based targeting to create lookalike segments of current and potential customers who have interacted with your website, site visitors, and even your email campaign data. You can also create exclusion lists of customers who have already converted or interacted with your brand on other channels.

Branding Vs. Performance Retargeting

Once you have identified your target audiences, it is time to choose the types of campaigns you want to run. Connected TV campaigns can be split into two main categories: branding and performance. Branding campaigns focus more on generating awareness and building customer relationships, while performance campaigns are designed to drive conversions. This can include anything from increasing sign-ups and store visits to driving downloads and purchases.

Setting Up Your Connected TV Campaign

Now that you've identified your target audiences and selected the types of campaigns to run and set up your ad stack, it's time to get into the nitty-gritty of setting up the campaigns. Then, decide the parameters, such as the budget, schedule, and creative elements, such as the ads' messaging and images. It is also essential to consider which platforms and devices you are targeting, as CTV ad delivery varies by platform, with some only allowing targeting with specific device types.

Calculating Your Return on Ad Spend (ROAS)

Finally, you will need to track your key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the effectiveness of your CTV retargeting campaign. Some of the most critical KPIs marketers follow include impressions, visits, conversions, and ad spending to calculate a return on ad spend (ROAS).

Since CTV retargeting can be complex and costly when you're unfamiliar with connecting your data sources and audience segments, it is best to use a digital advertising agency, like IntelliReach Social, specializing in connected tv advertising to do the retargeting for you, maximizing your return on investment.

Connected TV (CTV) advertising has become a popular and effective way for brands to reach their target audience. Connected Television (CTV) allows viewers to stream content from online sources such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. Using this advertising platform, brands can create robust ad campaigns that easily capture their audience's attention to deliver better results.

However, creating successful CTV advertising campaigns requires considerable thought and planning. You'll also discover how to effectively use CTV to maximize brand awareness and reach your most desirable (and profitable) audience. I will explore multiple steps in detail and provide tips for creating successful CTV ad campaigns.

Identify Target Audience

Successful brands need to be able to identify their target audience. This is a necessary step for all manner of advertising. Therefore, it is crucial to have a clear understanding of who your target audience is.

It also includes knowing your buyer's interests and what motivates them. Knowing these attributes, you can create more targeted and relevant ads that resonate with them to deliver more profitable results.

While there are 100+ million viewers you can reach, a good chunk of them will not resonate with your brand. So, gathering insights into your audience's preferences and habits is essential. You can then use that data to create more effective and scalable campaigns. Now, you may be wondering where you gain these audience insights. Your Google Analytics, email reports, social media metrics, and even third-party data are good sources to use.

Create The Perfect Connected TV Ad

Now that you know your audience, you must create compelling short-form video ads. A short-form video ad is any video that is less than thirty seconds long. IntelliReach Social's Streaming Partner Network accepts tv commercials that are between fifteen and thirty seconds in length. Since time is short, your advertisement should separate you from your competitors and promote your brand in an entertaining way, all while retaining customer viewership.

Your advert should be concise but also interactive & engaging. When producing your video ads, use high-quality images and footage to showcase your products and services. Since CTV ads are unskippable for the most part, your goal is to make sure viewers pay attention when it is on their screen, which will lead to higher conversions.

Choose The Right Streaming Platform

With more significant insights into your audience, you can choose where to broadcast your CTV advertising campaign.

Each platform has its strengths and weaknesses. So, it is up to you to decide which best aligns with your advertising goals and target audience. Advertisers must also consider factors such as media reach, targeting options, and cost for a positive return on investment (ROI). Hiring a digital advertising agency specializing in CTV advertising can often get your video ads off the ground faster, with better results than a try-and-see of doing it yourself.

Using Data to Target Your Best Audience

Once you gauge how well you are doing, it will be time to double down on marketing. CTV advertising allows you to use data to target specific audiences based on demographics and interests. Using the data, you can create targeted campaigns that resonate with your audience and deliver better results.

The main thing to note here is the data you have. You can utilize the data you have acquired via third-party or first-party information. Together, you can formulate a clear understanding of your audience.

Optimize Your Campaigns

Similarly, you can use analytics to track key metrics such as impressions, clicks, and conversions. Then use the data to refine your campaigns over time even further. Factors such as ad placement & length need to be taken into account. It will help you determine whether your CTV campaign fits the pre- or mid-roll slot best.

Final Thoughts!

CTV advertising offers a vast audience and a unique opportunity for brands to connect with them. With the increasing popularity of streaming content, CTV advertising is becoming an essential part of any comprehensive marketing strategy. By following the practices above, you can easily promote your brand to reach the hearts and minds of millions!