Smart T.V. Meet…Smart Marketing
Have you noticed that the ads you are seeing while watching your favorite shows seem “spot on”? Do they seem to feel more relevant to you than ever before? That could be due to the fact that ads can now be bought using data to deliver them to most likely consumers or more qualified buyers. So ads can seem much smarter- and we will tell you how we can use your marketing dollars using this smart technology too!
We are going to cover one element of Programmatic Buying in this blog as we focus on video and ConnectedTV. We’ll get into more detail of each facet in the next few weeks but we really want to get you a solid “30,000-foot view” of Programmatic Buying, before we break it down starting with ConnectedTV.
We’ve all heard and probably even uttered the old adage, “Half of my marketing is wasted, I just don’t know which half.” Well, we DO know which half, but for the first time ever, we know how to weed out the audience that isn’t interested in your business or are less qualified buyers.
For example, say you own a company that does roofing and siding. You start running ads on the local affiliate or cable company. You place ads in premium programming to reach the most people possible. Great! Lots of homeowners and business owners are seeing your ads, which is exactly what you are paying for. BUT, you are also paying to reach renters that are not going to buy your services…ever! Here in Lincoln, that’s 41% of the population, or in this case, 41% of the audience you are paying to reach is wasted budget. Now, if only there were a way to run my ads to homeowners and not renters… (and now there is!)
What is ConnetedTV (CTV)?
CTV is TV directly connected to the internet or connected to the internet through devices, such as AppleTV, Roku and Amazon FireTV, etc. Nearly 9 in 10 US adults have access to CTV! Many even choose this as their only source for TV. (marketingcharts.com)
How popular is CTV?
Surprisingly, the access to CTV doesn’t overly favor one particular age bracket. Adoption/Access to CTV by age group:
- 30 to 44 = 93%
- 18-to-29 = 90%
- 45-60 = 87%
- 60+ = 77%
On top of these impressive numbers, nearly 6 in 10 US adults report that CTV is their primary method of consuming television.
Where did CTV adopters come from?
We’ve all heard of “Cord-Cutters”, those who had enough of the $150+ monthly cable or satellite bill and ConnectedTV is streaming programs through a SmartTV, and OTT is streaming through a device such as Apple TV, Roku, Fire Stick, etc. While there are only slight nuances between all the new terms being used, at the end of the day, people are watching programs differently and we need to buy ad space differently. But truly how big is that audience? 20%, 1 in 5 Paid TV subscribers have ‘cut the cord’ sometime in the last 5 years. Experts claim that number is going to 1 in 3 households in 2021.
Personally, I think that number is going to hit 33% in summer 2020. At the time this blog is being written, 90% of the US in lockdown, over 250 million people are either working from home or are temporarily laid-off. The first thing you do in those situations is cut expenses. On cost alone, it’s cheaper to cut the high priced cable and switch to subscriptions and many are doing just that.
Outside of the Cord-Cutter group, have you heard of a “Never Corder”? This refers to the mid 20’s age range adults, who have never bought a TV, much less cable. For those of you that don’t have teen-aged kids at home, let me explain. About a year ago, my 16-year-old was sitting on the couch watching a video on his phone. 10 feet directly in front of him sat a 60” big-screen TV that’s connected to the Internet, with the power off. Baffled, I asked “Why aren’t you watching this on the big screen?” to which he responded, “Why would I do that? Everything I need is right here on my phone, plus I don’t have to pause it to go get a snack, go to the bathroom, or go to bed.” These people are growing up, going out into the world as adults, and have little (if any) use for a big-screen TV, let alone a satellite dish, TV Antenna, or anything with a wire!
Positive news for businesses:
Imagine your “ideal customer” for a second. Gather all the facts about them that you can: their demographic, motivations, behavior patterns, and goals. In marketing, we call this “buyer persona.” With the internet, this information is more accessible than ever before.
People, including your audience, now have profiles built with their online preferences. This includes their buying patterns, interests, products they love, political views, and more.
We can now access these online profiles and target advertisements that will reach your ideal customers with great precision. This allows a company to have a highly efficient campaign: in budget and delivery.
By concentrating the message to a specific particular audience, it creates a better brand view for the advertiser by offering relevant content. In fact, 70% of consumers say they would pay more attention to personalized products and 44% of consumers are willing to switch to a brand that better-personalized marketing to them. (Infogroup)
By utilizing these data banks, businesses can put their marketing dollars to work without the guesswork and mere hope their messages are reaching the right audience. This is a highly efficient way to deploy campaigns. It even allows for a more level playing field to smaller companies who can now access these advertising methods that even a few short months ago were out of reach.
How TM can help!
Transformation Marketing is excited to now offer programmatic buying. With a low barrier to entry, clients are shifting traditional marketing dollars to targeted and trackable methods. We work with you to build your desired audience, create messages and creative, deploy the campaign within the set perimeters, and report to you the results. Your job is simply to sit back and help your new customers as they roll in!
To learn more about CTV or Programmatic Buying call us at 402-788-2896 or email travis@tmresults.com.