The biggest match of the season is about to begin. Different households are watching the same event but seeing different ads. Travel-oriented family sees the promotional offer from the airline, while the small business owner sees software solutions. This transition helps us understand the reasons for consumption and the budget planning required by advertisers.
The emergence of streaming platforms not only affected how audience consumed content, but also impacted the Video Advertising Ecosystem, allowing advertisers to control the process of targeting, measuring, and creativity.
This article explains the contribution of streaming platforms in video advertising.
Streaming Platforms Changed Advertisers’ Approach
The most significant change is audience targeting. Streaming Video Advertising enables you to separate your audiences depending on their demographics, interests, behavior, devices, and even content. For instance, rather than paying for ads that may reach the wrong audiences, the software company can pay for the professionals who watch business or tech news.
Another significant shift is programmatic media buying. Most OTT advertisements are placed via an automated platform which makes use of data to define the inventory. Budgets can be changed, and audiences segmented in real-time.
How Content Consumption Patterns Are Creating Advertising Opportunities
New consumption patterns are helping advertisers target efficiently.
1. On-Demand Viewing Making Audience Available
The viewers will watch the show at their convenience, giving an opportunity to advertisers to market the audience throughout the day.
The financial services company can start its ad campaign on weekdays’ mornings when professionals watch business news on the web.
2. Multi-device Viewing is Improving Campaign Reach
Viewers switch between multiple devices. As a result, advertisers get an opportunity to use several devices for transmitting one consistent message.
The customer sees an advertisement for a product on his smart TV and then receives another one via his smartphone.
3. Binge-Watching Provides Many Engagement Points
Viewing for longer periods allows the brands to use serial messaging rather than using the same ad repeatedly. The first ad introduces the brand’s software platform, whereas other ads talk about customers’ success stories and product features.
How Streaming Platforms Are Collapsing the Advertising Funnel
Here’s how streaming platforms are changing the funnel.
1. Awareness and Consideration Happen in the Same Viewing Session
Streaming Video Advertising allows brands to introduce a product and encourage immediate action through connected devices. Consumers can discover a brand and continue their research.
A cloud software provider runs an ad during a business documentary, and viewers visit the company’s website immediately after the episode.
2. Sequential Storytelling Speeds up Buyer Engagement
Streaming platforms serves different creative assets to the same viewer over multiple sessions. It educates prospects without having them go through the traditional funnel.
The first ad is about a cybersecurity platform, second customer success stories, and the third about a product webinar.
3. Cross-device Experiences Help Remove Friction
Consumers navigate through different devices when looking for information. Video Advertising Ecosystem allows running campaigns that link all those experiences.
After watching an ad on a connected TV, a decision-maker gets a display advertisement related to the same product.
The Issue That Cross-Platform Ad Repetition Poses for Streaming
As OTT advertising continues, solving cross-platform ad repetition is priority.
1. Issue: Inability to Measure Frequency Across Different Platforms
Each platform has their own system for managing their advertising, hence making it impossible to know the number of times a user has seen an ad on various platforms.
Solution: Introduce workflows and media planning tools to manage frequency across different publishers in a campaign.
Rather than repeating ad on three streaming services, an advertiser can reduce frequency and use remaining budget to target new users.
2. Issue: Money Spent for Impressions and Not Reach
Campaign inefficiency caused by repetition because budget is spent on reaching the same audience rather than increasing reach in the Ecosystem.
Solution: Find a balance between frequency and incremental reach through campaign monitoring and budget reallocation.
A technology company realizes that repeat impressions above five are not generating any further engagements and reallocates its budgets accordingly.
3. Issue: Creative Fatigue Impedes Viewer Engagement
The same ad presented repeatedly could lead to viewer disengagement and lower the impact of the campaign.
Solution: Implement dynamic optimization by rotating different creatives.
A software company first promotes product, then testimonials, followed by a free trial offer to maintain viewer interest.
Streaming Platforms Will Reshape Video Advertising
Streaming platforms have transcended the phase where it was considered just another option to TV. It has been recognized as an option of brand engagement with their audiences. The ads using first party data, good creatives, and multiplatform measurement will reap benefits from this combination.
The future of Video Advertising Ecosystem will depend on advertisers’ ability to leverage streaming technology and audience intelligence.
Paramita Patra is a content writer and strategist with over five years of experience in crafting articles, social media, and thought leadership content. Before content, she spent five years across BFSI and marketing agencies, giving her a blend of industry knowledge and audience-centric storytelling.
When she’s not researching market trends , you’ll find her travelling or reading a good book with strong coffee. She believes the best insights often come from stepping out, whether that’s 10,000 kilometers away or between the pages of a novel.
