Over the past 70 years, commercials have been a mainstay in the majority of households. These 15-to-30-second spots appear during programming breaks on nearly every channel, informing consumers of products and services they may need.
However, a new approach has arrived on the scene, upending the traditional commercial market: connected TV (CTV) advertising. Though they act similarly to commercials in that each is between 15 and 30 seconds long, CTV ads offer strategic benefits to businesses that traditional commercials simply cannot.
Why Connected TV Is Growing Exponentially
Over the past few decades, there’s been a seismic shift in how people consume televised content. Instead of purchasing monthly cable subscriptions from their local providers, more consumers than ever before are streaming content through smart TVs and devices like the Roku and Amazon Fire Stick.
Streaming TV content allows consumers to watch their favorite shows and movies on their own time. Instead of waiting diligently for something to air at 8:30 p.m. on a Thursday, they can simply watch it at a time that’s convenient for them.
CTV is also cheaper than most traditional TV packages, especially for consumers who choose options that include ads. For instance, consumers can purchase an ad-supported Hulu, Disney+, and ESPN+ bundle for $12.99 monthly, while a traditional cable package may run $100 or more each month.
Recent connected TV trends show that over 55% of viewers spend time on platforms supported by ads, and nearly two-thirds of the American public will watch CTV programs this year. Companies who recognize that consumer habits are shifting toward CTV would be wise to budget some of their advertising expenditures toward these kinds of ads.
The Benefits of Connected TV Advertising
CTV advertising offers some impressive benefits to businesses:
For one, marketers are given greater control over the placement of their ads than traditional TV offers. It’s possible to target audiences that fit into an extensive list of demographics, such as income, age, location, and browsing habits, just as you would with a social media ad. If you have a list of consumers who interacted with your brand through other channels in the past, you can target your ads to reach them directly through CTV content.
Furthermore, in traditional TV advertising, most commercial breaks last for several minutes, whereas most CTV breaks are much shorter and contain only one advertisement. What that means is your audience is more likely to remember your ad, as they won’t see multiple commercials for different, often competing, brands.
Most streaming services don’t allow consumers to skip through ads, either. Instead, the commercial plays through to the end, and since the breaks are so short, your viewers are less likely to run to the kitchen for snacks, meaning they’ll see your commercial through its end.
Another advantage is that CTV advertising is often less expensive than traditional commercials. Companies on a budget can, therefore, limit the money they spend on creating their ad, display them only to consumers who are likely to be interested in them, and modify their budget as their needs change.
Finally, CTV advertising provides nearly instantaneous metrics. Once your ad plays, you can track clicks to your website or other conversions to see whether the ad is meeting your objectives. Traditional commercials simply can’t compare; usually, advertisers must wait days or weeks to gather the results of their campaigns.
You Don’t Need a Massive Production Budget to Create a Solid Connected TV Ad
As touched on above, traditional commercials can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to create. Video production crews, actors, and editing teams can take a hefty bite out of an advertising budget, but creating a quality CTV ad for under a few thousand dollars — or even less — is totally possible.
If you have existing video ads you’ve used for social media platforms, you can repurpose them to meet the necessary specs for a CTV ad. While every CTV platform has different specs, the time limit for most of their ads is the same, clocking in at either 15 or 30 seconds. You can adjust your ad’s aspect ratio, file type, and frame rate to ensure it meets the requirements of your platform of choice.
Connected TV Advertising Is Growing
As more households cut their cable subscriptions and turn to streaming services, the market for CTV advertising will only expand, which means that companies that get in on the action early are more likely to see a return for their efforts. Don’t ignore the power of CTV ads — you’ll likely find them far more effective than traditional commercials.
