What is OTT Advertising?
Before we dive too deep into OTT advertising, I want to define what OTT is for those who are unfamiliar with the term. OTT or Over-the-Top television/media is the internet streaming option for television content and movies without a traditional TV contract. These services can be accessed on a phone, tablet, computer or even a smart TV.
According to Video Advertising Bureau Reports, 71% of Internet users use an OTT service at least once a month.1 These services continue to grow in both total users and the frequency of use. It is estimated that there will be 197.7 million monthly OTT users in the US by 2022.2
Although some OTT services are paid and don’t contain ads, many contain ads to support the service both with and without a paid membership. However, these ads aren’t purchased or sold like traditional TV advertising. The process more closely resembles digital video advertising.
Benefits of Over-the-Top Advertising
OTT Advertising offers some unique key benefits:
Large Reach
Not too long ago, OTT wouldn’t be able to boast that a large reach was a strength of the platform. However, it has grown rapidly over the last few years and now offers a very large reach to a variety of audiences. For some specific markets, OTT now has a larger reach than many other platforms.
Strong Targeting
Targeting is another strength for OTT. Businesses can select specific geographic locations, demographics and topics to advertise on. This type of targeting just isn’t possible in traditional TV advertising and helps to reach the correct audience. This helps reduce wasted advertising resources and increases the efficiency of your advertising.
Powerful Analytics
Most all OTT platforms offer analytics for advertising. At the minimum, this typically includes impression and view data. Some platforms can offer more types of data and can segment the data by targeting or placement.
Flexible Budgeting
The ability to track views and targeting also allows for flexible budgeting. A limited number of impressions can be purchased for a specific target audience to maximize efficiency while minimizing expenses.
High-quality Creative
Lastly, high-quality video creative can be used. OTT platforms are designed to stream television quality content to subscribers. Businesses can leverage this technology to deliver high-quality videos and in-depth messaging that might be hard to convey to target audiences otherwise.
Resources:
1 You Down with OTT – Video Advertising Bureau
