How Does CTV Advertising Work? The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide
With more consumers switching from cable TV to free and subscription-based video streaming platforms, CTV advertising enables you to say goodbye to traditional TV advertising methods and say hello to highly-targeted advertising campaigns that reach your ideal customers.
On this page, we’ll go over the ins and outs of CTV advertising and answer frequently asked questions, such as:
So, if these questions are currently on your mind, we’ve got you covered. Just keep reading to learn more!
And if you want to stay up to date with the latest trends and updates in CTV advertising, WebFX can help! Sign up for our newsletter, Revenue Weekly, to get expert digital advertising advice and tips sent straight to your inbox from our award-winning team for free!
What is CTV advertising?
So, what is CTV advertising? CTV advertising, or connected TV advertising, is video advertising for TVs that connect to the Internet. These are usually called smart TVs.
With CTV advertising, you can promote your brand on popular streaming platforms and services and use audience targeting features to ensure that your advertisements reach the consumers who are most likely to make a purchase.
How does CTV advertising work?
Now that you know the basics of CTV advertising let’s move on to your main question: how does connected TV advertising work?
With connected TV advertising, users will view your advertisements when they watch their favorite videos, movies, and TV shows on popular streaming platforms like Hulu, YouTube, and more. You’ve likely seen popular CTV ad examples while streaming your favorite show!
CTV advertising works by choosing the platform you want to promote your products and services. You can then select an ad type for your campaign, like a video or display ad.
Next, you can use advanced audience targeting features to ensure your marketing messages reach your target audience. And lastly, you can track and measure the results of your CTV advertising campaign to optimize your strategy for the best results.
We’ll discuss each of these steps in more detail below, so just keep reading to learn more!
Choose your CTV advertising platform
There are a variety of CTV advertising platforms you can choose from to promote your products and services to your target audience. Here are four examples of the most popular CTV platforms:
Facebook Watch
With more than five billion active users on social media platforms like Facebook, Facebook Watch is an excellent CTV platform that can help you boost your sales and revenue.
Facebook Watch enables users to browse and watch live streams, original shows, and popular videos in entertainment, sports, and much more.
With Facebook Watch, you can create video advertisements that play during a user’s video or that display in users’ newsfeeds as they scroll through their updates for the day.
YouTube
YouTube is one of the most popular video streaming services in the world, with billions of active users who stream their favorite content each day. So, if you’re not currently advertising your products and services on YouTube, you could be missing out on tons of potential leads and conversions for your business.
In fact, over 40% of consumers have purchased products they discovered on YouTube. YouTube offers a wide variety of advertising options for your business. For example, you can create video ads that play before, during, or after a video.
You can also create text ads that pop up at the bottom of a user’s screen while streaming content or a display ad that appears next to the video.
Hulu
Another popular CTV advertising platform is Hulu. Hulu is a TV streaming service that enables users to watch their favorite live and on-demand TV shows and movies on Internet-connected devices.
With more than 92 million active users, Hulu is the perfect streaming platform to get started with CTV advertising. Hulu enables you to create a variety of video ads that play during TV shows and movies and display ads with text and images that display when a user pauses their video.
If you want to reach your target audience while they watch popular movies and TV shows, advertising on Hulu is essential.
TikTok
TikTok contains thousands of videos that enable users to get countless hours of worth of entertainment. If you want to create targeted advertisements that reach the consumers who are most likely to purchase your products and services, advertising on TikTok is an excellent option.
With TikTok, you can create video ads that display in users’ feeds as they scroll through their updates. You can also create image and text ads that grab users’ attention and enable them to swipe through multiple images of your products and services.
Select your CTV ad type
Once you’ve chosen your CTV advertising platform, it’s time to choose the best ad type for your business. Check out some popular CTV ad types below:
Display ads
Display ads contain visual elements like images and essential information about your business, such as your contact details or website link. Display ads can appear beside or below videos or within users’ newsfeeds on CTV platforms.
With display ads, users can view essential information about your business without interrupting their current video or scrolling.
Videos ads
Video advertisements can play before, during, or after video content and are usually 15 to 30 seconds long. They might also appear in users’ feeds as they scroll through their daily updates.
Video ads are an excellent way to grab consumers’ attention and encourage them to convert into paying customers.
Pop-up ads
Pop-up ads can appear when a user pauses their video or at the bottom of the screen while watching a video.
Pop-up advertisements are a perfect way to promote your products and services and provide essential information about your business to users without interrupting their streaming experience.
Interactive ads
It’s no secret that interactive content and advertisements are an excellent way to engage your audience and encourage them to make a purchase. CTV advertising platforms like Hulu enable advertisers to create interactive living room ads to capture users’ attention.
With Hulu’s interactive living room ads, you can allow users to explore your products and services by clicking and scrolling throughout your advertisement.
Use advanced audience targeting features
Perhaps one of the best benefits of investing in connected TV advertising is that you can take advantage of targeting features to ensure that your ads reach the consumers who can provide the most value for your business.
If you want to boost your sales, it’s essential to reach the users who are most interested in your products and services. With CTV advertising, you can use audience targeting features to ensure that your promotions display for your target audience.
For example, you can target users based on their:
As a result, you can maximize your sales and revenue by creating more personalized advertisements that resonate with your target audience.
That means you can earn more high-quality leads and conversions for your business, helping you achieve a higher return on investment (ROI) in the long run.
Track and measure your results
With CTV advertising, you can also track the results of your campaign. Measuring the success of your ads is essential if you want to continuously drive sales and earn the highest possible ROI for your company.
Fortunately, you can easily track essential campaign metrics when you invest in connected TV advertising. Several platforms offer analytics and insights to help you analyze important data points and metrics such as your views, impressions, and much more.
You can also view audience behavioral data, like how many users clicked on your ad or watched your video ad to the end.
By tracking the results of your CTV advertising campaign, you can identify any areas of your strategy that need improvements, so you make crucial optimizations to continuously drive the best results for your business.
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Reach your ideal customers with revenue-driving CTV advertising services from WebFX
Now that you know the answer to the question, “how does connected TV advertising work,” it’s time to get started with your own campaign!
If you’re ready to drive more sales and revenue with CTV advertising but aren’t sure how to get started, WebFX can help!
When you partner with WebFX, you’ll have access to an award-winning team of over 500 advertising experts who can take care of developing, implementing, and managing a custom CTV advertising campaign that’s tailored specifically for the needs and goals of your business.
Plus, your dedicated account manager will keep you informed every step of the way with frequent meetings and transparent reports.
Get ahead of your competitors today. Speak with one of our strategists by calling 888-601-5359 on contact us online to learn more about how our CTV advertising services can take your business to new heights.