The rise of streaming television has changed the narrative of TV advertising. Whether it was over-the-air broadcasting or cable, the traditional advertising model was for brands to identify a channel, program, or daypart that over-indexed with their target audience, and they would then purchase airtime in those respective slots. The hope was that enough qualified potential customers would see the spot and move to a stage in the purchase cycle. The drawback to this approach is that many ad dollars are wasted on other viewer swatching that programming that do not fit the brand’s consumer profile. Furthermore, there is no guarantee that the target customer is even watching during the purchased time slot. The advent of DVR has further eroded advertising returns by allowing viewers to skip overan estimated 50% of commercials.
The old way of buying media required that brands make an educated guess on which channels, programs, or times of day over-indexed with their target audience, and they would then purchase airtime in those respective slots. Today, businesses can now specifically target their customers at anytime, regardless of what they are watching. With streaming TV advertising, brands can now have non-skippable ads served to specific viewers that are more likely to match their consumer profile.
While there is no cookie-cutter approach to reaching a target audience, below are five ways Awarity pinpoints your target customer with Connected TV advertising:
1. Specific zip codes. While there is still value in national, regional and DMA targeting, Awarity conducts research and serves ads in zip codes that meet specific criteria, such as geographical info from first party sales data.
2. Specific Audience. Through the use of audience data, we target only the users that meet the specific profile of your target customer based on their recent habits and reach them with non-skippable commercials.
3. Contextual Programming. There are contextual segments available on streaming based on certain genres of programming we utilize where relevant, such as a grocery store advertising on cooking programming while the viewer is thinking about recipe ingredients.
4. Specific Channels. While this tactic most closely resembles the now-diminishing traditional advertising model, there are still instances where channel and app-based targeting can serve as a useful compliment to another targeting strategy. For example, advertising for a sporting event on ESPN along with another tactic that targets sports fans will have enough overlap to hit the desired audience.
5. Remarketing. Awarity serves commercials to past website visitors, which serves as a reminder that can push them from an investigative stage to a consideration or purchase stage.
Again, there is no standard approach to targeted TV advertising on streaming. It is in many ways an artform that must be catered to the brand’s goals and the mindset of the target customer. Advertisers should seek partners that take an intelligent, consultative approach to marketing and integrate well with the rest of their marketing efforts. At Awarity, we’re always open to meet for a needs assessment that fit the scope of a brand’s objectives.
