Exploring Modern Advertising with Streaming and Traditional Television

Is TV Dead?

`No, actually. But TV, the way we watched it ten years ago has changed. In fact, there has never been a better time to buy television advertising.

Over the air television still reaches large numbers of people, particularly in special events and sports. This works especially well with appointment TV. Super Bowl, for instance, reaches a large swath of the U.S. population with a single ad. Last year, it reached 42% of the U.S. population, according to Sports Media Watch.com/ Nielsen ratings. When one takes into account that the ratings don’t always reflect multiple viewers- particularly in sports bars- the number of viewers is actually well over 50% Of course, this is an expensive option in that the average local spend on a Super Bowl commercial is north of $200,000.

Also, one can make the case that traditional television still has high engagement with those over 65 years of age. This is particularly true for local news.

If you don’t have a Super Bowl-sized budget or you aren’t targeting an untargeted senior audience, streaming offers an excellent alternative.

According to Scarborough’s 2024 media study, 65.4% of all adults watch television through streaming. Streaming options come in different varieties. OTT (Over-the-Top) is the transmission to television shows on any device. Connected TV is specific to smart TVs.

We are buying a great deal of CTV right now for our clients such as Fulton Homes, First Credit Union and Gila River Development.

You will love this option because:

1. You can still have the big, onscreen experience on your television
2. You will know exactly how many people are watching your commercial.
3. You can target with precision who is likely to buy your product and service.
4. You can see analytics and get a sense of how different age groups and consumers react to your product or your creative.
5. You can complement your buy with re-targeted ads that drive the viewers to your website or landing page.

How to choose the right streaming television option?

First, know everyone is selling this: radio stations, TV stations, newspapers, and streaming services themselves. Also know that many of these sales reps are just learning the medium and may not be much help. Here are some important tips when considering this type of media buy:

The most important aspect is the targeting. Who buys your product or service? Make sure your target is as specific as possible. For instance, for our homebuyer, our target is: adults planning to buy a home in the next six month with household incomes over $150k. The targeting can get very specific.

You may want to check around various streaming alternatives to see who has the best target for your product. Amazon Prime sells their own streaming and has great targeting through their first party data, which they get from all the buying on Amazon. Note that this alternative is generally more expensive. For this reason, we will go with an alternative if the targeting is just as good.

• You will have a choice between smart TVs or a combination of Smart TVs, tablets, phones and computers. We generally encourage clients to take advantage of the “big living room experience”, especially if good creative is part of the mix. But if you have an offer particularly interesting to those on phones or tablets, OTT, which is a combination of all devices, can yield better results. In this case, re-targeting ads are not as necessary.
• You can target geographically. You can pick a circumference around your store, zip codes or an area of town- any town, city or state. This can make an effective micro or macro campaign.
• Layer in re-targeting as part of your buy for maximum analytics. We suggest that our clients take 30% of their budget and put it on re-targeted campaign banners.
• Make sure the offer, banner and product are connected to a landing page with a call to action for maximum conversion.
• Add a QR code for additional activity. We are always surprised that great numbers of people get a shot at the QR code. It also provides great analytics.

If all else fails, call us or another agency for assistance.