Connected TV Puts a New Spin on Programmatic Advertising

Programmatic advertising is a methodology that automates the buying and selling of ads on digital media. Prior to this industry development, ad space was manually advertised, bought, and sold.

Thanks to programmatic advertising, these processes are automated, and this leaves brands with more time and resources to focus on other advertising and marketing activities.

The programmatic advertising methodology includes the use of programmatic connected TV (CTV) advertising, which allows brands to reach potential customers who choose to use connected or OTT television services like Roku, Netflix, Hulu, etc.

What Does Programmatic CTV Include?

Programmatic advertising allows brands to do the following:

• Stream ads over a variety of devices, including TVs and phones
• Continue to reach and engage cord-cutting households
• Target potential customers through popular OTT platforms

Ultimately, this is an advertising tool that helps brands to maintain or increase their reach as audiences change the way they consume television content.

How Does Connected TV Programmatic Advertising Work?

Many advertisers find programmatic advertising to be exceptionally complicated at first glance. Fortunately, once you get past the initial learning curve, it’s fairly easy to master. Part of this mastery process includes understanding the differences between connected TV vs. OTT advertising.

It helps to remember that CTV programmatic advertising is simply an automated way to purchase TV ads according to a previously established formula. It’s quite similar to the way that ad spend auctions work on Google.

So how does a brand go about buying ads using connected TV programmatic advertising? They follow these steps:

Select an OTT Advertising Platform

It’s important to select an advertising platform that fits your brand. It should be reputable and offer clear terms. There should be reporting features that appeal to you, and the platform should allow you to reach your audience on the platforms they use.

Create the Ad Content and Make It Available to the Ad Platform

Serving ads at the right time to the right audience is just part of the equation. It’s important to invest time and money in producing quality ad content.

Choose Audience Targeting Criteria

The algorithms that ad platforms deploy will use the targeting information you input to determine where and when your ads are served. Know your customer personas so that you can make sure your brand connects on the right platforms and during the right shows.

Set Your Budget

As with any other form of advertising, the amount of money you are willing to spend does make a difference. Keep that in mind when you establish your budget.

Track Campaign Results

Familiarize yourself with the reporting and analytics that are available to you. These analytics are how you will get the insights you need into your television ad campaigns.

Because this is an automated method of advertising, everything else is handled programmatically. Your ads will be served to viewers according to your targeting and the budget you set.

What Are the Benefits of Programmatic CTV?

You have several choices when it comes to reaching viewers through TV ads. Each option has its strengths. Additionally, programmatic CTV is relatively new. So why are brands choosing connected TV programmatic advertising? Here are just a few benefits:

It’s Data-Backed Advertising

Programmatic ads are served up using algorithms. These are created using data that has been collected on users and user behaviors over a period of time. This approach often leads to better targeting and outcomes than advertising that involves hand-selecting when and where ads are delivered.

Advertisers Receive Insights in Real-Time

Advertising platforms can return data on ad performance to brands in real-time. Companies can then use this reporting to identify where there are successes and failures. This approach gives them the opportunity to adjust campaigns quickly in order to get the best results.

Automation Saves Time

Thanks to automation, the process of buying, bidding on, and serving ads can be completed in mere seconds. After just a bit of work upfront, the entire process is hands-off. Thanks to this automation, team members can shift their focus to strategizing and creating television ads that are even more engaging.

Allows Brands to Increase Reach

Once a brand buys into programmatic TV advertising, it can potentially reach customers across a range of OTT platforms. Additionally, programmatic CTV ads can be used to increase geographic reach. All of this is done without having to engage in manual processes that take a significant amount of time.

Better Audience Targeting

Advertisers can set up programmatic advertising to very specifically target the customer personas that are most likely to respond to their ads. In addition to reaching more engaged audiences, brands are less likely to waste advertising spend on audiences that aren’t going to be responsive.