Jan 29, 2023

CTV/OTT in 2023: The Top 4 Predictions You Need to Know

A movement of possibility for CTV/OTT advertisers is coming, and it’s hitting full force in 2023. Whether you’re just making the jump to CTV or looking to improve your overall campaign performance, a new year on the books marks new ways of winning over your audience. The Flock to CTV/OTT Advertising in the New Year…

CTV_OTT-in-2023-The-Top-4-Predictions-You-Need-to-Know

A movement of possibility for CTV/OTT advertisers is coming, and it’s hitting full force in 2023.

Whether you’re just making the jump to CTV or looking to improve your overall campaign performance, a new year on the books marks new ways of winning over your audience.

The Flock to CTV/OTT Advertising in the New Year

To the average TV fanatic, the shift from linear programming to digital streaming won’t be making any groundbreaking headlines in 2023. For over a decade, CTV has consistently created waves in the steady stream of modern media, redefining how, when, and where we tune into this week’s top-charting shows and films.

As the number of cord-cutters surges, digital marketers are just now taking the hint. Getting an ad placed during Amazon’s Thursday Night Football carries a lot more weight than a strategy sealed off to the age of OTT.

In 2023 alone, CTV ad spending is expected to reach $26b—up $5b from the past year.

Between Disney+ and Netflix’s move to ad-supported streaming in late 2022, there have never been so many opportunities to get your ads seen and your brand known. But as any digital marketer knows, no advertising strategy wins the deal unless it’s agile to emerging trends in the industry.

Leading CTV/OTT Trends for 2023

New Interactive Ad Formats Will Continue to Rise

Since the dawn of marketing, creativity has been the saving grace for advertisers trying to cut through the clutter of a noisy media landscape. With the average consumer’s attention span resting at just eight seconds, the performance of an ad has everything to do with how well it resonates with its viewers.

While Prime Video, Paramount+, and Netflix pool more and more eager marketers to CTV, an innovative ad-buying strategy is no longer optional for brands who want to see real results with their campaigns. To stand out from the rising competition, marketing moguls are embracing creativity not just within their messaging but also in the types of ads they choose to purchase.

Interactive ads, in particular, have seen considerable success as they’ve been adopted into performance TV strategies. According to data from Innovid, interactive ads boast a 3.5% higher engagement rate and capture audience attention for 85 seconds longer than traditional streaming ads.

There are many different ways to have your audience interact with your brand beyond the dreaded blank stare at the screen. In recent years, some of the most popular trends that have taken hold of the industry include:

  • Shoppable ads using QR codes
  • Clickable ad options based on viewer preference
  • Countdown ads where users interact with the ad within a certain timeframe

Unlike standard TV, CTV ad buying is flipping the script on the traditional passive user experience. Forbes sums up this emerging trend perfectly: The more engaging the advertising, the longer the viewer’s impact—and the higher the chance that your brand remains top-of-mind when it matters most.

The Use of Lower-Funnel Performance Metrics Will Increase

As streaming TV advertising becomes more competitive and expensive, marketers need to measure the success of their campaigns to maximize their ROI. Luckily, programmatic ad platforms offer a boatload of data on the status of CTV campaigns, from top-of-the-funnel metrics down to conversions by the number.

Historically, some of the most common metrics tracked in performance TV advertising have been those that sit at the top of the marketing funnel. Whether it’s the cost per completed view or the number of households reached, measuring CTV performance has largely remained geared towards metrics that move the needle on brand awareness.

Looking into 2023, performance advertisers are now leveraging metrics with a more telling focus: consumer behavior after viewing an ad. As the ring bearer in the marriage between TV and the Internet, CTV can track lower-funnel metrics untouched by linear programming, such as:

  • Verified website visits
  • Subscription sign-ups
  • App downloads

These lower-funnel performance metrics allow marketers to measure the effectiveness of their campaigns in terms of customer acquisition, engagement, and retention. That way, you can track how much you’re spending to acquire views, what your return on ad spend is, and the lifetime value of your customers.

Use of First-Party Data Will Become the Standard

It’s a digital marketing no-brainer: To meet your target audience where they are, you need to understand them first.

From paid search to OTT, consumer data such as demographics and contact information has long been used to create a more informed and intuitive campaign. But where advertisers have previously relied on second and third-party data to obtain their insights comes a new industry standard—first-party data.

Within any marketing medium, first-party data is data that you collect from your audience without any middleman. It’s the most reliable, credible, and trustworthy data you can gather because it’s overseen entirely by you. And because it’s proprietary to you, your competition won’t get the chance to create personalized campaigns based on your findings.

Some of the most common ways first-party data is collected include:

  • Surveys and interviews
  • Subscription-based emails
  • CRMs
  • Social media

With privacy policy changes raining down on the advertising industry, it’s never been more important for marketers to gain their information from a consenting audience. Even Google plans to phase out third-party cookies in Chrome by 2024 to better protect its searchers from invasive data collectors looking to make big bucks.

As the ad tech industry moves toward data obtained on the inside, marketers now have increased opportunities to get to know their audience and establish more trustworthy relationships first-hand.

Premium Inventory Will Remain King

With more OTT platforms rushing to adopt ad-supported tiers, more options are being unveiled for advertisers looking to make their way to the big screen. But despite this influx in opportunity, advertisers worldwide are picking up on the idea that not all inventory is created equal.

CTV/OTT inventory is professionally developed and curated content that couples broadcast TV quality with full-screen creative ads. When it’s considered premium, it’s just that—premium-grade, professional content designed to reach the right audience at scale.

Because streaming TV has risen to the title of one of the world’s largest markets, a fragmented landscape has left room for greater brand safety risks. Brand owners can no longer afford to put their full trust in open exchanges since their ads can run almost anywhere, risking heavy blows to their reputation and financial status.

To combat ad fraud, more marketers are working with CTV advertising partners that leverage premium inventory. When you launch your campaigns through a trustworthy provider, you can ensure that your ads are being run in brand-safe content, protecting your efforts from unwittingly doing more harm than good.

Digital Remedy As Your CTV/OTT Partner

In the ever-evolving digital marketing landscape, it is vital to have a strategic media planning partner on your side to ensure success in your campaigns.

At Digital Remedy, we provide comprehensive digital media solutions to help you navigate the complexities of today’s rapidly-changing CTV environment. We combine our extensive industry knowledge and expertise with cutting-edge programmatic ad platforms to create custom digital strategies and powerful campaigns that drive results.

Whether looking for a turnkey solution or more hands-on guidance, Digital Remedy has the experience and resources to help you achieve your unique goals.

Reach out to us today to learn more about how we help you stand out from your competition.