Watching TV has evolved over the past decade as more people use video streaming services. Nielsen data recently reported that 80% of adults in the U.S. population use their smartphones to consume online content weekly. As a result, video streaming services such as YouTube, Hulu, Netflix, Disney Plus, and Peacock TV have emerged as consumers’ preferred ways of watching television.
So how can your business reach these consumers through video streaming services? Through OTT marketing.
What is OTT Marketing?
A new trend in digital marketing is through these OTT (over-the-top) streaming services. You may wonder how the term OTT evolved. It originates from the old clunky cable boxes that we set on top of our television sets. These cable boxes were called set-top boxes. Even when our TV screens evolved to be flatter, the term set-top box remained. Streamed content does not use a cable box because it is delivered over the internet. Therefore, this streamed content bypasses the set-top box and is called over-the-top.
What are the Challenges and Benefits?
Challenges
OTT ads offer new and unique challenges to digital marketing teams, including:
- OTT ads are viewed on various devices, which also range in size. Therefore, OTT ads need to be formatted to perform well on devices ranging from smartphones to large-screen TVs.
- Because streaming services are not limited to a particular geographic area, the audience is broader.
- Consumers tend to skip ads if they have the option, so keeping your ads short is critical.
Benefits
Despite these challenges, OTT advertising offers enormous benefits to your business, including:
- Consumer trends show that viewers are willing to watch a few ads to get free content.
- You can target niche audiences using specific zip codes, devices, demographics, or behaviors.
- OTT advertising works without third-party cookies.
- OTT videos have higher completion rates.
- View performance analytics to assess the effectiveness of ads.
- OTT advertising maximizes your ROI and minimizes ad spend waste.
OTT Marketing Strategy
YouTube ads are one streaming service that uses OTT marketing. You can test and optimize your ads to see which version of your content generates the most engagement. YouTube ads are managed through Google Ads, and you can report on them via YouTube Studio.
Here are a few more tips for maximum effectiveness of your OTT ads:
- Keep the content short. Thirty seconds is good; 15 seconds is even better.
- Consider your audience, so you use language, images, and topics that resonate with them.
- Be relatable.
- Market with emotion through video, images, language, and music.
- Test and optimize your ads.
- Use voiceovers to communicate your message verbally.
Set Up OTT Marketing with Merrimack Digital!
Understanding and properly implementing an OTT marketing campaign is integral to your digital marketing efforts. These innovative ways to reach new customers and stay connected to returning ones should not be handled alone, making it vital to consider a digital marketing agency in your OTT campaign efforts.
The good news is that the experienced digital marketing team at Merrimack Digital has your back! Don’t miss out on the variety of digital marketing opportunities for your brand! Contact Merrimack Digital today to help do your marketing the right way.
Sources:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescommunicationscouncil/2021/02/08/what-is-ott-advertising-and-why-is-it-a-trend/?sh=251af7c519be
https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2021/09/09/what-ott-advertising
