Your Guide to Connected TV Advertising

Connected TV advertising is becoming increasingly popular for both advertisers and publishers. This advertising method is replacing traditional TV ads as streaming continues to grow in popularity.

In this article, we will cover everything you need to know about connected TV advertising. We will start by reviewing what CTV advertising is before we discuss the pros and cons of this monetization method. From there, we will review some best practices for leveraging CTV ads as a publisher.

Table of Contents

• What is Connected TV (CTV) Advertising?
• The Benefits of Connected TV Advertising
• The Challenges of Connected TV Advertising
• Best Practices for Connected TV Advertising
• The Future of Connected TV Advertising
• Final Thoughts

What is Connected TV (CTV) Advertising?

Connected TV (CTV) advertising is a type of video monetization that helps brands reach their target audiences through streaming television services. In this AVOD-based monetization technique, publishers and creators charge their advertisers a fee for placement in their content.

With CTV advertising, businesses can deliver targeted ads to specific demographics and track measurable results. With advancements in related technologies, advertisers and publishers can more effectively cater the viewing experience to their target audience. It’s a win-win.

The Benefits of Connected TV Advertising

There are several benefits to connected TV advertising for both advertisers and publishers. 

Advertisers can tap into highly targeted advertising, which is excellent for reaching a specific audience. By ensuring that the ads flow seamlessly with the viewers' experience, advertisers can ensure they are reaching the right audience, and publishers can boost their engagement.

Another major plus is the ability to closely track and measure results. When an ad insertion service is equipped with comprehensive analytics and tracking, both publishers and advertisers can access the information they need to make informed decisions about their content and ad placement. 

Since the benefits are so great for advertisers, publishers reap the benefit of a consistent income source. CTV advertising is critical for publishers who offer free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) content. 

The Challenges of Connected TV Advertising

There are a few challenges to keep in mind when running CTV ads or using them to monetize your content. 

For starters, many viewers use ad-blocking software to eliminate ads on the content they watch. As a publisher, you can configure your site settings to prevent content from being served to users with an ad blocker. Some users will turn the ad blocker off to proceed with the content, and others may leave the site altogether. It is up to you to weigh the pros and cons and navigate accordingly.

Another issue is ad fraud. If you’re unfamiliar with it, this involves advertisers skewing data to make publishers pay more, especially if they are working on a pay-per-click basis. Ad fraud is less likely to occur when advertisers work with trustworthy publishers or ad-insertion companies to run their ads. 

Although these challenges are worth keeping in mind, they should not deter you from using CTV advertising. 

Best Practices for Connected TV Advertising

Now that you know a bit more about the pros and cons of CTV advertising, let’s dive into some best practices for publishers who want to monetize their content with CTV ads.

1. Ensure a Brand Fit

When partnering with an advertiser or an ad insertion company, it is essential to ensure a brand fit. As a publisher, you do not want to run ads that do not align with your brand, as this will throw off your user experience.

You should also watch out to ensure that specific ads don’t hurt your engagement or watch times.

2. Experiment with Ad Placement Strategies

Marketing requires a lot of experimenting, so naturally, this carries over to CTV advertising. With that said, it’s a good idea to experiment with ad placement strategies to see what gets the most clicks. 

Start by testing a mix of pre-roll, mid-roll, and post-roll ads. Review the analytics to determine which are the most successful and to see if any cause viewers to abandon the content.

You can also experiment with clickable overlays and CTAs to see if those are more effective than more traditional ads. 

3. Integrate with Other Marketing Channels

Integrating CTV advertising with other marketing channels can significantly enhance the overall impact of advertising efforts. By creating this alignment throughout the digital marketing strategy, including social media, email marketing, and content marketing, you can create a cohesive and integrated brand experience. 

This approach allows for cross-channel promotion and consistent messaging, maximizing brand visibility and engagement. Additionally, leveraging data insights from various marketing channels can inform more targeted and personalized CTV ad campaigns, ultimately driving better results and ROI across the board.

The Future of Connected TV Advertising

In the future, CTV advertising will become more and more personal with real-time data-driven interactivity. Maestro, a white-label interactive video solution, is developing powerful tools to help everyone, from independent publishers to media giants, create more personalized video experiences.

The goal is to increase engagement and viewer retention. Achieving both of these goals will help publishers increase watch times, giving them the opportunity to serve more ads and make more money.

Final Thoughts

CTV advertising is a great way for video publishers to generate revenue on their content. It fits perfectly in a FAST monetization method. 

Looking to leverage CTV advertising to make money on your live or on-demand content? Maestro is the tool for you. Use our Create Once, Deploy Everywhere technology to easily build a video website that automatically converts to a mobile and smart TV app. Generate revenue with ads, tickets, subscriptions, and more.

Contact us to request a demo and learn how to get started.