Before the COVID-19 pandemic, media professionals already understood how the streaming wars had significantly impacted the advertising industry. As more streaming services have emerged, the way people consume media has dramatically changed.
The pandemic accelerated the growth of streaming services because most people spent so much time at home. And so-called cord-cutters are eliminating traditional cable service bundles and buying Netflix, Disney+, and other ala carte offerings.
Because of the rapid growth of streaming, ad spending in this area has also increased considerably.
Benefits of Streaming TV Advertising
When so many people cut ties with their cable provider and switch to streaming services, advertising is challenging. Whether it’s Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, or any other streaming platform, it’s becoming increasingly common for modern consumers to access TV shows on their smartphones, tablets, laptops, or smart TVs.
If you’re a marketer or advertiser, you should know what benefits you can reap by advertising on streaming services. Some significant benefits of streaming advertising include:
- It’s a great way to connect with a mass audience.
- It can allow brands to micro-target audience segments.
- It can help advertisers target strong demographics.
- It will enable advertisers to review advanced data analytics and feedback from audiences.
It’s reported that viewers retain 95% of a message when they watch it in video format, compared to only 10% when they read it in a text format. Placing video ads on a streaming platform can help increase your brand recognition and influence more viewers to consider your brand next time they’re in the market for a product or service your brand offers.
Tips for Successful Advertising on Streaming Platforms
It can be a challenge to create advertisements that are well-suited to a streaming service and its subscribers. Below are some tips to follow if you’re looking to develop successful streaming advertisements for your brand.
1. Keep Streaming Ads Concise and Engaging
As a media professional, you’re aware that ads are annoying to the average person. Many people admit to hating ads significantly if they interrupt their binge-watching.
If you plan on advertising on a streaming service, be sure to keep your marketing message concise yet engaging. You want to grab your audience’s attention quickly and hold onto it long enough to get your news across. As the old saying goes, “Keep it simple, stupid.” Long, drawn-out ads can be a nuisance – so aim to pack a punch with streaming TV ads.
2. Understand the Streaming Platform’s Guidelines
Before diving into the video creation process, you should research each streaming service and determine which platform should host your ad. Consider outlining a cost-benefit analysis to see how each forum meets your ad needs.
Additionally, every streaming service has a set of advertising guidelines you should follow. These guidelines can help you meet viewer expectations and build quality ads that lead to conversions. For example, Hulu outlines its ad tech specifications on its Ad Manager website. Advertisers must review the guidelines of whichever streaming service they plan to use.
3. Offer Exclusive Discounts for Streamers
You can add value to your streaming ads by including a discount code or promotion. When a streaming service subscriber sees an advertisement with a discount code, it could influence them to interact with your brand.
One famous company does this with its advertising on Hulu. HelloFresh, a meal-kit provider, combined its ad content with content from Hulu’s original series, “How I Met Your Father,” to offer subscribers an introductory deal. Hulu subscribers receive an exclusive code (“FATHER”) they could use to sign up for HelloFresh and save on their first few meal deliveries.
4. Balance Personalization and Privacy
Advertisers have their work cut out for them nowadays. Modern consumers want personalized ads but draw the line when ads feel creepy or intrusive. As marketing becomes more data-driven, the issue of the privacy paradox will persist.
Ultimately, striking a balance between privacy and personalization is challenging for marketers and advertisers. Making ads personalized can be beneficial, but it can also be risky personalization can keep your audience more engaged if done tastefully. Use the best ad personalization practices to avoid turning new and existing customers away from your brand.
5. Experiment With Interactive Ads
Another emerging trend in digital advertising is the use of interactive ads. Remember Coinbase’s interactive ad during this year’s NFL Super Bowl? The cryptocurrency company ran a 60-second ad featuring a QR code bouncing around the TV screen. Viewers could use their smartphones to scan the QR code, bringing them to Coinbase’s promotional website.
Interactive ads will likely become more popular, especially on streaming platforms. You may want to plan on adding interactive features to ads in future campaigns.
In a recent survey by Statista, in the US alone, an estimated 11 million households scanned a QR Code in 2020. This stat would have increased from an estimated 9.76 million scans in 2018.
How to Measure Ad Success on Streaming TV Services
Measuring the success and effectiveness of ads on a streaming platform is complex. Marketers understand that attribution determines the correlation between exposure and brand engagement. According to Roku, some advertisers use an incrementality approach to measuring streaming ad performance.
Essentially, incrementality measures an event that would not have occurred without a specific interaction happening. In this case, the exchange is a viewer turning on their favorite TV show on a streaming service. Advertisers building campaigns in the streaming space should consider how to attribute results or measure their ads’ success.
Advertisers can use other digital solutions to improve their measurement strategies for any ads on streaming platforms. For example, Nielsen is one major company that offers measurement tools to help advertisers understand if streaming ads were effective or successful.
Streaming seems to be the dominant force in a media consumption context. Hence, advertisers and other media professionals need to understand how to advertise goods and services on these platforms effectively.
Advertising in the Streaming Era
Streaming TV advertising is a significant asset in the modern advertiser’s toolkit. Leveraging this marketing channel can be highly beneficial and even help you beat out your competitors.
Follow the tips outlined above and make streaming advertising a priority.
Guest Post Author: Zac Amos is the Features Editor at ReHack, where he writes about cybersecurity, information technology, and other tech topics.
You can set up a time to chat with me about your marketing challenges using my calendar. Email me jeffslater@themarketingsage.com Call me. 919 720 0995. The conversation is free, and we can explore if working together makes sense. Watch a short video about working with me.
Photo by Josh Kahen on Unsplash
