CTV Completes the Puzzle for Cross-Channel Marketing Campaigns

By Julie Selman, UK & Nordics MD, Magnite

The average UK home now uses 10.3 internet-enabled devices. With an excess of channels to choose from, audiences are no longer fully reachable via one platform. To keep up with consumption habits, marketers need omnichannel solutions that connect with their core customers as they move between touchpoints.

Here, CTV is a central puzzle piece to an effective omnichannel strategy. Until now, premium TV has been siloed off from digital ad buying. Linear TV is known for being traditionally inflexible, slow, or upfronts-based, but CTV is turning all this on its head— making action-oriented, addressable audiences reachable in a measurable and flexible way.

Here’s why CTV is ascendant and how this emerging channel could help marketers accomplish the holy grail of marketing: addressable, omnichannel campaigns at scale.

CTV Captures Addressable, Actionable Audiences

According to Magnite’s recent research report, “CTV in the EU5: The Future Forward,” CTV’s audience penetration competes with broadcast. Many CTV viewers are coveted groups that are highly engaged: 89% of UK respondents reported that they watched a streaming service at least once a week, and 61% watched daily. Additionally, 71% of EU5 viewers said they preferred streaming over broadcast TV.

With the ‘Stay Home, Protect the NHS, Save Lives’ messaging during the pandemic, the uptick of CTV engagement has only accelerated. According to Ofcom, the average time UK adults spent on screens last year surged to 6 hours and 25 minutes per person per day. The lion’s share of screen time was spent by streamers.

CTV audiences are not only engaged; they take action. According to our research study (p.16), 78% of UK respondents said they took a clear, tangible action after watching an ad on CTV, be it search, recall, purchase, or advocacy.

With programmatic technology, these audiences are also highly addressable. By leveraging first and third-party data, CTV marketers can reach curated audiences en masse. CTV advertising uses data-infused addressability to eliminate wasteful impressions.

Ease-of-use, Flexibility, and Control in Ad buying

As budgets follow eyeballs, marketers are taking advantage of CTV’s control, transparency, and ease of use. Here, a key differentiator against broadcast TV is CTV’s flexibility.

In our current 24-hour news cycle, marketers may need to pivot messaging at the drop of a hat. With user-friendly UIs, marketing teams can quickly get a new campaign up and running or adjust campaign parameters to optimise performance.

For example, in a recent Magnite case study conducted with OMD for a global fast-food brand, the brand managed to achieve its desired reach against its target audience while allowing for flexible budget allocation and making changes in real-time.

The Challenge of CTV — and the Opportunity of Programmatic

While a challenge thus far for UK digital marketers has been gaining insights into CTV engagement and performance, with advancing programmatic technology, this is changing.

User logins give publishers greater insights into households and viewers. Further, digital attribution will help identify the link between ad exposure and engagement. Real-time data and the automation of the TV and CTV workflow will allow buyers to activate, optimise, report and adjust campaigns creatives and budgets quickly.

As programmatic technology catches up to demand, brands will want CTV to become a central part of their omnichannel strategy and planning.

The Holy Grail: Cross Channel Campaign

To capture premium audiences, buyers will be looking for tools that help them buy seamlessly across all TV formats, be it streaming, live linear or some other format. Here, quality will remain top of mind — the ability to cap frequency, measure and deliver attribution across all TV types.

For brands, executing a truly omnichannel campaign can translate to higher customer acquisition, retention rates and drive purchase decisions. In fact, brands that use three or more marketing channels have experienced a 287% higher purchase rate.

A Solid Case for CTV Investment

For marketers, reaching the right audience across multiple channels with one cohesive message is the holy grail of advertising. Here, CTV presents a boon for brands looking to capture highly engaged audiences at scale across platforms.

Looking ahead, CTV will continue to be a bright spot for the ad industry, with programmatic technology making campaigns even more transparent, flexible and measurable.