Use OTT Media To Reduce TV Advertising Cost
Want to Reduce TV Advertising Cost? Use an OTT Media Buy to Specifically Target Your Audience.
Thanks to so many people “cutting the cord” of their cable TV service, there’s a new way for marketers to reduce TV advertising cost.
It’s called OTT, or Over The Top media.
What makes it different? Well, in the past, television has been a “broadcast medium.” TV networks and cable companies broadcast the same signals into everyone’s homes, and advertisers ran commercials on whatever shows or channels they thought customers would watch. Audiences were big and broad, and expensive.
That was before OTT.
With an OTT media buy, you can target TV advertising more specifically, and only pay to reach the people you want to reach.
It works more like digital marketing.
What Is OTT Media?
Basically, it’s an Internet-based system for serving up advertising. It works over streaming TV services like Hulu, Amazon, Netflix, Sling TV and YouTube.
Let’s say you want to watch a video, a sports event or a show. You log on to your streaming service, on a smart TV, a computer, or your phone.
When you log in, you click on a profile. That enables the streaming service to recognize specific users.
By knowing who’s watching, they can recommend content—your favorite shows, or sports teams.
But there’s another benefit to that profile. It also enables the streaming service to target advertising messages. So, instead of random advertising, you’ll see messages that are more relevant to you.
Your neighbor could be watching the same show, but seeing different ad messages than you.
Reduce TV Advertising Cost
Because of this hyper targeting, media buys are more efficient. You’re advertising to a smaller, more focused audience, and paying less.
You can also focus messages more specifically. So instead of a one-commercial-fits-all approach, you can tailor messages to a more specific audience
Here’s an Example
We recently produced a TV campaign for Yancey Brothers, Atlanta’s oldest and largest CAT dealer. They sell and rent all types of construction equipment, including bulldozers, wheel loaders, skid steers, excavators, and more.
Here’s the problem: they need mechanics. Heavy equipment mechanics are hard to find.
Instead of one commercial, we created multiple spots, each one targeted to a specific group—seasoned professionals, ex-military technicians, recent high school graduates, etc.
With the hyper targeting functionality of OTT media, messages can be tailored to each audience, which increases engagement and response rates.
Thank you to Greg Dewalt at Yancey Brothers and to my friends at Propellant Media for the commercial project.
If you’d like to know more about OTT media and reducing TV advertising cost, Propellant Media is the place to find out.
About the Author:
Harry Hayes is the owner and executive producer at Content Puppy Productions, a corporate video production agency based in Charlotte. Before starting Content Puppy, he spent 20+ years as an advertising writer and creative director.
