3 CTV and OTT Takeaways from The Digital Dealer Conference
Author: Peter Jones, Sr. Director, Strategic Partners at Premion, TEGNA
Last month, I spoke at the 2019 Digital Dealer Conference to share insights on the burgeoning opportunities for automotive dealers to capture the attention of the rapidly rising Connected TV (CTV) and OTT audiences.
With eMarketer forecasting more than 205 million OTT viewers this year and 6 people cutting the cord every minute, OTT has now reached a scale big enough to attract serious attention from advertisers. Amid this rapid audience growth and fragmentation of the streaming TV space, it’s becoming more complex and confusing for advertisers to know what they’re really getting when they advertise, and the differences in solutions among video content providers.
Here are key takeaways from the panel:
Pick the right attribution model for your business: Automotive advertisers have been early adopters in experimenting in CTV advertising. Today, with advancements in CTV/OTT attribution capabilities, we’re able to prove the effectiveness of campaign performance and drive measurable business outcomes. For an auto dealer, that means measuring if a viewer goes to the website to schedule a test drive, or if they physically show up to the dealership and to purchase a car. It’s important to pick the right attribution model for your business, whether its website or footfall traffic. For instance, footfall traffic expectations for a car dealership in Laredo, Texas will be vastly different than that of Dallas.
Rise above the noise in 2020: With political advertising spending projected to set new records in 2020, political candidates are devouring up significant ad inventory and driving up prices. So how can auto dealers and brands rise up above the noise? You’ll want to have guarantees that your campaign will run. Choose a provider that directly sources inventory and ask whether they can offer preferred placement within custom geographies and verification of that delivery. Furthermore, to deliver a personalized ad experience, make sure to leverage dynamic ad insertion in CTV to drive the best performance and increase engagement with your ad campaigns.
Open exchange risks are high: It’s important to understand the structural differences in media buying models and inventory quality offered. Open exchange platforms that offer lower CPMs present greater fraud risks due to unknown sources of content and blind bidding. Working with a provider that’s focused on directly sourced inventory with upfront and secured deals in quality premium content in a brand-safe and fraud-free environment is your best bet — for the most effective ROI on ad spend. What will happen in 2020? The increased risk, more competition, higher bids for the same or lower quality inventory. It will all be unknown.
Clearly, the scale and pure growth of CTV/OTT presents significant opportunities for automotive dealers of all sizes across the nation. Don’t get left behind. Let’s have a conversation!
