Why Advertisers Need CTV Aggregators in 2024

Author: Dave Marquard, Head of Product, Premion.

Streaming TV advertising has emerged as a powerful full-funnel advertising medium, with BIA forecasting that CTV/OTT will be the fastest-growing media channel this year, with an increase of 39.5% over 2023. Additionally, Insider Intelligence projects a remarkable growth in U.S. CTV advertising revenues, soaring from $25.09 billion in 2023 to $40.90 billion by 2027.

Simultaneously, the proliferation of ad-supported streaming services and free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channels is expanding media buying choices. Virtually every streaming provider has introduced an ad-supported streaming option offering advertisers increased access to CTV inventory. However, this expansion brings increased complexity and fragmentation for advertisers in navigating an evolving CTV landscape. Consequently, marketers may resort to disparate buys across multiple publishers and walled gardens to achieve the necessary scale and reach.

Consider these five reasons why advertisers should collaborate with aggregators for a comprehensive and effective CTV advertising strategy:

Achieve Effective Scale and Reach: Advertisersneed scale to target effectively and leverage attribution solutions — and the most powerful reach in streaming comes through aggregation. Working with aggregators, advertisers can overcome limitations in reach and scale, gaining access to additional layers of sophisticated targeting and attribution capabilities. For instance, aggregators enable advertisers to achieve precision targeting by interests, behaviors, or specific content, ensuring they can reach relevant local audiences regardless of where the ad is delivered. Moreover, with the availability of attribution tools, advertisers can directly link CTV viewership to critical business outcomes.

Ensure Campaign Frequency Management: Advertisers need to consider the importance of effective frequency management, as when viewers are repeatedly exposed to the same ad, it can result in a suboptimal ad experience. Precision ad delivery and maintaining an ideal frequency fosters brand familiarity while reducing the likelihood of decreased engagement. Aggregators can track ad delivery at the household level for every impression across streaming platforms. This capability is invaluable for advertisers for minimizing consumer ad fatigue and preventing wasted media spending.

Access Holistic Measurement & Reporting: Beyond the issue of subscriber reach limitations and cross-platform frequency management, campaign measurement and reporting can be challenging with disparate buys. The process can be cumbersome and time consuming with a siloed approach for tracking campaign performance across publishers and walled gardens. Aggregators can ensure uniform measurement, delivering clear insights into campaign performance and optimization possibilities — all with a singular report.

Moreover, advertisers may include a mix of linear TV and CTV as part of an integrated media plan. Aggregators can measure the entire CTV campaign and accurately determine the reach against linear TV viewers, cord-stackers and cord-cutters and cord-nevers — proving the incrementality and value driven by each element of the plan.

Reach Viewers Behind Walled Gardens – According to TVision, the average home uses about seven streaming apps — and more than 25% of households use ten or more streaming apps. With audiences consuming content across many streaming services, advertisers should not just advertise on one or two platforms, as their reach will be limited. Partnering with an aggregator is the optimal approach to reach audiences at scale seamlessly across the myriad of streaming services.

A Strategic Buying Approach Amid Rising Churn: Consumers are not loyal to a single streaming platform; rather they follow wherever the must-watch content is. Viewers might subscribe to catch the latest seasons of their favorite shows and then cancel once they’re done. Again, this underscores why advertisers shouldn’t confine themselves to just one or two walled gardens. Working with an aggregator is the smart approach to access the depth and breadth of platforms, allowing advertisers to follow audiences as they bounce back and forth and churn through subscriptions.

By working with trusted premium aggregators that have curated many direct connections to premium inventory within brand-safe content, advertisers can simplify their media buying and ensure their campaigns achieve reach and scale — with one simple buy, one comprehensive campaign and one unified report.

For more insights on the power of aggregation, let’s have a conversation.

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