How Small and Medium Businesses are Embracing Access to CTV Advertising

Author: Heather Tatarsky, Director of Product Marketing, Premion.

While big-budget national advertisers led the charge in embracing Connected TV (CTV) advertising, the landscape has evolved significantly. The expansion of ad-supported streaming platforms, including Free Ad-Supported Television (FAST) services, along with the availability of sophisticated audience targeting and advanced measurement capabilities, has leveled the playing field. Thus, we’re witnessing local small and medium businesses (SMBs) seizing the growing opportunities with democratized access to premium CTV inventory now available to marketers of varying budgets.

Today, CTV has become an essential channel for marketers of all sizes to achieve their full-funnel brand goals. Our 2023 CTV/OTT Advertiser Study found that two out of three advertisers using CTV/OTT planned to increase their spending this year, and 38% ranked achieving brand awareness and performance marketing goals among CTV’s top benefits. 

Given that local advertisers have smaller budgets, they’re laser-focused on ensuring that their ad dollars work harder and smarter. Yet, they’re seeking the same tools and quality inventory as national advertisers. They’re focused on driving outcomes, with closed-loop attribution and driving sales conversions topping their list of priorities — and these tools are now readily available locally. CTV advertisers can delve deeply into measuring outcomes, from website visits to connecting CTV viewership with sales through attribution, truly understanding the ROI of each impression in their campaign.

Here’s how three local SMB advertisers are harnessing CTV advertising to achieve their brand awareness and sales goals:

Promotion of Convenience Store Grand Opening

In today’s fast-paced world, local convenience stores serve as essential hubs for gas, breakfast items, drinks, snacks, and more. A growing family-owned convenience store chain with 70 locations across 5 states aimed to promote the grand opening of two new stores to nearby consumers. Premion orchestrated a highly effective grand opening strategy that comprised precision geographic radius targeting and creative messaging, immediately boosting foot traffic and driving measurable sales results for three promotional items: +930% for $1 Smoothies, +77% for Pizza Buy One Get One Free, +69% for chicken tender & fries combination. This success, driven by our CTV campaign, not only witnessed immediate in-store impacts but also sustained increased sales in the subsequent week, indicating a lasting shift in consumer behavior. The overwhelming response even prompted adjustments to future grand opening promotions to align with staffing levels.  

Driving Ticket Sales for Local Performing Arts Theater

Bringing theater lovers back to live performances is crucial for post-pandemic success at any multi-use performing arts venue. A historic theater aimed to boost full-season Broadway subscription sales within a tight sales window before releasing single tickets. Premion executed a CTV campaign, featuring precise audience targeting, DMA-level focus, website attribution measurement, and dynamic creative with QR code integration, targeting Broadway enthusiasts effectively. The result: full-season subscription sales with tangible, measurable outcomes.

The advertiser was thrilled with the sales outcomes, achieving a 100% sellout of subscriptions, along with 502 website visits (within 7 days of the campaign), indicating that the targeting reached highly qualified audiences. Furthermore, the campaign’s success was notably propelled by carousel-style dynamic creative, a key consideration for future campaigns.

Driving Awareness and Recruitment for a Non-Profit Healthcare Organization

Empowering children and adults with disabilities, veterans, and older adults to integrate into our communities requires outcome-oriented services. This non-profit healthcare organization champions this cause by delivering health and wellness support across statewide affiliates. Facing critical job vacancies, our campaign focused on raising awareness, connecting with qualified candidates, and driving recruitment efforts. Utilizing precision job seeker and state-level targeting, website attribution measurement, QR Code-Enabled dynamic creative and click-to-schedule recruiter meetings, Premion’s strategy was instrumental in driving 726 website visits and 111 recruitment page visits (within 7 days of the campaign), indicating the audience was highly interested and qualified in career opportunities available. The advertiser praised our precision in employment targeting, evident in the substantial increase in website traffic, prompting a QR code redirection to streamline direct applicant-recruiter connections. This success led to an expanded partnership, encompassing addiction rehabilitation and donation solicitation campaigns.

SMBs need a trusted and cost-effective streaming TV advertising partner that can execute locally in reaching the right consumers at the household-level, track conversions, and reduce wasted impressions. Premion is a proven partner that understands unique local characteristics, viewer trends, and the power of local relevance that drives outcomes — and we’ve successfully executed a multitude of campaigns for hundreds of SMBs nationwide.

For more CTV advertising insights for local SMBs, let’s have a conversion.

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