The migration of viewers from linear TV to connected TV (CTV) and streaming video has accelerated massive changes at agencies, for both traditional TV teams and digital media teams. Faced with negotiating ownership of CTV as well as identifying how to improve cross-screen attribution, many have begun the complex process of converging traditional and digital teams. On top of that, the pandemic further required agencies to find ways to do more with shifting budgets and nimble teams.
Meanwhile, CTV continues to grow quickly with brands eager to incorporate Connected TV reach into their media plans. Agencies need partners who can provide the right support to help navigate the new CTV environment, overcome challenges, and evolve alongside their business. In evaluating supply partners to build and execute your CTV strategies, flexibility must be at the top of your list.
What does a flexible supply partner look like for your agency?
- The right partners offer a variety of models to address changing agency needs.
Some partners offer self-service or programmatic solutions, others offer turnkey managed service solutions for CTV. A flexible partner is willing to suggest the correct model for your current agency dynamics and chart a path towards where you want to go in the future. Client dynamics and campaign complexity also play a role determining the right service model for your agency. - The right partners offer a variety of tactics for executing addressable CTV buys.
One of the key benefits of CTV is the ability to address specific audiences. A flexible partner can offer multiple paths to reach your audience in CTV and to succeed in the current environment. For example, depending on your target audience and campaign goals, they could help you reach your desired audience through contextual data (e.g. advertising a new snack item on a cooking CTV program), third-party data strategies (e.g. using a data segment of grocery shopper decision makers), or even first-party data. - The right partners offer a variety of attribution solutions to measure success against different KPIs.
Some brands need foot traffic, others need sales from their online stores, some needed to pivot during the pandemic from foot traffic to online sales and back to foot traffic. Having a variety of attribution solutions ensures that you can flexibly measure results as your clients’ KPIs change. CTV metrics can be divided into two categories: campaign health and performance. Campaign health metrics can be as simple as delivery, a list of publishers, and completion rate (VCR). Performance metrics are unique to every campaign and can include brand lift, increases in branded organic search during and after a CTV campaign, and conversions.
While it’s an exciting opportunity for advertisers, CTV is complex and it’s not uncommon for new buyers to come across challenges in achieving sufficient reach and scale, maintaining frequency, ensuring brand safety and audience quality, and receiving transparent insights into publishers’ inventory. Look to partners that will help you solve these challenges regardless of your preferred buy path solution.
Your partners should add value to your business and help you remove complexity in the buying process. By prioritizing the need for flexibility, you can build stronger relationships with trusted supply partners that will help you keep pace with the evolving CTV landscape.
Interested in learning more? Download CTV is For Everyone: A Buyer’s Guide to CTV and take the SpotX University CTV Buyers Course.
Josh Erhardt, Director of Demand Facilitation at SpotX