Last week, FPW Director of Client Strategy Joe Liebersbach attended Adweek’s Convergent TV event in New York City. The event offered a chance to learn about the latest trends and developments in CTV advertising from industry experts. As connected TV ads become more popular, and technology further expands the creative and analytic possibilities of CTV ads, brands cannot afford to overlook this form of advertising. After a jam-packed two days of listening to incredible speakers from agencies and media companies, here are Joe’s top takeaways from the event.
- Advertising Provides a Service
When creating content for a CTV ad, marketers need to remember that these ads represent an exchange between the viewer and the advertiser. Viewers choose to give their attention to an ad with the expectation of receiving something in return. Thus, to be responsible stewards of our ad time, advertisers need to ensure ads provide a service to the consumer– as entertainment, education, or both. Without providing this value, customers will feel they’ve invested their attention poorly and will be less likely to engage with future advertisements from your brand.
- CTV Ads Boost Brand Legitimacy
Consumers recognize the novelty and innovation of CTV ads. This new form of advertising offers methods of communicating with consumers that were previously unavailable. Because of this, brands that utilize CTV advertising in their marketing strategy are more likely to be seen as forward-thinking and knowledgeable by consumers. Using new advertising technology shows that a brand is confident enough in its products or services that it is willing to try new tactics to engage its audience. If a brand relies solely on standard advertising practices, it could be seen as outdated or uninformed. CTV ads help legitimize a brand because it shows that the brand understands its audience well enough to know HOW and WHERE to communicate with them.
- Trust and Loyalty Are Advertising MVPs
When it comes to creating truly successful ads, brands have to prioritize the consumer. This means developing authentic, honest messages that honor consumer privacy. Audiences will not trust a brand that doesn’t respect their right to privacy. This means advertisers need to ensure they are thoughtful about the type of content they use in their communications and the placement of that content. Retargeting efforts can be incredibly useful but can quickly reach a point of diminishing return if consumers feel like the ads are “creepy” in their pervasiveness or rapid placement following a keyword search.
- Large-Scale Trends are Just as Important as Detailed Data
As marketers, it’s easy to fall into the rabbit hole of analytics. As new technology makes finding detailed information about reach, engagement, and conversions easier, it’s important to remember to look at the big picture as well. Analytics can be useful in fine-tuning a campaign to determine its placement, creative assets, or CTA. However, large-scale trends are also important in ensuring your communications are relevant, timely, and valuable to your audience. Marketers need to be aware of macro as well as micro-level trends to make their campaigns as impactful as possible. Using cultural insights as well as detailed analytics data together will help you optimize campaigns for the highest levels of engagement.
The Adweek Convergent TV event provided a wealth of information on how marketers can adapt and thrive in the changing media landscape. Our team is excited to use the insights Joe gained at this event to help our clients take advantage of CTV advertising opportunities. If you are interested in exploring what CTV ads could look like for your business, contact us today!
