For retailers, customer data is driving CTV campaigns

“Performance TV at large borrows the best from both worlds when it comes to TV,”  said Oliver Embry, director of product innovation at MNTN. “It’s a high-value medium where you’re able to tell really engaging stories and create engaging messaging for the customer on that large screen while at the same time being able to measure and have the attribution of some of the other more lower-funnel performance channels.”

In 2022 and going into 2023, retailers are launching captivating TV ads targeting customers most likely to convert. Not only are marketers better able to track ad effectiveness and return on ad spend, but learnings from CTV can be applied across retailers’ marketing mix.

How CTV fits into retailers’ performance marketing strategy

Audiences use more streaming services than ever and are more receptive to ads when engaging with streaming content.

For instance, 80% of CTV viewers are more likely to pay attention to ads from brands that align with their lifestyles and opinions, according to research from Magnite. This finding is echoed in research from Hub Entertainment, which reports that 60% of viewers said they prefer shows with ads customized to them. 

“Relative to other channels like social or paid search, the CTV consumer is choosing and opting into that content — they’re choosing to tune into their favorite show or their favorite channel,” Embry added. “And what that does is it actually creates a more engaged customer when it comes to the view-through and attribution of some of those ads.”

In response to these shifts in consumer behavior and preferences — just 21% of CTV users report that they are likely to pay attention to video ads on social media, according to Magnite — more brands and retailers are placing more emphasis on CTV ad spend. 

According to research by MNTN and Digiday, 41% of brands that reallocated ad dollars to support their CTV strategies did so from social media budgets. CTV also brings together professionally produced video content with a level of personalization that resonates with audiences. More than half of Gen Z viewers (54%) enjoy watching ads on CTV, especially when targeted and based on their interests, according to ClickZ.

Similar to social and search, CTV is a performance marketing channel that allows retailers to use segmented audiences and measure campaign effectiveness with extensive reporting. However, CTV goes further by combining those targeting and measurement capabilities with television’s high-impact storytelling, creating a “best of both worlds” ad platform. 

Retailers are leveraging CTV’s nimbleness for insights

With CRM capabilities and integrations, brands and retailers can use customer data to inform CTV campaigns. They can also use CTV learnings to inform other cross-channel efforts.

“We can ingest your company’s CRM and email database in a hashed environment from a privacy standpoint,” Embry explained. “So we will match email addresses to household IPs that are associated with a connected TV device, and we can set up a campaign that way.”

Through CTV, retailers can target loyal customers who may be on the repurchasing path. CTV also allows these shoppers to be segmented and excluded from prospecting campaigns to avoid duplicating efforts. 

“Anything that you can measure based on an action that a customer can take on a site, we can build a campaign around it, which is really powerful and impactful,” said Embry. “I think it allows us to also be able to compare our connected TV platform and the other performance platforms much more apples to apples. In the linear world, it used to be a lot more apples to oranges in terms of impact and measurement.”

CTV creative is also deployed for abandoned cart strategies, targeting customers more likely to convert, or efficient A/B testing, allowing advertisers to refocus campaigns to reach the most receptive audiences.

CTV’s nimbleness is also complementary to retail’s seasonality, making it a more cost-effective channel than linear TV. As the channel evolves, creative is more easily swapped or refreshed to reflect key shopping events, inventory changes or more. With campaigns being deployed in just days versus weeks days — including creative, audience segmentation and budgets — CTV quickly reacts to changes in the retail environment.

“Let’s take the holiday season: Black Friday is very different than Cyber Monday; that’s very different than when your shipping window ends,” Embry said. “Connected TV and performance TV is a living, breathing medium that is highly nimble and can adjust to the moments that matter to you and the moments that matter to your customers.” 

Sponsored by: MNTN