In today’s digital age, businesses are constantly seeking innovative ways to reach their target audience. One method that’s gaining significant traction is O-T-T (Over-The-Top) advertising. Let’s dive into how this powerful tool can help grow your business.

What Is O-T-T Advertising?

OTT advertising refers to promotional content delivered directly to viewers via streaming video services or devices, bypassing traditional cable, broadcast, and satellite television platforms. This includes ads shown on streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, and other streaming platforms that deliver content directly over the internet. According to WebFX, “With OTT advertising, you can promote your products and services to your target audience who watches content over the Internet instead of satellite or cable TV.”

The term “Over-The-Top” comes from the ability of these services to go “over” the traditional media distribution channels and “bypass TV providers. OTT services don’t need to worry about things like a broadcast schedule or geographic limitations. Viewers can access their content at any time of the day or night,” emphasizes this Forbes article. OTT advertising is part of a larger shift in media consumption, where viewers are moving away from traditional TV and towards on-demand, internet-delivered content.

How Does O-T-T Advertising Work?

OTT advertising works by inserting targeted ads into streaming content. Unlike traditional TV advertising, OTT platforms can use data about viewers’ preferences, behaviors, and demographics to deliver highly targeted ads. This means your ads are more likely to reach the right audience at the right time.

Here’s a more detailed look at the process:

1. Ad Inventory: Streaming platforms, such as Netflix, Hulu, and Peacock, offer ad space within their content, similar to commercial breaks in traditional TV.
2. Data Collection: OTT platforms collect data on viewers’ watching habits, preferences, and often demographic information. You or your agency can review this information to ensure you place ads where your target audience is watching.
3. Targeting: Advertisers use this data to target specific audience segments. One benefit of O-T-T is that you can get ultra-specific with your target audience, which isn’t possible with Broadcast TV advertising.
4. Ad Serving: When a viewer watches content, the OTT platform’s ad server determines which ad to show based on the viewer’s profile and your targeting criteria.
5. Delivery: The ad is then seamlessly inserted into the content stream.
6. Measurement: The platform tracks various metrics about the ad’s performance.

Unlike traditional TV advertising, OTT platforms can use data about viewers’ preferences, behaviors, and demographics to deliver highly targeted ads. This means your ads are more likely to reach the right audience at the right time, increasing the efficiency of your ad spend.

Nail Down Your Target Audience

One of the biggest benefits and advantages of OTT advertising is its precise targeting capabilities. You can target viewers based on a wide range of factors, including:

• Demographics: Age, gender, income level, education, occupation
• Geographic location: Country, state, city, or even zip code
• Viewing habits: Types of shows watched, time of day, frequency of viewing
• Device types: Smart TVs, mobile devices, gaming consoles, etc.
• Purchase history: What goods and services the viewer purchased
• Interests and behaviors: Based on viewing history and other online activities
• Life events: Recently moved, got married, had a child, etc.

Defining and understanding your target audience can help your business create more effective and relevant campaigns that resonate with potential customers. This level of targeting allows for much more efficient ad spend than traditional broadcast advertising.

To nail down your target audience:

1. Analyze your current customer base
2. Conduct market research
3. Create detailed buyer personas
4. Use A/B testing to refine your audience segments

Remember, the more specific you can be with your targeting, the more effective your OTT advertising campaigns will be.

Get In Front of a New Audience

OTT advertising allows you to reach cord-cutters and cord-nevers – people who don’t subscribe to traditional cable or satellite TV services. This growing segment of the population is often younger and more tech-savvy, representing a valuable market for many businesses.

According to a Pew Research Study in 2017, “About six-in-ten of those ages 18 to 29 (61%) say the primary way they watch television now is with streaming services on the internet, compared with 31% who say they mostly watch via a cable or satellite subscription.” 

A more recent Pew Research Study, conducted in 2021, states, “The share of Americans who say they watch television via cable or satellite has plunged from 76% in 2015 to 56% [in 2021]… Some 71% of those who do not use cable or satellite services say it’s because they can access the content they want online, while 69% say the cost of cable and satellite services is too high..” These statistics show a huge opportunity for businesses to reach audiences through O-T-T, as these audiences are increasingly difficult to target through traditional advertising channels.

Moreover, OTT advertising can help you:

• Reach viewers during prime time without the high costs associated with traditional TV advertising
• Target niche audiences that traditional media might underserve
• Engage with viewers who are more receptive to advertising, as they often choose ad-supported content to save money

By leveraging OTT advertising, you can expand your reach and introduce your brand to entirely new segments of potential customers.

Get Personal

Personalization is key in modern advertising, and OTT excels in this area. With access to viewer data, you can create and implement personalized ad experiences that resonate with your audience on a deeper level.

Here are some ways to leverage personalization in OTT advertising:

1. Customized ad content: Create different versions of your ad to appeal to different audience segments. For example, a car manufacturer might show ads featuring SUVs to families and sports cars to younger viewers.
2. Dynamic ad insertion: This technology allows you to change the ad shown based on who’s watching, even if they’re streaming the same content.
3. Interactive ads: Engage viewers directly with interactive elements. For instance, a viewer could use their remote to explore different product features or even make a purchase directly through the ad.
4. Sequential storytelling: Tell a story across multiple ad exposures, each building on the previous one based on the viewer’s engagement.
5. Contextual relevance: Show ads that are relevant to the content being watched. For example, advertising cooking products during a cooking show.

Personalized ads tend to perform better, leading to higher engagement and conversion rates. According to a study by Innovid, personalized video ads drive a higher click-through rate than non-personalized ads. “When compared to standard pre-roll, interactive CTV video formats, inclusive of choice- and non-choice-based ads, also generate more than 600% lift in engagement,” Innovid states.

Measure, Measure, Measure

One of the most powerful aspects of OTT advertising is its measurability. Unlike traditional TV advertising, OTT platforms provide detailed analytics on your ad performance. According to Amazon, “Streaming TV measurement is more comprehensive, and advertisers can leverage audience insights to understand the audiences their campaigns reach. Some useful metrics to measure campaigns are brand reach, brand lift, and offline lift.” The accessibility of these metrics allows for data-driven decision-making, allowing you to optimize your campaigns continuously.

Key metrics you can track include:

1. View-through rates: The percentage of viewers who watched your entire ad.
2. Completion rates: Similar to view-through rates, but can also show at what point viewers stop watching.
3. Click-through rates: For interactive ads, this shows how many viewers engaged with your ad.
4. Conversion rates: Track how many viewers took a desired action after seeing your ad.
5. Frequency: How often a unique viewer sees your ad.
6. Reach: The number of unique users or viewers who saw your ad.
7. Brand lift: Measurement of the increase in brand awareness or favorability after ad exposure.
8. Audience insights: Detailed breakdowns of who is watching and engaging with your ads.

To make the most of these metrics:

• Set clear KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) before launching your campaign
• Use A/B testing to compare different ad creatives or targeting strategies
• Review your analytics often and adjust your strategy based on the results
• Compare your OTT advertising performance with other marketing channels

This data allows you to refine your strategy, optimize your ad spend, and demonstrate clear ROI to stakeholders.

Expand Your Reach, Rinse, & Repeat

As you gather data and refine your OTT advertising strategy, you can expand your reach. This might involve:

1. Testing different ad formats (e.g., pre-roll, mid-roll, interactive)
2. Expanding to new streaming platforms
3. Adjusting your targeting parameters
4. Creating new ad content based on performance data

The key is to continually analyze your results, learn from them, and iterate on your strategy. This process of continuous improvement can help you steadily grow your business through OTT advertising.

Remember, the OTT landscape is constantly evolving, with new platforms, technologies, and viewer behaviors emerging regularly. It is important to stay updated on industry trends and be ready to adapt your strategy as the market changes.

Understanding the Limitations of OTT Advertising

While OTT advertising offers numerous benefits, it’s important to be aware of its limitations to develop a well-rounded marketing strategy:

1. Ad Blockers and Skip Features: Some viewers use ad-blocking software or quickly skip through ads when possible, potentially reducing your ad’s visibility.
2. Platform Fragmentation: The OTT landscape is fragmented across numerous platforms and devices, meaning there are many different streaming platforms and SmartTVs out there. This can make it challenging to achieve broad reach without managing multiple campaigns across different platforms. In addition, “OTT advertising is still a very fragmented territory, lacking industry-wide standards and guidelines,” Clearcode states.
3. Ad Fatigue: With highly targeted ads, there’s a risk of showing the same ad to a viewer too frequently, leading to ad fatigue and potential negative sentiment.
4. Content Restrictions: Some premium OTT services don’t allow third-party advertising, limiting your reach on these platforms.
5. Privacy Concerns: As OTT advertising relies heavily on user data, evolving privacy regulations and increasing consumer awareness about data usage could impact targeting capabilities in the future.
6. Ad Length Restrictions: Some platforms have strict ad length requirements, which limit your creative options or require you to produce different versions of your ads.

To mitigate these limitations:

• Diversify your advertising strategy across multiple channels
• Create engaging, high-quality ads that viewers are less likely to skip
• Stay informed about privacy regulations and adjust your data usage accordingly
• Monitor frequency caps to prevent ad fatigue
• Invest in robust analytics tools to improve cross-device measurement

By understanding these limitations and planning accordingly, you can maximize the effectiveness of your OTT advertising campaigns while minimizing potential drawbacks.

Wrapping Up

In conclusion, OTT advertising offers a powerful way to reach and engage your target audience in the digital age. You can create highly effective advertising campaigns that drive business growth by leveraging OTT’s targeting capabilities, personalization options, and robust analytics. As streaming services dominate today’s media landscape, OTT advertising is poised to become an increasingly important tool for businesses of all sizes.

Nowadays, many people use their internet connection to watch TV rather than a traditional cable hookup or broadcast antenna. Users of CTV devices and smart TVs need to be connected to the internet in order to use Over The Top (OTT) services, which include streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime.

It is no surprise that connected TV’s viewership is rising exponentially, which is great news for connected TV (CTV) providers such as Roku, Amazon Firestick, and Apple TV. However, July 2023 marked the viewership of linear television, which includes both broadcast and cable TV, dropping to under 50%. According to Neilson, linear TV’s viewing share dropped from 61.5% of total TV viewing in July 2021 to 56% in July 2022 to 49.6% in July 2023.

Neilson also reported that streaming had a record month in July of 2023, amassing 38.7% of all TV viewing. In addition, many streaming services, including Amazon Prime, Netflix, and YouTube, all hit record highs in overall viewership. Streaming services took the biggest piece of the TV viewership pie in July 2023, followed by cable at 29.6%, broadcast at 20%, and all other at 11.6%. As the data shows, it seems that CTV is becoming the future, while linear TV is slowly turning into our past.

Ad Spend

With streaming viewership up so high, more and more businesses have been buying ad space on streaming services, such as Hulu and YouTube. The money follows the viewers, which is why CTV ad spend is up by almost 400% since 2019, per Insider Intelligence. According to Alexandra Samet of Insider Intelligence, CTV ad spend in 2024 will increase by $13 billion from early 2020.

Advertisers are relocating their advertising budget from linear TV ads to CTV ads. In Samet’s article, Insider Intelligence predicts linear TV ad spend to decrease “$61.31 billion this year to $56.83 billion in 2027,” while their forecast shows an increase in CTV ad spend “from $25.09 billion in 2023 to $40.90 billion in 2027.” Based on the ad spend trajectory of Insider Intelligence’s forecast, CTV ad spend will surpass linear ad spend within the next decade.

Is Linear TV Dead?

Although we are no longer in the record-breaking days of linear TV, cable and broadcast TV are still very much alive. While CTV is growing like cable once did, the 2023 linear TV ad spend is forecasted to be two and a half times the 2023 ad spend of CTV.

It is important to test the waters during these periods of change, such as the one we are experiencing in TV viewership now, so don’t immediately jump off the linear TV ship quite yet. With linear TV, you have local targeting capabilities that will allow you to reach a large audience in your desired location. If your target audience consists of the traditional middle to upper-class adult who is either an older millennial, a member of Gen X, or older, linear TV ads are probably the way to go for you.

The Fight for Football

For the first time in history, a streaming service secured nearly exclusive rights to Thursday Night Football. According to Front Office Sports, Amazon Prime made an 11-year deal for $11 billion starting in 2022. However, real-time viewership numbers on Prime for Thursday Night Football (TNF) did not meet expectations. Amazon’s internal analytics showed an average audience of 11.3 million, while Neilson’s third-party analytics showed an average audience of 9.6 million.

Neilson’s numbers are the industry standard as a third-party entity because of the company’s credibility in media analytics. According to Front Office Sports, the 9.6 million average viewership in 2022 shows a 28% decrease in overall viewership of TNF from 2021’s average viewership of 13.4 million viewers. Although these are decent numbers for the first year of airing, the numbers did not live up to Amazon’s projections, leading them to do some damage control.

Amazon worked to compensate advertising clients for the lack of overall viewership. Front Office Sports reports that damage control “included giving clients inventory on Prime Video streams and other Amazon-owned platforms.” However, Prime was able to provide clients with a younger audience with a median age of 47. According to another Front Office Sports article, that is seven years younger than the median age of 54 on linear avenues.

The Sacrifices for Younger Audiences

Even though the 2022 TNF viewership was down 28%, advertisers are returning in 2023 for the younger audience Amazon Prime attracts. According to Front Office Sports, “Amazon’s average viewership among viewers aged 18-34 [being] 2.11 million” in 2022. Advertisers loved that 22% of their audience was in this age range in 2022. The number of viewers in the 18-34 age group was also up 11% from 2021. In addition, the average viewing time of TNF during the 2022 season was 85 minutes, up 9 minutes from the average viewing time of 76 minutes in 2021.

Thursday Night Football is not the only thing attracting younger viewers. According to Enterprise Apps Today, 31% of daily streaming service users are in the 18-34 age category, which is the category many advertisers are after. Advertisers are putting their money where the quality of users is rather than the quantity. They want to reach an audience in a younger age category, with higher annual incomes, and longer watch time. Even if there are fewer viewers where they can reach these categories, they will likely profit more from a smaller audience of target customers rather than a larger audience outside of their target market.

The Writer’s Strike

There are numerous factors that affect linear and connected TV usership. One of these factors is the writers’ strike, with the viewership of streaming services surpassing the viewership of linear TV in July amidst the Writer’s Guild strike. Though the strike officially ended on September 27, per Vox, the lack of new TV content may have caused TV loyalists to switch from cable to streaming.

Without the presence of late-night shows such as The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Saturday Night Live, The Late Late Show with James Corden, or Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, people moved to where the content was: streaming services. The 148-day writer’s strike, the second longest in history, may have hurt linear TV more than they realize.

Play the Field

Nonetheless, the world of both CTV and linear is volatile. Although statistics show that CTV took over linear TV in July of 2023, it is still a close race between them. With many companies collapsing their advertising budgets, now is the time to gain market share on both CTV and linear.

When you advertise on Over-The-Top (O-T-T) media, which is what is usually shown on CTV, you can track the IP address of the device your advertisement is run on to see if they completed the call to action or going to your website and possibly purchasing your product or service. With OTT advertising, you can track all that information to view and analyze your ad’s performance.

Although advertising on traditional television broadcast channels is old-school, you can still track the ad by using a tracking number. Then, you can review your analytics to see which gives you the best results.

In times as unpredictable as today, play the field before fully dismissing a valid advertising option. By taking advantage of the open market share on both CTV and linear TV advertising, your commercial could edge out your competitors, exponentially increasing your profit.

I have “television” in quotes because it’s bifurcated into several mediums of distribution, and it continues to change.  Here’s what you should know:

• BROADCAST DOWN TO 20%:  That’s right, your almighty over-the-air stations are now only accounting for 20% of the daily video views.  That’s why you’re seeing your grocery stores advertising on the billboards along the freeways.  They are not hitting 80% of the population on TV anymore.
• CABLE IS DOWN TO 29.6%:  The cable cutting continues coast to coast as more and more people are relying on streaming services.
• “CONNECTED TV” NOW ACCOUNTS FOR OVER 50% OF VIEWING:  This includes the top streaming services:  YouTube, Netflix and Hulu.  
• HOW TO ADVERTISE ON “CONNECTED TV”:  We reach these people via O-T-T (Over the Top), which is content that can be streamed over the internet instead of cable or broadcast. This allows us to geo-target as well as tightly demo target.  Very efficient.

All of these platforms work well as long as you are paying a fair price for them.  Negotiation is the key today.  There’s too much data to crunch to buy blindly.

Onward and upward!

MORE INFO: https://ottaway.net/blog/8-benefits-of-partnering-with-a-media-buying-agency/

Traditional media has transitioned from being the only main form of media people consume to sharing that spotlight with digital media. Just as the rise of the digital age has changed the way the world operates, it has changed the way traditional media works in terms of advertising and is optimized. Traditional media is not only alive and well, but it is also essential to use for your advertising plan. Here are the four main reasons why traditional media is important, even in 2023:

1) Traditional Media Taps into Unexpected Markets

Traditional media refers to television, radio, or print, all of which have a particularly widespread audience. While digital advertising can pinpoint specific target audiences, you may be missing an untapped, unexpected audience you could be marketing to. Enter traditional media.

Different types of traditional media, such as billboards, radio stations, and print advertising, can reach anyone. When you do marketing and advertising in the traditional media landscape, you are reaching whoever picks up the newspaper, drives by your billboard, or turns on the radio. 

When it comes to traditional media vs. digital media, the widespread reach that print, television, and radio media have can launch your product or service into a new audience you would have never expected.

2) Traditional Media Channels are Well-Established and Credible

When looking for a trusted source, people almost always look for big news outlets like the Washington Post and the New York Times. These media outlets have been around for so long and provide reliable information to the country and sometimes even the world again and again. 

People are prone to commit to brands, and in this case, these media outlets are the brands that are widely trusted due to their expertise, experience, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. Putting an ad on one of these trusted radio or tv stations or even in a magazine or newsprint can increase your credibility because you were given the spot on this media outlet that is highly coveted.

3) Increased Brand Awareness

Every advertising and marketing agency will hammer home the importance of one’s brand identity and brand awareness. However, in today’s digital climate, the use of traditional media to increase brand awareness is often overlooked by most small businesses.

Traditional media includes radio ads, tv commercials, and print media. There are countless jingles from radio ads and characters from TV commercials that are played so often they get stuck in our heads. Whether it’s “Flo” from Progressive, Jake from State Farm, or a slogan like “Red Robin, YUM”, we associate the brand with its identity, which is created by the messaging you put out.

There is also something to be said about having something tangible to promote brand recognition. This is why print media works because you see the branding on something you can physically hold, which will make people recognize it over time. Direct mail can also be easier to understand and comprehend than an online ad that’s competing for your attention with everything else on your screen.

4) Locality and Community

While advertising with traditional media can be effective for most companies, it can be especially advantageous for local businesses. Although digital media advertising allows you to specifically choose which audience you target to a degree, traditional media can reach everyone in a specific location.

Local radio and TV news stations can not only reach your target area but also are credible sources due to the fact that they are trusted entertainment and news sources that people have grown to love and appreciate. With local TV ads, local radio ads, direct mail, and even billboards and other large-scale media, you are making your presence known locally in a cost-effective way.

More often than not, it’s how you make other people feel and the relationships you build that sell your product or service, not your sales pitch. With local ads on local TV and radio stations and in local newspapers, you are building your relationship with your local community.

Final Thoughts

Advertising your business is rarely an overnight success, especially when you are just starting out. Even when success from advertising seems to be overnight, there is usually a lot of time, effort, and trust building that happens beforehand.

When it comes to advertising, it’s essential to not only grab your audience’s attention as quickly as possible but also make them remember the information in your ad. If done right, traditional media advertising has the power to do exactly that.

If all business owners have one thing in common, it would be their constantly busy schedules. When you own a business, there is always something to do. Whether handling financials, day-to-day operations, pitching new clients, or hiring more people, there always seems to be something more pressing than media buying; yet, that is precisely why media-buying agencies exist: to make the process hands-free and stress-free for you.

What is Media Buying?

When you think of media buying within a marketing agency, there is probably a lot of different terminology coming up in your research. Terms like digital marketing, search engine optimization, social media marketing, and pay per click ads are probably circling your mind, or at least your Google search history.

Let us make it easy for you: none of those terms have to do with traditional media buying. While all types of advertising interact and impact each other, there is a clear difference between digital and traditional media buys.

Traditional media includes the myriad of mediums that emerged before Google and social media took over the world as the Millenial and Gen Z generations emerged into adulthood. Radio, newspapers, magazines, billboards, and prime-time TV ads are the five main categories in which media buys also occur.

Why is media buying effective? To summarize, traditional media has a mass audience reach that digital may not. Therefore, buying ad space in conventional media increases your business’s reach, which will ideally bring you increased leads for your services.

Why Use a Media Buying Agency?

Many people think that media buying is something quick they can pick up to grow their business exponentially. Still, to many business owners’ dismay, media buying is no easy feat. As Tom Hanks said, “If it were easy, everyone would be doing it.”

According to Marketing Charts, over 45% of companies outsource media buying to experts. In addition, as of 2020, 46% of companies have outsourced both programmatic media and creative development services. Here are seven reasons why nearly half of US businesses outsource to media buying agencies.

1) It Saves You Time

Simply put: time is money. This arguably overused common phrase can not ring more true in this scenario. Time spent learning about media strategies and figuring out how to properly buy media in an effective way is time away from doing what you do best: making money.

Whether it’s signing new clients, closing deals, or networking with potential new clients and business partners, there is a variety of other things you could be doing that will make you and your business money much faster than trying to become a media buying expert will.

2) It Saves You Money

Like any other skill, media buying does not just consist of buying ads and ad space. Instead, there is a lot of research, production, and creativity that goes into media planning and buying.

Furthermore, this takes a lot of time, meaning if you wanted to keep your marketing and advertising in-house, you would have to hire an entire team to do it well. As the business owner, you would incur the costs of finding the team and the cost of the team member’s individual salaries and benefits, which is generally much more expensive than a media buying agency’s monthly fee.

3) Specialized Knowledge

When hiring an agency with media planners, you hire someone who understands the big picture of marketing and advertising. In marketing, it is more about the holistic nature of its pieces rather than the individual elements themselves.

Media strategies, programmatic advertising, and video production all play a role in media buying. Many strategies involving ad placements and media outlets are needed to ensure the media buying process is effective and beneficial to your company. Ad agencies will have that specialized knowledge of each of those individual items and how they work interconnectedly.

4) Attention to Small Details

In all forms of media buying, small details such as timing and placement are crucial and have significant effects on the success of a media buy. These are details that most advertisers would overlook, yet they are vital in catching your target audience. The most important part of a media buy is for your ad to be in the right place at the right time; that is how you catch your target audience.

A good media buyer knows how to be in the right place at the right time. With extensive media research and years of experience, your buyer will know which traditional media outlet, gross rating points, and placement will help your ideal client notice your business.

5) You Receive Measurable Results

One of the primary jobs of a media buying agency is to show you how your ads and campaigns are performing. They will give you all the analytics and break down their analysis of what is working and what is not. In addition, your agency or discuss their ideas with you on improving the buy’s media mix to increase your leads.

The best part about hiring a media buying agency is that you can be as involved as much or as little as you want. For example, if you want to learn all the analytics from the media buys, that is great. Your agency will happily show you what they did to achieve the analytics they received. On the other hand, if you want to be more hands-free, that is also an option. Your agency involvement is entirely up to you.

6) A New Perspective

As a business owner, nobody knows your business better than you. However, your perspective of your business is from the inside out. Your agency’s job is to view your business from the outside so they have a similar view to your customers.

An agency gives its clients a brand new perspective as they can not only identify your target audience and what that audience is looking for, but they can also better connect to the target audience since they are outside the every day throws of your business.

It is always good to have a different perspective on marketing and media buying because it is an industry that is constantly changing. There is something new every day, and your agency is responsible for keeping up with the ever-changing scope of marketing and advertising.

Yet another perk of hiring an agency is that they are consistently researching new digital advertising and marketing strategy. Finally, by hiring an agency with media buyers, you will never have to worry about keeping up with the media buying and marketing world because it is their job to keep you updated and in the loop.

7) Leave the Negotiation to the Pros

Even if you are one of the best salespeople around, you cannot hold a candle to the negotiation sharks of media outlets. Media buying is a type of negotiation like no other simply because media channels have two things you don’t: an enormous audience and limited competition.

When going into a media buying negotiation, you are immediately up against an abundance of current and potential clients vying for the same ad spots you are. In these case scenarios, it is best to leave the negotiation process to experienced marketing professionals because they know how media outlets work and what makes them tick. The bottom line is that when it comes to media buying, agencies who understand media buying strategy will get you the best bang for your buck.

At first glance, partnering with a media buying agency is a considerable leap. However, once you dive into everything that your agency will provide you, you will realize that investing in and outsourcing an agency is one of the most financially sound decisions you make for your business. Furthermore, by hiring an agency, you are using your money to make more money by creating more widespread knowledge of your business and generating more leads. So, set yourself up for success and partner with a media-buying agency today!

As we continue to evolve in an ever-increasing digitally-focused world, many tend to think that traditional media and traditional marketing is a thing of the past. This though, is not true, even in the present day, traditional media still plays an important role in your advertising plan.

Utilizing both traditional and digital media, you can maximize both your reach and frequency to best reach your target audience. Here are our top 5 reasons why traditional media is still important today:

1. Consumers Still Trust Traditional Media

With the onset of the pandemic at the beginning of 2020, after floods of misinformation from all media sources, according to the Edelman Trust Barometer, trust in all media sources has gone down.

Looking beyond this though, traditional news and traditional media are still seen as the most trustworthy source. Journalists and news channels almost always ensure that all facts they are relaying are the truth and make sure to vet their sources. Digital media sources like social media even use traditional sources as something to link to in their posts.

What this means for advertisers is that traditional media, like news channels and publications, are still being used as the main source of acquiring news which means that these mediums are still an ideal place to advertise.

2. You Won’t Just Reach an Older Audience

Many see traditional media as a way to only reach an older demographic, as older generations are the ones who tend to consume this form of media the most. This is not necessarily the case though when it comes to certain traditional media.

Specifically looking at news channels and newspapers/online publications of newspapers, many younger generations use these mediums as a way to conduct further research into a topic they are interested in or to use as another way to stay informed.

3. Best for Local Advertisers

If you are a business that solely services one key, local area, advertising on traditional mediums is always a great option. With outlets like local newspapers, billboards and cable tv that offer local news channels, advertising on these mediums will get you right in front of your target audience without wasting any money on advertising that may not even be reaching your target area.

4. Traditional Media and Digital Media Work Best Together

In saying all this, it does not mean to only advertise on traditional mediums. For the most effective marketing strategy, advertisers will need to utilize both digital and traditional media.

What type of media you choose from traditional and digital will vary based on your goals. Researching your target audience and their interests will give you the best idea of what media they are consuming the most. From young to old, every audience watches a mix of both traditional and digital platforms, meaning you could miss out on a wider reach by not advertising on both.

5. Traditional Media is Not Going Away

Though digital media and digital marketing have become the more popular ways to advertise these days, that does not mean that traditional media is a thing of the past. Traditional media has been around for decades and is the reason advertising is the way it is today.

Digital media has become increasingly popular with it being a major outlet of consumption for people. Traditional media though has long stood through the ongoing changes of the world and will continue to be trusted by audiences, so advertising on these mediums will never be a waste.

Final Thoughts

Traditional media is not dead in the modern-day world. A well-thought-out marketing strategy should include some form of traditional advertising alongside any digital platforms you may choose to advertise on. In the digital age of internet marketing, you may think that leaving traditional mediums out of your media plan is best, but that is certainly not the case.

Many today, especially if you are looking to target an older demographic, still see traditional media as the most reliable source over online news and media outlets, and therefore rely on that more than digital media. The media landscape may be ever-changing every year, but the best way to reach consumers is to devise a marketing plan that includes both digital and traditional media advertising.

Over-the-top or OTT is a media service that streams media through the use of the internet. OTT platforms include platforms like Roku or Apple TV that provide you OTT services which are streaming services like Netflix or Hulu and in the past few years they have gained some major traction.

More and more people these days are ditching their traditional cable to use streaming sources such as these as their main form of TV consumption. With the onset of the pandemic, this has only skyrocketed. With more people at home during the beginning of the pandemic, media consumption of all kinds had gone up and will likely continue to be the case.

By utilizing OTT advertising for your Detroit business, you can reach a broader, yet targeted audience in the Metro Detroit area.

OTT Advertising vs Traditional TV Advertising

Traditional TV advertising through cable or broadcast has been one of the biggest ways to reach a broad audience. In 2020 with the onset of the pandemic, OTT has been able to gain a lot of traction in this and is now being able to offer advertisers a broad audience reach as well.

Around 41% of people are watching TV through a streaming service these days. Many are choosing to cut the cord with traditional TV as streaming services are typically cheaper and are easier to cancel the subscription than traditional cable TV.

This does not mean though, that everyone is ditching traditional TV altogether. Many are still choosing to keep their cable services on top of subscribing to different streaming services. DMCNY reported that around 50% of people have cable in addition to streaming services.

The Pandemic’s Effect on OTT

At the beginning of the pandemic, streaming services saw a huge spike in the number of users. According to MCNY, around 80 million Americans during the pandemic increased their streaming viewership while only half of that was the case for cable TV viewership.

OTT inventory is continually growing as more and more streaming services come into the market fighting for the ever-increasing viewership.

With many working from home now as well, many are watching streaming services as they work. This means that more people are watching TV at different times of the day than primetime, opening up more options of spots for companies to advertise on.

With a nationwide quarantine, movie theaters also faced the issue of being closed down and any new releases had been put on hold. Since the reopening of theaters is so unsure and many people are hesitant to go back, many have started releasing their movies on streaming services as an alternative to this. This has gone over well with consumers and many prefer the comfort of their own home over viewing movies on the big screen.

Why You Should Consider OTT Advertising

In an article put out by Adweek, Roku, one of the biggest connected TV platforms, has 51.2 million active accounts. This is nearly double the number of subscribers of Comcast, the country’s biggest cable provider. They have also doubled their number of monetized video ad impressions year over year and in 2020 alone gained nearly 14 million new accounts.

If you have not incorporated OTT advertising into your Detroit marketing plan, now is definitely the time to consider doing so. There are plenty of benefits that come with OTT and one of the biggest is being able to better reach your target audience.

By using consumers’ buying and searching habits, you are able to get right to your ideal market, which means you can also specifically target the Detroit area even. This also means you can tailor your message to specific audiences with this. Your audience is also bigger since streaming services can be used on multiple devices from a tv to your smartphone to gaming consoles.

Audience targeting is huge for creating a bigger ROI since you are getting your message to the consumer who would be most interested in your product or service. More people are also using their mobile devices to stream videos and have more engagement rather than a quick look on social media before. Advertisers are able to advertise on OTT media and have their message be received better than ever before.

One thing to be aware of as you advertise on OTT is your target audience’s viewing habits. What is popular with people is constantly changing and keeping up with what your target audience is watching is crucial.

Another thing to consider is running ad campaigns on both traditional cable and broadcast as well as OTT. According to Forbes, doing so could increase ad recall by 34% since many still have cable along with their streaming services.

Using OTT for advertising is a great option as well if you are looking to reach a younger audience. Though many of the older generations are now switching to using primarily streaming services, they originally began with a largely younger audience which is still the case today.

OTT advertising as of right now is also cheaper than traditional broadcast TV advertising. So, ad spending on OTT could save you money and get you a more targeting audience.

Final Thoughts

OTT advertising is becoming a huge market as viewership continues to go up for streaming content and this gives advertisers the opportunity to reach a large, targeted audience. Streaming services are constantly improving and providing more high-quality content and as more streaming services and platforms come onto the market, this only increases the opportunity for advertising.

This can be great for your Detroit business as you can specifically target which demographic and what area in the Metro Detroit area that you are looking to reach.

With both consumer and advertisement spending increasing as the economy begins to pick back up, now is the perfect time to get your message out on OTT platforms and streaming services.

Traditional Media vs. Digital Media

As digital marketing becomes more prevalent, it brings up the debate of whether traditional media is still beneficial to implement in your marketing strategies. Though digital media has certainly gained more traction over the years and seems to be reaching consumers more, this is not necessarily always the case.

First, it is important to distinguish between the two medias. Traditional media is what most people think of when it comes to advertising. This includes, television, print, outdoor, and radio. Especially considering print, traditional marketing has been around since the beginning. Digital media, however, is newer, having been developed because of the internet. This media includes things like social media, emails, content marketing and search engine optimization, or SEO.

What we are seeing is that consumers in 2021 are using both marketing channels equally. The behavior is being coined as the “second screening” effect. Someone who is watching TV these days, is most likely also scrolling on their phone, or some may read the newspaper and research about the topic more online after. This behavior is important to consider and shows that traditional media still plays a key role in marketing tactics.

Television

Television ads are somewhat costly but are of benefit the most when you are trying to reach a broad but targeted audience over any other type of media. The outreach that TV has is one of the reasons it still plays a huge factor in many businesses’ marketing techniques.

In the United States, television ranks as the second most profitable advertising medium behind the internet. In total, it accounts for roughly 25% of total U.S. media ad revenue.

Broadcast: Broadcast is the most common form of TV in the United States. These channels use public airwaves so it is available to any TV that can access a broadcast transmitter.

The biggest advantage this type of medium has is its outreach. Broadcast TV has one of the largest national outreaches which allows you to target bigger shares of your target audience. Another plus is with so many people watching you have a higher chance to gain brand recognition. A disadvantage of this medium is the cost. TV commercials have a high production cost on top of the cost of placing a buy for a TV spot.

In 2021, the average cost in the Metro Detroit area for a :30 second spot can average around $600-$2,500 in non-prime day parts.

Cable: Cable TV differs from broadcast in that it allows you to target a local audience. When you place an ad for cable it is being advertised to those in your selected area.

This medium is a great option for small businesses who only want to target their local market. Another advantage is that cable TV ads are going to be cheaper overall if you want to target a specific area than broadcast ads. If you are a larger company looking to target more than one area though, a smaller, more narrow audience may not be ideal.

In 2021, the average cost in the Metro Detroit area can be as little as $50 per spot.

OTT: OTT or “Over the Top” is TV content that is provided by high-speed internet rather than cable or satellite. This can include streaming services such as Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, and HBO Max. There are more than 140 discounts available to Detroit advertisers.

This form of advertising can help you to target those under 30 who typically choose these types of services over broadcast or cable, which can be a big pro for many businesses. Costs for OTT are also typically lower than if you were to go with traditional TV marketing. The biggest issue people run into with OTT advertising is not being able to track engagement or how well your ad is doing.

In 2021, the average cost for an ad on OTT can be around $25-$40 CPM. CPM stand for cost per 1,000 impressions.

Print

Print ads are one of the oldest forms of advertising which has stood the test of time, and for good reason. Newspaper, magazines and direct mail allows you to target a wide age of range groups and proves to be effective in at least getting recognition for your brand, as well as a strong and immediate call to action.

Newspaper: Newspaper ads are one of the most basic options in traditional media.

Many still choose to utilize newspaper ads because it can give you reach to a local audience and in some cases a particular group with certain interests depending on the newspaper. In newspapers, you can also go into greater details about your product or service which is another advantage. People choose not to buy ads in the newspaper a lot of times though because of the quality of the ad when printed and typically only reaching an older audience.

In 2021, the average cost for a newspaper ad in the Detroit Free Press is around $727.

Magazines: Magazines are similar to newspapers but provide their own unique benefits that newspapers cannot provide.

Magazine allow you to target markets with specific interests from fashion to gardening to golf. Since most magazines print in color also, your ad will have higher production than a newspaper. One disadvantage though, is that magazines typically have a long lead time so you may not be able to advertise limited sales or marketing campaigns.

In 2021, the average cost for a magazine ad in Hour Detroit can average $4,930 for a full page ad.

Direct Mail: Direct mail includes a multitude of things such as: postcards, marriage mail, inserts and anything you get in the mail that is advertising a product or business.

According to Inkit, 90% of direct mail gets opened compared to 20-30% with emails. For brand recognition and getting your message across, direct mail is more effective than email marketing. On the other hand, some may just find direct mail as junk mail and simply throw it out without even opening it.

In 2021, the average cost in the Metro Detroit area for direct mail is around $1 per piece but can be lower depending on factors like type of cardstock, printing, and volume discounts.

Outdoor

Outdoor includes any type of advertisement you may see when you are outside or driving in your car. Things like billboards and transit advertisements will always be relevant as long as people have places to go. Choosing to use this type of advertising in the area you are trying to market to can have its benefits.

Billboards: Billboards are the large advertisements that you see on the side of the highway and can give you a high reach and frequency of people seeing your ad.

A billboard is great for advertising to a lot of people since there is a constant flow of people driving by. Also, since your ad is large, it is hard for people to ignore. Since it is on the side of the road though, your message has to be short.

In 2021, the average cost for a billboard in the Metro Detroit area can cost anywhere from $300-$5,000 depending on the size, typically about $4,000 per week for CBA.

Transit: These are the ads that you see wrapped on the sides of buses or cars and can lead to high exposure from drivers on the road.

As mentioned, transit advertising allows you to have high exposure since it is constantly being shown to drivers on the road. This also has a relatively low cost and give you the opportunity for colorful, creative advertisements. Some disadvantages with this though, similar to billboards, is that your message must be short, and you cannot guarantee what audience will see your ad.

In 2021, the average cost to advertise on a bus in the metro Detroit area ranges from $306-over $150,000 depending on how long the ad will run and how large the ad is.

Bus Shelters: Ads on bus shelters gives you the ability to be seen by both those waiting for the bus and those passing by.

These types of ads also give you a large frequency from both those waiting and those walking by. Since you have people who are waiting, this also allows you to write longer message that you may not be able to with other mediums. If the area you would like to advertise does not utilize a lot of public transport though, this may not be a viable option for you.

In 2021, the average cost for a bus shelter in the Metro Detroit area can be anywhere from $241-$21,012 depending on how long you would like the ad to be up and how big it is.

Airport: These ads can be anything from banners to lighted plastic signs all seen throughout airports.

Again a big advantage of this comes down to high frequency and reach, as with most outdoor advertising. Here, you can reach a broad audience. Looking at the current state of flying in 2021 though, we have seen a huge drop in those flying since there are many restrictions that have been put in place from the pandemic which could be a disadvantage.

In 2021, the average cost in most airports for a Backlit Diorama in gate/terminal and baggage claim can range from $3,500-$9,900 per display for a 4-week period.

Radio

AM and FM radio in 2021 may be seen as not a great marketing channel, in some cases this may be true, but it really depends on who you are trying to reach. This form of advertising targets more of an older audience, but many still choose traditional radio over streaming platforms like Pandora or Spotify.

Many choose to advertise through radio still because it is a relatively cheap media to utilize compared to others. The production cost for this is also much lower since it only requires a script, and many times is read by a radio show host. A disadvantage for radio would be the lack of visuals and you can’t really go into detail about what you are trying to convey.

In 2021, the average cost for a radio spot in the Metro Detroit area can range from as little as $25 during off hours to $750 or more for peak hours for a :60 second ad.

Our Recommendations

If you are trying to devise a marketing plan for your business you need to establish who you are trying to reach and decide which mediums are going to be best for the biggest outreach and return on investment (ROI). Using traditional media as a channel to bring people to your social media, website, and digital media can optimize your reach. So you would preferably want to use both digital marketing and traditional marketing in your media plan.

Overall, more people tend to trust in traditional ads over digital since anyone can post digital campaigns. Traditional can establish brand recognition and trust in your brand. Some traditional media also still has a higher ROI than digital, so it is important to take a look at what will reap the most benefits for your business.