As viewers continue to cut the cord, OTT has become one of the fastest growing and most effective advertising platforms available. OTT delivers content straight to your audience through internet streaming without the requirement of a traditional cable or satellite pay-TV service− think Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV Stick, and smart TVs.
What is OTT?
OTT stands for “Over the Top.” OTT is the delivery of video, show, or movie content via the internet. This content is available anytime, anywhere, on any device, from any platform or network. When you watch OTT video, you are going “over the top” of traditional broadcast & cable − hence the acronym. If you have ever streamed your favorite movie, the newest docu-series or Sunday night football to your phone, smart TV or computer, you have viewed OTT video.
How does it work?
OTT is used as another method of laser targeting dealer’s customers. Driven Data connects with OTT/Streaming platforms to serve ads using a dealership's first-party data to create look alike audiences based on people who've purchased or serviced vehicles with that store. Custom ads are created to target each specific audience. When the ads are shown, they are linked to tags that create communication channels with the device that the OTT video was streamed on (i.e. mobile, computers or phones). After the ads run, the results are reported back to the advertiser showing view completion rates, time of day, day of the week, networks/websites/apps where ads were placed, total impressions, delivery by ad copy and much more.
The benefits of OTT
There are many benefits of OTT/Streaming, here are the top 5 areas where OTT performance shines:
- Scale – OTT/Streaming videos receive thousands of targeted impressions every single day. As the removal of 3rd party cookies continues to settle in, dealers are left to find much needed targeted “in market” digital impressions that don’t require cookies for deployment. OTT/Streaming offers a very large scale, as a vast majority of consumers now view their video/tv content this way.
- Targeting – Not only can you target OTT just like you can your digital marketing, but OTT allows you to be very specific with who you target. Unlike traditional TV that has a very broad audience, OTT/Streaming video reaches the customers that are viewing your ads because they are choosing what they watch. Driven- Data delivers our dealers OTT/Streaming ad impressions (commercials) in TV and Movie full episodic content where “in market” consumers view the dealers ads to 85% completion or higher.
- Affordability – The cost per thousand impressions for OTT/Streaming is much more cost effective in that you are eliminating wasteful ad delivery due to a lack of the ability that is a main issue with TV and cable.
- Measurability – Driven-Data clients receive detailed monthly reporting. See when and where your ads showed, and what percentage were watched to completion on what devices, time of day, day of the week, performance by ad copy , a list of networks/websites/aps where you ads appeared in programming.
- Reliability – In addition to the ability to target OTT/Streaming digital based on search behavior, geography and audiences, OTT/Streaming uses first-party data to target audiences further. When you use data that comes directly from your business, you know you can trust it.
How do I add OTT to my marketing? Adding OTT is simple. Because we have your data, we are able to pull a list of zip codes where your dealership is selling 85% of your new and used vehicles. We are also able to understand the profile of those customers that do business with you in both sales and service. From there we are able to understand how many available targeted “in market” impressions are available for your dealership to target with OTT/Streaming in those zips, as well as tell you what audiences you should be targeting for sales and service. From there, we talk about what share of the total available audience makes sense for your dealership to reach each month to achieve your share growth goals. At Driven-Data we have a full suite of creative services to produce our dealers OTT/Streaming ads, as well as our data team who tracks the results.
Think about all the YouTube videos, Hulu, Roku, Chomecast, etc shows, and news stories that are watched every single day. Now think about being able to serve an ad using the targetability of digital to target an “in market" consumer with your dealership's ad each time they click play or view. That’s the power of OTT video.
To see the success story of one metro dealer that decided to invest in OTT, check out our long-term case study. Request a meeting here to learn more about how OTT/Streaming can benefit your dealership and improve your marketing campaign.