Consumers increasingly encounter video content through streaming services and connected television rather than traditional broadcast channels alone. This creates another opportunity for businesses to reach audiences through digital video advertising. OTT advertising services can help businesses incorporate streaming video into a broader marketing strategy while using audience and geographic targeting to make campaigns more relevant. When combined with other digital channels, OTT advertising can become another touchpoint for reaching potential customers throughout the customer journey.
What Is OTT Advertising?
OTT, or over-the-top advertising, refers to video advertising delivered through internet-connected streaming environments rather than traditional television distribution alone. Businesses can use OTT advertising to place video messages in front of audiences while they consume streaming content. This provides another way to build visibility and communicate with potential customers beyond search engines, websites, and social media platforms.
OTT And CTV Advertising Serve A Growing Digital Audience
Connected TV advertising provides businesses with opportunities to reach people watching content through internet-connected televisions and other streaming environments. OTT and CTV are related but are not identical terms. OTT generally describes content delivered over the internet, while CTV focuses specifically on internet-connected television devices. Understanding the distinction helps businesses develop a clearer strategy when considering streaming video as part of their digital advertising mix.
Video Can Support Brand Visibility
Video provides businesses with a format for communicating a message visually and audibly. This can be useful for introducing a brand, explaining a service, highlighting an offering, or supporting broader awareness campaigns. OTT advertising can complement other marketing activities by placing video messages in a different digital environment. The role of the campaign should be established before launch so that the creative and targeting strategy align with the intended objective.
Geographic Targeting Can Make OTT Campaigns More Relevant
Location can be an important consideration for businesses that serve specific geographic markets. Geographic targeting allows businesses to focus advertising activity on relevant areas rather than treating every potential viewer as equally valuable. For businesses with defined markets, connecting OTT advertising with geographic strategy can help create a more focused campaign. This localized approach also aligns with a broader digital marketing strategy built around the audience and markets that matter most to the business.
OTT Advertising Can Complement Search Marketing
OTT advertising and search marketing can serve different roles within the customer journey. A viewer may encounter a video advertisement without actively searching for the business at that moment, then later use a search engine to research the company, product, or service. Search campaigns can capture that active intent when it develops, while video advertising can contribute to earlier awareness. Considering these channels together can provide a more connected approach to digital marketing.
OTT Can Work Alongside Social Media Advertising
Social media and OTT advertising provide different environments for reaching audiences, but they can complement one another. Social campaigns can support engagement and audience interaction, while streaming video can provide another format for communicating a brand message. Using multiple channels can create additional touchpoints, particularly when the messaging and campaign objectives are aligned rather than developed independently.
Creative Strategy Matters In Streaming Advertising
OTT advertising depends heavily on the quality and relevance of the video message. Creative should communicate the intended message clearly and be appropriate for the campaign objective and audience. A campaign focused on brand awareness may require a different creative approach from one promoting a specific service or offer. Aligning creative with audience targeting and campaign goals helps ensure that the video serves a clear purpose within the overall marketing strategy.
OTT Advertising Should Be Part Of A Broader Strategy
Streaming advertising is most useful when its role within the overall marketing plan is clearly defined. Businesses can combine OTT and CTV with SEO, paid search, social media, email marketing, and other digital activities when those channels are relevant to their goals. Each channel can serve a different purpose, creating multiple opportunities to reach audiences as they move from awareness to research and eventually toward action.
How Local Marketing Inc. Approaches OTT And CTV Advertising
Local Marketing Inc. lists OTT/CTV Advertising as a documented digital marketing service. LMi’s broader approach emphasizes localized digital marketing and geographic targeting, with strategies tailored to the individual business. OTT and CTV can therefore be incorporated into a customized marketing strategy when streaming video and targeted audience reach are relevant to the business’s objectives.
What To Look For In OTT Advertising Services
Businesses evaluating OTT advertising services should look beyond simply placing video advertisements on streaming platforms. A useful strategy should consider the campaign objective, target audience, geographic market, creative message, and relationship between OTT and other digital channels. Businesses should also establish appropriate performance measures before launching a campaign rather than assuming that every OTT campaign should be evaluated using the same metric.
Build A Streaming Advertising Strategy Around Your Audience
OTT advertising can give businesses another way to reach audiences through streaming and connected television environments. Its value comes from how effectively it fits into the broader marketing strategy. By considering audience relevance, geographic targeting, creative messaging, and the relationship between video and other digital channels, businesses can develop a more coordinated approach to streaming advertising. Local Marketing Inc.’s customized and localized digital marketing approach provides a framework for incorporating OTT and CTV into strategies built around individual business needs.