As advertisers chase consumers across an ever-expanding video landscape, data has become the most efficient way to allocate ad spend.
In the wake of this year’s NewFronts, where digital media powerhouses like BuzzFeed, AOL and Crackle flaunted their video offerings and audiences, it’s clearer than ever that Web video will claim an increasing share of TV ad budgets. Gone are the days of buying video as an afterthought.
What does this mean for the fate of ambitious TV campaigns? Instead of pitting television against digital in strategy sessions, savvy media planners are finding new ways to combine the two. Research shows that exposure to digital and TV advertising in tandem leads to increased recall of both brand and message (33 percent and 45 percent increase, respectively), as well as increased likeability of the advertisement (40 percent increase).
Striking the right budgetary balance between television and digital will depend on the campaign, but shifting money toward a supplemental campaign will help avoid the diminishing returns typically associated with oversaturation across the airwaves. In the scramble to stay ahead of the curve, it’s important to avoid these common mistakes:
Relying on simplistic data
Coordinating media buys is increasingly complex. Once you’ve found your target audience in front of their televisions, how do you find them online? Basic demographic data may steer you away from advertising surfboards to the NCIS crowd (median age: 60+), but it won’t help you understand the online behavior of those viewers. Collective’s TV Accelerator takes a more nuanced approach, fusing set-top-box data to detailed online attributes, allowing you to extend a campaign across TV and digital channels without paying to reach an audience that’s likely to be unreceptive.
Overestimating television’s decline
“TV is dead” makes for a clickable headline, but, in all likelihood, television remains the cornerstone of consumer branding campaigns. Television remains the most important and influential medium for your message. And there’s still no way for digital to compete with the sheer numbers offered by the networks. Per Nielsen, 283 million Americans absorb more than 146 hours of television each month, more than 10 times the combined average for mobile and online. Digital advertising is predicted to overtake television advertising in 2018, but it’s not 2018 yet.
Keeping data and creative in separate silos
Data should inform creative decisions. By making analytics part of your creative process, you’ll have a better opportunity to reach the right audience with the right message—and to adapt that message to the medium.
Failing to intercept your competitors’ customers
In addition to using digital as a means of extending your own TV campaigns, you can also use Collective’s TV Accelerator to poach your competitors’ customers. To reach the audience of a hit show online, you aren’t limited to a simplistic multi-screen approach like targeting that show’s digital presence. Instead, by understanding what else they are likely watching, researching and buying online, you can reach the same eyeballs your competitor is targeting for a fraction of the cost.
Check out “The Upfront Guide to Buying TV Smarter”: