As an elder millennial, I can recall a time in the not-so-distant past when television consisted of four major broadcast networks and a few local providers running syndicated content. With the popularity of cable, options exploded, giving us an endless selection of curated content which has only recently grown exponentially with the berth of streaming. Until recently, regardless of how extensive the options for content, small business TV advertising was fairly limited: usually relegated to late-night spots or only available for larger metro areas.
Audience attention in 2024 is now heavily fragmented, with only 40% of American households still subscribing to cable (and streaming accounting for nearly 40% of all tv viewing). The fragmentation of audiences created by streaming and the internet has presented a unique opportunity for small businesses to advertise on television via the use of what we refer to as ConnectedTV.
What is ConnectedTV?
ConnectedTV historically referred to devices that connect to the internet to stream from platforms such as Netflix, Disney+, and Tubi. Since most of these streaming providers offer ad-supported tiers, this gives advertisers the chance to purchase ad space on these streaming networks directly; running, in effect, television advertising that shows only to streaming audiences. This definition has grown in the digital ad space in recent years to include local and even cable network content—meaning, advertisers can now purchase traditional television ad space via the same means.
ConnectedTV platforms allow advertisers to purchase media programmatically. As publishers—say, Netflix in this case—have more ad space than direct advertisers in which to sell it to, they will put this inventory on an open exchange for advertisers such as us to place bids upon. The bidding works a lot like how it does on eBay: multiple advertisers will bid on a single impression, and the one with the highest bid wins, usually paying $0.01 above the next highest bid. This style of digital media buying originated with paid search in the early 2000s.
Programmatic media buying itself has been around for more than a decade, but its application for television advertising only recently became prominent, given the rate of growth on streaming and the continued decline of cable viewership.
ConnectedTV: Advantages for Small Business Advertising
Because ConnectedTV ads are bought programmatically, the targeting that can be applied to this advertising is extensive: demographic, geographic (down to the zip code), and psychographic data is all in play.
If, for example, your business is looking to serve ads to only the 93436 zip code, only to people who like pizza, and only to people with a high propensity to eat out, those specifics can be applied to your ads on Hulu, just as they would for social or display campaigns online. The breadth of targeting options through ConnectedTV campaigns makes it a compelling case for small business advertising.
Creating Content for TV
Generally speaking, we often recommend to our clients to repurpose video content from social for use in ConnectedTV—with a few caveats. First off, unlike social ads, ConnectedTV advertising is usually not clickable; including standard digital ad elements such as CTAs (call-to-action) doesn’t align with the medium by which most of these ads will be seen, and are not recommended. Furthermore, QR codes, once the forgotten stepchildren of marketers, may make sense on ConnectedTV ads, where people are likely viewing on a second device like tablet or television.
With any video ad, you want to be sure to keep branding visible in the first three seconds, as this guarantees that even if the ad is skipped, branding is still shown to your audience.
ConnectedTV ads should be kept to :15 or :30 seconds, as these lengths account for most of the ad inventory. Vanity URLs are recommended for folks with longer or harder-to-remember domain names.
Getting Started with ConnectedTV
Demand-side platforms, or DSPs as they are known to digital marketers, are the means by which ConnectedTV advertising can be purchased; or, in the case of many of the streaming providers, advertising can be purchased from their user interface directly.
If you’re looking to get started with small business tv advertising, give us a shout for a complimentary consultation and see how Screechy Cat Media can get your business’s ads on streaming and local TV providers today!
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