OTT Marketing Strategy: Streaming Your Way to Audience Engagement and Growth

Shalabh Agarwal Oct 11th, 2023

The world of OTT (over the top) is very close to us, yet far away. On the one hand, we’re familiar with Amazon Prime, Netflix, YouTube, and others, and we either have or know someone with a smart TV or Roku. But on the other hand, we (or at least most of us) don’t even know what OTT means. And that’s why we have written this blog. So, let’s understand what OTT marketing strategy are.

What is OTT

OTT stands for Over- The-Top. And here’s why, the actual term for cable box is a set-top box. When TVs were big clunks and cable boxes were small, they sat on top of the TV. But the term set-top box persisted even as screens became flat and cable boxes were placed elsewhere.

Remembered!

On the other hand, streamed content does not require a cable box because it is delivered via the Internet. It bypasses or goes over the set-top box. Hence the term over-the-top. Simply put, any device that displays videos and connects to the internet is an OTT device, which includes: – Smartphones, computers, tablets, laptops. 

What are OTT Marketing Services?

OTT services are kind of applications that stream over-the-top content to your device. However, there are various OTT services and apps out there, and they follow various models, such as-

  • Transactional video on demand (TVOD)
  • Advertising-based video on demand (AVOD)
  • Subscription video on demand (SVOD)
  • Multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs)

What is OTT Marketing

OTT Advertisement is a method of displaying ads to consumers when they’re watching streamed (OTT) media. This can be shown is some other ways, such as-

  • Programmatic: Here, automation is used to serve OTT ads across multiple networks through demand-side platforms (DSPs) like Rocket Fuel, MediaMath, APPNexus, TubeMogul and others. Programmatic delivery has better targeting and can be less expensive, but you have less control over where your ads appear.
  • Platform direct: This is where you’ll buy ads directly from the provider of the OTT device (like Roku or Amazon Fire TV from our connected TV illustration).
  • Publisher direct: Here, the exchange takes place directly with the OTT service provider (our OTT streaming services above). Direct means of OTT advertising give you more control over where your ads are placed, but they can be expensive and may not perform as widely.

How Does OTT Marketing Work and What Are Their Strategy ?

So, let’s come to know how OTT marketing works exactly. 

Video streaming services enable users to watch their favorite shows, movies, and sports by paying a subscription fee. These video streaming platforms allow advertisers to promote their products and services to users who actively use them. When you invest in OTT ads, your ad will display when a user watches content on a video streaming platform. You can choose to promote your brand with a video ad, display ad, and much more. Using the right OTT marketing strategy for your business, you can increase your brand awareness and reach mass audiences, which helps to boost your sales and revenue.

Moreover, there are few steps involve in the OTT marketing strategy process, such as- 

  1. Planning: Before you create any advertisement, you should first understand your target audience, like who they are, their preferences, viewing habits, geographical locations, and more. This information will definitely help you while making your OTT advertising campaign more effectively.
  2. Creating Content: After that, you can create engaging and relevant content that would appeal to your target audience. This could be commercials, promotional videos, or short clips.
  3. Selecting OTT Platforms: The third step is to pick the right OTT platforms, where your ads will be displayed. Hulu, Roku and other are the best OTT platforms. Using an advertising platform like MNTN Performance TV will allow you to display your ads across a variety of similar ad-supported streaming services.
  4. Purchasing Ad Space: Once you’ve selected the right OTT platform, your need to buy ad space. For this, you can directly but through the platform, or through programmatic advertising which uses AI to automate the buying, placement, and optimization of media inventory.
  5. Segmenting Your Audience: With OTT advertising, you can get very specific with who sees your ads. You can segment your audience based on their interests, behaviors, or demographic information.
  6. Setting up the Campaign: Once you’ve purchased ad space and segmented your audience, it’s time to set up the campaign on the OTT platform. This involves scheduling when and where your ads will appear.
  7. Launching the Campaign: Once everything is set up, your campaign is ready to be launched. Your ads will now start appearing on the OTT platform(s) to your target audience.
  8. Monitoring the Campaign: Keep track of how your campaign is performing. This could involve keeping an eye on key metrics like view-through rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates.
  9. Optimizing the Campaign: Based on the performance of your campaign, you may need to make adjustments. This could involve tweaking the ad content, adjusting the scheduling, or refining your audience segmentation.
  10. Reporting: After the campaign has run its course, it’s important to put together a comprehensive report that outlines the success (or otherwise) of the campaign. This report can be used to inform future campaigns.

Why Brands Are Investing in OTT Video Platforms

Businesses have realized the importance of OTT marketing, which offers numerous benefits that were not possible with traditional TV advertising. These benefits not only make marketing cost-effective but also enable businesses to reach mass audiences globally.

Cost-Effective Advertising Solution_ As compared with traditional television advertisement, OTT marketing is a cost-effective advertising solution, enabling businesses to save huge dollars on production costs and reach a more actionable and engaged audience. Businesses can easily track their return on investment (ROI) than other forms of advertising.

Flexibility And Customization_ Through OTT marketing strategy, businesses can get customization options. Through which, they can easily customize their marketing campaign, like which demographics to target, and what type of content to promote, can set their budget, personalized their messages to create impactful ad experience for their end-users. Apart from that they can also adjust their campaigns in real time based on the received data insights. 

Data-Driven Insights_ Businesses can access valuable data insights, which help them to optimize their advertising strategy to the next level. Through deep data insights, they can also track some of the key metrics such as impressions, click-through rates, and conversions. This information helps business to understand of their audience and what type of content goes well with them. 

How To Make Money with An Ad-Based OTT Platform?

No doubt, the Ad-based OTT platforms have gained huge popularity and demand among content creators and business owners to monetize their content. With the rise of on-demand video streaming, the demand for ad-based OTT platforms has increased drastically. There are various ways for content creators and businesses to generate revenue with an ad-based OTT platforms, such as-

  • Advertisements VOD
  • Subscription VOD
  • Sponsorship Deals
  • Product Placement

Conclusion

As you can see here, we’ve provided complete information on how to create an OTT marketing campaign. Our team is ready to help you solve your further queries about OTT marketing and the benefits of OTT advertising platforms. If there’s something you’d like to clarify further, or if there are any challenges you’re facing in your current digital campaign strategy, we’re here to help. You can contact Enveu to create an OTT marketing strategy for your campaign.

Shalabh Agarwal - Co-founder, Enveu
Shalabh Agarwal is the co-founder of Enveu, one of the fastest-growing App automation and OTT solutions providers. Shalabh oversees the global businesses for Enveu and has been working in the Technology and SaaS space for over 15 years.

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