As viewers we now have an overwhelming choice of channels to watch boxsets, cartoons, films, documentaries, soaps and so on. Even better is that we can watch them ‘on demand’ whenever we want thanks to clever technology inside our Smart TVs and set-top boxes. For savvy brands, this TV revolution has created an irresistible choice of attractive targeted TV advertising opportunities.
Couple this with our appetite for video consumption online on our favourite social media networks, such as YouTube where 5 million videos are watched daily. Also, few of us can live without our recurring memberships with TV and movie streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime. This consumer behaviour is presenting more and more opportunities for brands in the form of targeted online video advertising. With so much “on demand” TV and video at our fingertips it’s a wonder we make it to work and deliver effective targeted tv and web advertising campaigns!
Before we jump ahead and start planning a campaign let’s define a few need-to-know phrases relating to targeted tv and online video advertising.
TARGETED TV ADS
Also known as ‘addressable ads’, targeted TV adverts can be targeted to specific households or audiences via user data such as demographics.
Target audience, this is not a new marketing term and is defined in The Oxford English dictionary as “a particular group at which a product such as a film or advertisement is aimed.”
In the UK the major TV broadcasters such as Sky, ITV, Channel 4 and Virgin Media offer advertisers the platform, or technology, to target specific audience segments with their TV ads.
Let’s take a closer look at SkyAdSmart. Their technology serves a library of ads to the Sky+HD set-top box enabling advertisers to select which household they’d like their TV ads to be shown to and when. Every household is categorised into various audience segments based on factors such as location, lifestage, affluence, household composition (e.g. who lives there), home ownership etc. This targeted level of tv advertising enables brand with smaller budgets to invest as they can ensure that their budget, whatever its size, is only spent on serving ads to the people who matter most to their business. Ads are served to audiences whenever they are watching on any channel, your TV advertising schedule is no longer determined by channel and time with targeted tv advertising.
SkyAdSmart and Virgin Media recently formed a partnership to give advertisers access to an estimated audience of 30 million targetable TV viewers in the UK and Ireland: an audience is on a par with the leading social media networks online. They also enable linear (traditional) and VOD (video on demand) advertising. This new targeted TV advertising platform gives advertisers access to 40% of the UK population. Other key targeted tv platform to consider that also offer linear and VOD are our main broadcasters ITV (incl. ITV Hub) and Channel 4 (incl. 4 OD). The minimum spend is £3,000 on SkyAdSmart which will get your TV ad shown on over 200 Sky Channels making this form of TV advertising accessible to all types of brands and businesses.
TARGETED ONLINE VIDEO ADVERTISING
Targeted online video advertising - Similar to targeted TV advertising, online video ads can use data to target specific audiences or users as they browse the Internet. In simple terms, the targeting options are enabled by data captured from the users online profile and behavior.
Targeted online video advertising platforms - The key platforms for targeted online video advertising are social media sites (YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and Snapchat) plus specialist video platforms such as Taboola and Abode Primetime. Each online video platform boasts millions of active daily users who hungrily consume video content and for advertisers they offer advanced targeting capabilities based on user data (E.g. demographics such as age or location) and behavior (E.g. recently viewed content or even purchases). This enables brands advertising with online video to focus their budget serving relevant messages to viewers they want to engage and convert into customers.
HOW TO PRODUCE A TARGETED TV AND WEB COMMERCIAL IN 5 SIMPLE STEPS
Step1. Set your campaign goals, define what are you trying to achieve and why.
Step 2. Break down your product or brand into granular USPs and benefits. Tip: think from any customer’s perspective about why they should buy it?
Step 3. Divide your target audience into multiple personas and don’t be shy on the details. Consider Demographics (age, affluence, gender, location, lifestage (eg. university vs new parents vs retired, postcode, homeownership) Likes (brands, interests, hobbies, even tv shows, celebrities, favourite websites) Knowledge, Mindset, Challenges. Even, their dream holiday destination! Tip: give each persona a name, a face and bring them to life on a moodboard.
Step 4. Map out the key messages you’d like to say about your brand or product to each persona. You should see a difference between the messages. Tailored messages drive better results, today we only want to see messages that are relevant to us especially if they are interrupting our tv or online video viewing.
Step 5. Research and appoint an expert video production agency to help you create a set of targeted TV and web commercials
Fresh Cut are creative video experts and have a fantastic showreel of TV and web commercials. Our talented team can work with you to create a compelling series of brand stories to engage your target audience and the personas within. Maybe we will tweak the intro or end CTA to suit their location or lifestage? Targeted ads need a creative strategic approach on every size of budget, big or small. Get in touch with us for a no obligation video proposal and we’ll show you ideas to make your brand standout to each target persona.
As a forward-thinking brand, you probably want to get involved and reap the rewards of targeted TV and online advertising. This new form of advertising:
- is affordable and accessible even for small budgets and local businesses, now your little brand can be seen on TV!
- enables your brand to target multiple niche audience segments and monitor the performance of each.
- encourages you to get creative and produce video ads with tailored messages your future customers really want to see!
Today, TV advertising is not just for household brands with multi-million pound budgets its for any brand, and all sizes of budget thanks to the targeting available. Likewise, for online video advertising. Whatever size budget you have targeted tv and online video advertising will work efficiently towards your campaign goals. Thanks to technology, tactical media planning and expert video production your brand can focus budget on the consumers that matter the most to your business by deploying targeted advertising.
LET’S CREATE SOMETHING WONDERFUL
Are you ready to invest in a targeted TV and web commercial for your brand? Fresh Cut are a leading video production company helping brands tell their stories on TV and online since 2006. Take a look inside our fantastic portfolio of creative video content and get in touch with our talented team to discuss your next video project.