It’s a Connected TV World, We’re Just Living in It

Fifteen years ago you’d probably earn your fair share of quizzical looks if you said 62% of U.S. households in 2018 would own television that was only 3” thick. Few could likely fathom a TV that would connect to the Internet, play movies and live TV through built-in apps, and enable a consumer to cut ties with the cable company while still enjoying access to all their favorite shows. Oh, and millions of people of all ages could watch a TV show or movie on their smartphone or tablet – all rendered in beautiful, high-definition clarity and delivered at a fraction of the cost of a traditional cable TV subscription.

Technology has allowed people to watch TV differently today. A connected TV world mandates that marketers understand that consumers behave and respond differently to advertising, too. Including connected TV in a media strategy is important because of how newer generations prefer to consume content.

Connected TV Viewership Continues to Rise

Connected TVs are everywhere and platforms like Hulu, Amazon, Netflix, and YouTube dominate the attention of the demographic viewing content through the Internet. According to eMarketer research, 64.8M millennials in the U.S. watch digital videos. This number is predicted to rise to nearly 67M by 2022. Since this age group is concentrated across a few leading platforms, marketers should consider focusing their efforts on integrating their brand on CTV in a more active way. This may mean anything from shifting marketing budgets to slowly testing platforms and strategies. While traditional marketing efforts shouldn’t be abandoned, connected TV strategy should rise with viewership. 

Connected TVs Will Soon Be the “Traditional” TV

Research shows smart TV households in the U.S. have risen 16% from 2017 to 2018 to nearly 46 million. The concurrent rise in popularity of voice-assistant devices (Google Home, Amazon Alexa) has helped drive the prevalence of connected TVs. Today’s consumer now considers streaming content to be a basic function of any modern TV versus an expensive and unique feature reserved for only the most expensive of units. To put simply, connect with customers where they are and give less focus to where they used to be.

Customers Tolerate Connected TV Ads

Since the average consumer pays less for a streaming video experience versus traditional cable or satellite, they tend to be a bit more forgiving when it comes to ads. However, as ads become longer and more intrusive, it’s still up to marketers to create content and placement that makes sense for the viewer.

Connected TV enables advertisers to more accurately place ads in the path of high-potential customers, while traditional marketers must cast a wider net when advertising via regular TV.

Marketers Can Collect Data Immediately

Since viewers must be logged into their streaming services before watching anything, marketers can measure the number of unique clicks, views, and conversions during and just after the advertisement hits. A traditional TV advertiser might have to wait several weeks or months to accurately gauge the effectiveness of a particular campaign. Connected TV enables marketers to pivot quickly and more easily target those who truly have a need or want to buy.

Streaming services are the future of home entertainment. With U.S. households currently streaming content at a higher rate than ever before, marketers need to focus their strategies to capture this highly lucrative and truly connected group of potential customers.