• by Lynne Kjolso , June 16, 2023

With customers engaging across an ever-growing number of devices, media, platforms, and touchpoints, advertisers have a difficult task at hand. Customer journeys are increasingly complex and don’t look the same for every brand or campaign. Additionally, the future of digital advertising is hybrid, collaborative, and agile – requiring marketers to be present during key moments in every customer’s unique journey, as they engage across ad channels.

Recently, CTV adoption eclipsed linear TV usage, marking a significant shift in the typical customer journey. As a result, more budget dollars are shifting to CTV advertising. In fact, according to eMarketer, CTV is the fastest-growing major ad channel with ad spending expected to grow 21.2% this year. However, inconsistent measurement and holistic ROI remain ongoing challenges given the fragmented CTV buying experiences. As we prepare for a post-cookie world, digital media decision-makers urgently need to measure the effectiveness of advertising across devices.

While marketers are spending more on CTV, they’re struggling to prove the ROI of their investments. Nielsen’s 2023 Annual Marketing Report found that 84% of marketers are including streaming platforms in their media planning, yet only 49% view OTT and CTV as effective advertising channels.  

There’s a clear need to more deeply understand the online actions driven by media buys and to better measure ad engagement. Through the steps outlined below, you can connect the dots as customers watch, browse, search, and shop, gain a richer view of the customer journey, and elevate your CTV ad campaigns.

Look at how consumer touchpoints interplay and influence behavior. 

We looked at TV streaming and searches and saw that Roku TV streaming ads drove a lift in both branded searches (9% increase) and clicks (11% increase) per user. We were also surprised to learn that frequency capping may limit campaign effectiveness. Our research revealed that exposure to a Roku streaming TV ad 11 times drove the highest lift. 

CTV advertising isn’t simply about upper-funnel awareness. It also leads to down-funnel actions. 

Find the optimal path for your audience to drive conversion.

Because of the nature of the evolving customer journey, channels shouldn’t be considered in a vacuum. For example, we learned that when a customer sees a Microsoft Audience ad presenting the same brand or product that they saw in a Roku TV streaming ad, they’re more likely to click on that ad, with a 10% increase in clicks. This was true regardless of the order of exposure. 

Notably, we also found that brand recall and response to ads via relevant searches was highest one month after exposure, challenging the widely held belief that brand recall is highest in the week immediately following exposure. 

Consider the nuances of your industry and apply these insights.

Consumers respond differently to ads from brands across industries. From tech to travel to retail, every touchpoint with a consumer tells a unique story. To learn more about your key audiences, you should allow data-driven insights to inform your strategy.

The creation of persona profiles allows marketers to group certain behaviors, such as the days and times that viewers are most likely to engage, as well as the number of interactions that lead to conversions. 

Analytics can reveal insights into important behaviors, like how technology consumers are most impressionable at the beginning of the week or that consumers exposed to travel ads are more likely to be influenced by CTV ads and audience ads, compared to consumers exposed to retail or technology ads.

Elevate your CTV ad campaigns.

With a constantly evolving advertising landscape, advertisers and agencies must optimize their digital media to drive real results. By understanding how your customer streams TV, browses online, shops for products, and searches online, you can gain behavioral insights that will help you build actionable and successful ad campaigns.