Why Data-Driven Linear Should be at the Center of Your Upfronts Strategy

It’s officially TV Upfronts season and although we can expect to hear more about the growth of streaming, we can't ignore that the majority of TV spend will remain in linear for the 2022-2023 broadcast year.

However, with changing viewer habits making it harder to reach select audiences at scale, the use of advanced data beyond age and gender is not just an option, but essential to maximizing the value of linear TV investments. Data-driven linear (DDL) is an advanced, audience-based way to buy linear TV and should be a critical strategy employed by advertisers in the upfronts to get the highest return on linear TV investments.

Moving beyond traditional age and gender targeting

Linear TV advertising has made significant advancements in targeting more niche audiences via data-driven linear (DDL). For instance, let's say you are an advertiser launching a new pet care product. You know who your target audience is – first-time dog owners over the past 12 months. Previously you could only define your audience broadly with age and gender parameters such as Adults 25-54, which resulted in waste as clearly not all Adults 24-54 are first-time dog owners or own a dog at all.  But with DDL, you can leverage first-party data, third-party data, or a blend of the two to more accurately define target audiences.

Technology is streamlining data-driven linear TV buying

Every national TV programmer can generate data-driven linear schedules via optimization technology that puts together the right mix of programming to deliver the highest concentration of a brand’s target audience while also meeting key campaign objectives. For advertisers, buy-side technology, like Xandr’s Invest TV platform has made it easier than ever before to incorporate DDL into your TV strategy. Through Invest TV, buyers can define an audience once, transact across the premium national TV footprint, and achieve unified reach. Technology has significantly simplified DDL buying, making it easier and more efficient for buyers and sellers to execute data-driven linear campaigns.

New unique outcome-based data sets that optimize for attention or search engagement metrics are helping to accelerate DDL investments. In the past, linear TV was limited in its ability to measure the full impact of exposure on lower funnel behaviors; however, significant strides have been made that now enable usage of this data in DDL planning and optimizations, bringing greater accountability to TV investments. Furthermore, the use of this data and the ability to measure outcomes more accurately will help close the existing gaps in cross-platform measurement spanning both linear TV and digital.

These unique data sets, along with emerging alternative viewership currencies, have transformed the TV industry into a data-driven ecosystem, leaving the reliance on age and gender transactions behind. The emergence of alternative currencies that are challenging the status quo has set the tone for a different year of upfront selling.  The growing appetite of both buyers and sellers to utilize alternative currencies as part of their upfront commitments supports the continued growth of data-driven linear (DDL) as a method for more precise targeting than traditional age and gender. It's an exciting time for the TV industry and the role of data in its evolution is something we should not just be watching closely, but also taking advantage of.