CTV 8-STEP FRAMEWORK

“Determine their advantages and their limitations,” Laura said. “What’s offered by a certain platform you can’t get elsewhere?”

Be Mindful of Transparency Issues

CTV and other forms of advanced TV are known for transparency problems; that’s where positive relationships and partners can prove beneficial.

“If you work directly with a publisher, you transact in a private marketplace environment to curate the inventory you want to reach. Knowing ahead of time what inventory you’re buying means the publisher can help you optimize to goals,” Andrea explained. “You don’t want to utilize the open exchange for CTV — you’ll run the risk of buying fraudulent inventory, or content you don’t wish to be aligned to.”

The issue with transparency in CTV is the reporting — that is, knowing what content your ad placement ran on. A lot of the premium broadcast publishers still have carriage agreements, which prevent the ability to share show-level content through the bidstream for reporting. However, by working directly with publishers, often you can receive a report from them post-campaign versus accessing it directly in a DSP.

“Also, if you curate the inventory you want to run on — let’s say by genre or category with a publisher — then you’ll have a better idea of what content your ads were placed in,” Andrea said. “Another option Goodway has been testing is buying through an ad server, which provides us with more transparency, scale and efficiencies instead of just using a DSP.”

Ask Each Platform How They Classify Premium Content

With the lack of transparency and measurement in the convergent TV advertising space, many platforms are taking it upon themselves to classify what is “premium,” so ask them directly to define this so you know if their definition of “premium content” aligns with yours.

Planning on completely outsourcing your paid advertising to a marketing agency? While you may not meet with DSPs and publishers yourself, it’s helpful to do your own research about different DSPs and publishers so you can identify if the agencies you’re evaluating have the relationships you need to best place your ads and meet your business objectives. Plus, consider looking for DSP- and inventoryagnostic media partners (like Goodway Group) so you have more available options and unbiased ad-placement approaches.

aren’t tactics, platforms or publishers. We have exclusive relationships and partnerships with most biddable buying platforms and access to an expansive inventory so you can meet your customers where they are.

Natalie Canavati RVP, Business Strategy and Development Goodway Group

6. Strategically Align Platforms With Available Inventory

Now that you’ve selected which platforms to work with, create a strategic way to apply the right platform to the type of inventory you’re looking for. For instance, if you’re buying more than one type of inventory (audio, display, out of home (OOH), etc.), you’ll most likely want to work with multiple DSPs, or DSPs that offer various adplacement capabilities.

“Take an agnostic approach,” Andrea explained. “As a case in point, Roku and Amazon have their own distinct inventory, so you’ll need to include them in your buying mix.”

7. Start Large, Then Go Small

Apply the most crucial targeting criteria to start. The broader you go with your targeting, the less expensive your campaign will usually be. Once you start seeing conversions or trends, narrow your audience further.

By doing so, you can spend less and learn more at first, then spend more when you’ve isolated and narrowed down your audience to the people who are actually converting. You’ll also ensure you’re spreading out your marketing dollars evenly and aren’t wasting money by overserving ads to consumers.

8. Test, Test and Test Some More

As with any marketing campaign, don’t just set it and forget it. Constantly test different methods, audiences, avenues and ad options with your TV advertising campaign. See if you can increase conversions or if you need to adjust your strategy based on the KPIs you may or may not meet. This will help you achieve the most success in your campaigns.

Let’s Recap

How To Create a Successful Convergent TV Advertising Strategy: An 8-Step Framework

1. Always Start With Your Audience

2. Choose Where TV Advertising Aligns in Your Customer Journey

3. Identify the Business Objectives (Outcomes) and KPIs for Your Campaign

4. Choose Your Media Channels and Allocate Your Budget

5. Select TV Platforms and Publishers To Help You Achieve Your KPIs

6. Strategically Align Platforms With Available Inventory

7. Start Large, Then Go Small

8. Test, Test and Test Some More

Buy Convergent TV Advertising With Confidence

With this knowledge and these steps under your belt, you’re well on your way to successfully executing your convergent TV advertising campaigns this year.

Looking for a partner to help power your convergent TV strategy? We can help. Reach out to learn how our team can bring your TV advertising to another level.

About Goodway Group

Goodway Group is a global data-driven and technology-enabled digital media and marketing services firm. Our diverse team of digital strategists, media practitioners, technologists and data scientists have won the most prestigious awards for innovative marketing technology, impactful work and inclusive remote-first places to work including being honored as a multiyear Ad Age Best Places to Work, AdExchanger’s Best Use of Technology by an Agency Award and three MarTech Breakthrough Awards. The firm deploys deep expertise across both consumer and B2B marketing including brandperformance advertising, retail media and commerce, and advanced analytics using proprietary digital programmatic technologies, data, analytics methodologies and consultation. Always independent, in 2006, Goodway Group transformed into a digital and remote-first media and marketing services firm.

Bonus Content NAVIGATING THE IMPACT OF CTV ADVERTISING

Discover why CTV advertising makes sense for brands with retail media networks (RMNS) and how to measure incrementality for your campaigns.