OTT effectiveness can be measured.

How often do you ask someone, “What’s a good show you are binge watching right now?” or “I need a good new show to watch?”  Probably a lot nowadays. Over the past few years, the rise of OTT (Over-The-Top) services and streaming platforms has transformed the way we consume entertainment and media. With the proliferation of these services, advertisers have also had to adapt their strategies to reach audiences in this new landscape.

OTT services are defined as any video content delivered over the internet and bypassing traditional cable or satellite TV providers. This includes popular streaming platforms like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, and many others. These services have become increasingly popular due to their convenience, affordability, and variety of content. According to a report by eMarketer, the number of OTT users in the US is expected to surpass 200 million by 2022.

One of the key advantages of OTT services is that they allow users to watch content on demand, at any time. This means that audiences are no longer tied to traditional TV schedules and can watch their favorite shows or movies whenever they want. As a result, traditional TV advertising has become less effective in reaching audiences, leading advertisers to shift their attention to OTT platforms.

OTT services have also enabled more targeted advertising. Unlike traditional TV ads, which are broadcast to a broad audience, OTT ads can be targeted to specific demographics based on user data such as age, gender, location and behavior. Some examples of targeting options are below:

This allows advertisers to deliver more personalized ads that are relevant to their audience, increasing the chances of engagement and conversion.

However, there are still challenges that advertisers face when it comes to OTT advertising. One of the biggest challenges is measuring the effectiveness of OTT ads. Traditional TV advertising relies on metrics such as ratings and impressions, but these metrics may not be as relevant in the OTT landscape. The great news is some measurement is now available for OTT.

The first option is OTT with Visit Tracking. Of the people we serve ads to, we can layer in On-Site Visit Tracking to your business to show you of the people who saw your OTT ad, who then visited your location.

How does this work?

Our OTT behavioral targeting categories are created from first-party data where we have collected mobile device IDS, then we mapped those IDs to a corresponding IP Address. If that IP Address is served an OTT ad on their Connected TV and then that person goes to your client’s location with their mobile device active, it is recorded as an on-site visit.

Talk about great ROI.

Another great way to measure ROI is with Social Mirror OTT.

Just like traditional Social Mirror where we can mirror a social post or video, we can also mirror any social video post and create an OTT ad and run it on connected TV’s. The ad features the client’s logo, business name, description and a QR Code. QR Code scans are captured to show that the commercial DID have engagement.

So now OTT can be measured for effectiveness outside of traditional metrics like calls, sales or appointments.

The rise of OTT services and streaming platforms has transformed the way we consume entertainment and media, and advertisers have had to adapt their strategies to reach audiences in this new landscape. OTT advertising offers advantages such as targeted advertising with measurable data.

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Are You Using a List to Target Consumers?

You make one for the week, you make one for grocery shopping, you make one for going on vacation, and you even make one for the big guy in red to check over in December, and he does that twice. Lists. They have been around forever and are very helpful for making sure you don’t forget anything, and that you get what you need to get done, done. There is nothing more satisfying for my Type A personality than checking off items on my list. They are also a great tool to have and utilize when it comes to advertising. Digital advertising has always been put up a pedestal because of its ability to get more targeted with consumers, and that is true since you can target by behaviors, location, keywords, or demographics, but it also allows for you to target a list of people that you might have. That list can be a database of previous customers, new customers, or even people that have never heard of your business.

There are several different products where you can use a list to target people:

Display Ads
Native Ads
Video Pre-Roll
Social Mirror
Social Mirror OTT
OTT
Online Audio
Mobile Conquesting
Amazon
LinkedIn
Facebook and Instagram

Just recently, the targeting strategies for Display, Native, Video Pre-Roll, Social Mirror, Social Mirror OTT, OTT, and Online Audio have been upgraded. Along with targeting through Behaviors, Keywords, using Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Retargeting, we can now use Custom Audience Matching and Custom Audience Lookalike for these products. That means that we can take a list of email addresses, physical addresses, or phone numbers, and target those people while they are browsing online and using apps. This is a great opportunity for business owners to get personal with their ad creative based on what kind of list they are targeting. For example, if Valvoline Instant Oil has a list of people who are existing customers that are due for an oil change, they could create an ad that is tailored to that audience and entice them to come in.

If they have a list of potential customers that are not in their database and they are trying to increase their market share, they might choose to purchase a list and offer those people on that list a different incentive with a different ad.

The second part of Custom Audience Matching is doing a Lookalike Audience. This is where we target people that have similar behaviors, characteristics, and interests of those on that initial list. It is ultimately creating a secondary list to target because we are searching for people that are similar to the list they already have. For these products, in order to run Custom Audience Matching by itself, you want to have a starting list of 5,000 email addresses, physical addresses, and/or phone numbers. If you don’t have that many, we will automatically add in the Lookalike Audience.

Another feature of running Custom Audience is that we can provide an Insights Report. This report will provide an overview of the makeup of customers on the list. That can then be used to better understand who your customers are, and even give us the ability to target new customers who look just like your list by using a Lookalike Audience. We can also add in a Behavioral Targeting using information provided from the report to guide you on what categories to target. These reports are five or six pages in length and include information about those matched on your list such as location, age, life stage, ethnicity, political party, household income, charitable contributions, home value, discretionary income, net worth, invested assets, genders present in the household, and number of children.

With Mobile Conquesting, the targeting strategy that uses a list is called Address Targeting and Address Retargeting. With this, we are taking a list of physical addresses and creating mini Geo-Fences around each address and serving ads to mobile devices at that address. If someone leaves that address, we will continue to serve them ads on their mobile device through Address Retargeting.

This is similar to Custom Audience because we are targeting people on a list, but this list is only physical addresses and only mobile devices. One of the perks of this targeting strategy is that with Mobile Conquesting we can also track on-site visits. That means that on the monthly reports, we can show how many people saw the ad and then went to that business within a two-week period. This is a great option for retail businesses, or those that have a lot of foot traffic so that they can see Return on Investment (ROI).

Amazon, LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram also can use Custom Audience Matching and Lookalike, but they don’t provide an Insights Report. The minimum number of entries on the list are also higher:

Amazon

Minimum List Size- 7,000 with or without Lookalike

LinkedIn

Minimum List Size- 10,000 if not running Lookalike, 1,000 with Lookalike

Facebook/Instagram

Minimum List Size- 20,000 if not running Lookalike, 1,000 with Lookalike

For all the products that have been listed, we can also provide a Match Back Report. If the business can keep track of who they sold to, who they signed up for a consultation, or who they gave an estimate or quote to each month, we can match that against the list of people that we are serving ads to, so they can again see that ROI. Another example of how digital advertising has also been put up a pedestal compared to other forms of media is because it is more trackable than radio, TV, or billboards. By providing that match back report, the business can see how many customers came from seeing those targeted ads.

One of the most important questions you want to be able to answer as a business owner is “Who is your target audience?” For the longest time, age and demographics were the only targeting options that were available, so that’s what businesses default to with targeting. Instead of saying you want to reach women that are 35-54, figure out what kind of women they are. Are they moms? Grandmothers? Do they work? What are their hobbies? That is going to allow you to go a lot further with your targeting and in turn, create better ad creative. By adding in Custom Audience Matching, that allows you to tailor that message just a little bit further since you can customize it to the type of list you are targeting.

From a business standpoint, there are so many different ways to advertise. On the other side of that, as a consumer, there are also so many ways to be influenced by all the different types of media and advertising we see daily. When you have the right audience and the right message, that’s when you’re going to see success. If you’ve ever seen a reel or a meme and thought to yourself “that’s me!”, that’s how you want your customers and potential customers to feel when they are served your ad, and using a Custom Audience list allows you do that, and it also allows you to get a deeper look into who your customers are with an insights report, see your ROI with a match back report, and the list of benefits goes on…

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Influencer Marketing for Social Mirror Ads

In today’s world, digital marketing has become a crucial aspect of every business.  With social media personalities on platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube becoming increasingly popular, businesses have started to shift their focus toward influencer marketing.  Influencer marketing has proved to be a powerful tool in reaching out to a vast audience and generating more leads.

What are some benefits of Influencer Marketing?

Increased Brand Awareness – Influencers have a massive following on social media platforms. By collaborating with influencers, businesses can tap into their followers and reach out to a wider audience.  Influencers are seen as experts in their respective niches, and their endorsement can increase brand awareness and establish trust among potential customers.
Targeted Audience – Influencers have a specific audience who are interested in their content. When businesses collaborate with influencers who have a similar target audience, they can reach out to potential customers who are more likely to be interested in their products or services.
Cost-effective – In some cases, this can be true, and return on investment can be much higher.
Increased Engagement – Influencers have a close relationship with their followers. By collaborating with influencers, brands can increase engagement with their target audience and build on those relationships.
Authenticity – Because influencers are found as trustworthy, having the endorsement adds authenticity to the brand and can increase the likelihood of a purchase.

A new trend we are seeing is using Influencer Marketing within your Social Mirror Campaigns.

What are Social Mirror Ads you ask?

Social Mirror ads look like your social media display or video posts but appear on other websites and apps, linking back to the social media platform and your website, and run across all devices using our targeting strategies. We are “mirroring” the EXACT look of your social post as an ad that runs on thousands of OTHER websites and apps, targeted just to the people you want to reach across all devices.

As you can see from above, the ad is being served on Auto Trader in this case, but it looks like a TikTok Video.  Again, these ads can click through to your website AND your social media platform, giving you the ability to drive traffic, and possibly increase your following on that social platform.

When it comes to ways to target your potential customers, there are several ways to do so:

Behavioral
Keyword
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Retargeting
Custom Audience Matching

A look inside Social Mirror

In Q4 of 2022, Vici showed a 44.3% growth in the number of Social Mirror ads that were bought from across our clients.  Not only did we sell more Social Mirror ads, but our click-through rates continued to perform above platform benchmarks.

As we continue to analyze the data for Social Mirror Ads, we find that Story Ads, Carousel Ads, and Video Ads have the highest click-through-rate.  Stories continued to be the premiere format for top-of-funnel engagement with a CTR average of 1.71%.  (That’s 24.42x the national average for those counting). In addition, we see Facebook and Instagram being the top two platforms used for Social Mirror creative.

What opportunities does this information give us with Influencer Marketing?

As influencers utilize platforms like Facebook and Instagram, the content that’s created can be utilized as part of your Social Mirror campaign.  Using your influencers’ videos to create Story Ads allows you to be able to enhance the reach of that influencer to even more potential clients outside of that plaform.  Showcasing an influencer’s experiences with your product or service through a carousel ad can capture attention of people who may recognize that influencer.

One real opportunity that exists currently is the rise of TikTok.  The usage is skyrocketing!  Not only is the usage skyrocketing, but so is ad spending.

25% of all social media ad budgets are now going to TikTok
50% year over year growth on TikTok

With all of this growth on TikTok, now’s the opportunity to get in!   Creating a TikTok account for your business, partnering with an influencer, and then utilizing the capabilities of Social Mirror targeting can maximize your exposure.

To maximize your exposure, here are some best practices for TikTok creative:

Performance is highest with videos under 10 seconds
Restrict captions to under 3 lines to focus on the visual experience
At Vici we match the CTA to the brand color to drive higher click-throughs

Key Influencer Trends:

89% of brands said they tapped into influencer marketing in 2022
In Q4 of 2022, brands utilized influencers to promote gift guides and unboxing videos
Influencer spend is moving rapidly from Instagram to TikTok

Campaigns targeting Gen Z are succeeding with a social-first approach.  Here’s how Social Mirror is breaking through the clutter:

Attention span: the average GenZ attention span is 8 seconds, which is 4 seconds less than millennials (Morning Consult)

Online shopping: 72% of GenZ has purchased a product online in the last month on any device (Global Web Index)

Streaming video: GenZ streams an average of 23 hours of video each week (Criteo)

Social-first: GenZ spends an average of 3 hours on social media per day, almost an hour more than the average Millenial (World Economic Forum)

Influencers: 76% of GenZ follows an influencer on social media (Morning Consult); 52% trust social media influencers for product or brand advice (McKinsey & Co.)

Here are two examples of brands utilizing influencers on TikTok:

With Social Mirror, there are a lot of ways to reach this audience.  Here are just a few examples of behavioral categories we could target:

TikTok User

TikTok Active User

Pinterest User

Pinterest Influencer

Snapchat User

Snapchat Influencer

LinkedIn User

LinkedIn Influencer

Visited LinkedIn Last 30 Days

Visited YouTube Last 30 Days

YouTube OTT Watcher

YouTube User

Facebook User

Facebook Sharer

Visited Facebook Last 30 Days

Facebook Influencers

Facebook Category Recommenders

Instagram Influencer

Instagram User

Visited Twitter Last 30 Days

Twitter User

Twitter Influencer

Those are just targeting categories that you can select from.  That doesn’t even take into account target by age, which you can start at the age of 13 and go up to 65+!

As Q1 of 2023 comes to a close, envision what your marketing efforts can look like in the months and years to come.   Is there in influencer out there that has a similar audience that you have customers?  Could an investment in them and an investment in your digital marketing help create the return on investment you’re looking for?

Make the investment with the right influencer.  Utilize creative outlets to enhance that social media presence, like Social Mirror Ads, and reach those potential customers outside of their regular social platforms.   With rising CPMs on social platforms, and the fact that your customers exist both on social media, and off, don’t you think you should be able reach them on social media…and off as well?

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