How Connected TV Caters to Holiday Shopping for Eager Consumers

The holiday shopping season is the Super Bowl of retail. Every brand, big or small, is vying for consumer attention, and traditional advertising methods just aren’t cutting it anymore. Enter Connected TV (CTV) and Over-The-Top (OTT) advertising, a game-changing strategy that allows brands to meet shoppers right where they are—on their favorite streaming platforms. And according to eMarketer, Digital Video Viewing Surpasses Traditional TV Viewing, so it is the prime place to be.

Here’s how CTV ads are catering to eager holiday shoppers and why it’s a must-have tool in your marketing strategy this season.

Why Holiday Shoppers Love CTV Ads

According to a recent article from SalesFuel, holiday shoppers are not only engaged but excited by CTV advertising. Unlike traditional commercials that interrupt their experience, CTV ads are seamlessly integrated into the streaming environment, making them feel less intrusive and more tailored.

• Targeted Messaging: CTV allows brands to deliver highly personalized ads based on user behavior, interests, and even location. For example, a shopper browsing for home décor might see ads for festive ornaments, mantle decor or cozy-smelling holiday candles with our behavioral targeting.
  • Some of the behavioral targeting examples include:
• Black Friday & Cyber Monday Shoppers
• Black Friday / Cyber Monday Online Spender
• Black Friday
• Black Friday Shoppers
• Black Friday & Cyber Monday – Home Electronics
• Black Friday & Cyber Monday – Fashion
• Black Friday & Cyber Monday – Travel
• Black Friday Shoppers – Electronics
• Black Friday Shoppers – Electronics Offer Seekers
• Black Friday Online Shoppers – Apparel Offer Seekers
• Black Friday Online Shoppers – Kids Offer Seekers
• Black Friday Shopping Enthusiast
• Black Friday Fashion and Beauty
• Cyber Monday Shoppers
• Christmas
• Small Business Saturday
• Affluent Christmas & Holiday Shoppers
• Christmas – Celebration Planners
• Christmas – Decorating Enthusiasts
• Holidays > Buying Presents > November through DecemberHolidays > Buying Presents > Multiple Weeks prior
• Holidays > Buying Presents > 2-3 weeks prior to Christmas
• Holidays – Hanukkah
• Hanukkah celebration planners
• Hanukkah decoration shoppers
• Holidays – Kwanzaa
• Winter Holiday > Celebration Planners
• Winter Holiday > Movie Goers
• Winter Holiday > Decorating Enthusiasts

As you can see there are many ideal targets to choose from.

• High Engagement Rates: Streaming audiences are more attentive. They’re not flipping channels or distracted by background noise; they’re tuned in, making them more receptive to your holiday campaigns. And with 100% of our ads running on connect TVS (the big screens), this audience is pretty connected!
• Visit Attribution: On-site visits to your business can be tracked for people who have been served your ad on their Connected TV. How does this work? A tracking pixel </> is embedded into the ad creative which associates the user with a universal profile which matches the person with all their devices. When the user who has been served the ad with the tracking pixel (on any device) then goes to the client’s location with their mobile phone their mobile device ID is matched back to the original ad ID number through the embedded pixel.
  

And at Vici we have several OTT options available. OTT with behavioral targeting, AI targeting, custom audience matching and lookalike targeting that appear on many top publishers all on connected TVs which considering the most premium inventory.

Amazon OTT. Leverage the power of Amazon targeting on top tier inventory including Fire TV, Twitch and Amazon Network Publishers and now Amazon Prime Video.

Prime Video has a significant audience appeal, with 71% of its viewers falling within the 18-49 age range. Its gender demographics show a fairly even split, with 47% of watchers being male and 52% female. Prime Video stands out as the largest premium ad-supported streaming service, providing advertisers with unparalleled reach.

The platform’s average unique audience compared to other streaming services is 47%, as nearly half of its viewers are exclusive to Prime Video and can’t be reached elsewhere. On average, users watch 16 hours of content per month. Prime Video ads are designed to maximize impact—they are full screen, sound-on, non-skippable, and non-clickable. Furthermore, the ad-supported viewers on Prime Video tend to be more affluent, educated, and informed than the general population. A notable 25% of these viewers have a household income of $150,000 or more, 18% hold a college degree, and 27% are more likely to be informed shoppers.

Last but not least, Social Mirror OTT.

Social Mirror OTT is very different from “regular” OTT ads.  For one thing, it looks different!  In addition to the video on the connected TV screen, which can be vertical or horizontal, also on screen, while the video is playing, is the client’s logo, headline, description, and a QR code.  The QR code, when scanned with a mobile phone, can take the viewer to the client’s website or be a scan-to-call, scan-to-email or scan-to-map.

We can take any video the client has posted on any of the 8 social platforms we work with, and from that create the Social Mirror OTT ad!

Talk about easy!

Why Your Brand Needs CTV This Holiday Season

The numbers don’t lie: holiday shoppers are loving Connected TV ads because they offer a personalized, engaging, and convenient shopping experience. As a brand, leveraging this powerful medium allows you to connect with your audience in a way that’s both impactful and measurable.

With our advanced OTT capabilities, we help businesses unlock the full potential of CTV advertising. Hyper-targeted campaigns that are designed to drive results. This holiday season, don’t just advertise—connect.

Ready to light up your holiday campaigns? Let’s talk about how our OTT solutions can help you make this season your most successful yet.

The post How Connected TV Caters to Holiday Shopping for Eager Consumers appeared first on Vici Media Inc..

How Restaurants Can Best Use Digital Advertising

It’s that time of year where we are all busy with all the things. From Thanksgiving through the end of the year, it seems like there is always something going on from holiday parties, kids holiday events at school, or just daily life. There is no doubt that retailers love this time of year, but one particular business that sees an increase in business is restaurants. I never knew that the hardest question I would have to answer as an adult would be “what are we having for dinner?”, so anytime there is an option for convenience with dining out, I am in!

As families juggle work, school, and extracurricular schedules, one trend has emerged stronger than ever: dining out. In recent years, busy families have shifted towards dining out more often, seeking a way to enjoy meals without the effort of cooking at home. However, with inflation affecting household budgets, they’re also focusing on convenience and value when choosing where and how they dine.

In a recent study from AdMall, it was found that families are dining out more than ever, but prioritizing convenience and value, and that is something I feel to my core. As a working mom of two young kids, when I am looking for a place to eat, or even grab take out, I want something that is kid-friendly and fast.

Here are some stats and findings from the Family Dining Trends Study, Affinity Group, 2024 for places like full service, fast casual and quick serve restaurants, food delivery services, pizza restaurants/delivery, or any company targeting restaurant food delivery orderers (those ordering twice a week):

• 74% of families report dining out more often this year compared to last, indicating a significant shift towards convenience in family dining habits.
• 60% of families dine out specifically to save time and effort, highlighting the importance of convenience in dining choices.
• 41% of families prioritize a diverse selection of menu options when choosing a restaurant, emphasizing the need for variety in offerings.
• 42% of families seek good value for their money, indicating that affordability is a key factor in dining decisions.
• 58% of families actively look for deals and discounts before deciding on a restaurant, underscoring the impact of economic factors on dining habits.
• 29% of families are more likely to return to a restaurant if they participate in a loyalty program that provides rewards or discounts.
• Over 80% of families have a favorite restaurant they visit frequently, indicating the importance of customer loyalty in the dining industry.
• 88% of diners have had a memorable dining experience, with food quality being the primary factor influencing their desire to return.
• 89% of diners plan to share their positive dining experiences, primarily through word of mouth, which can enhance a restaurant’s reputation.
• 67% of families have experienced a bad dining experience this year, with food quality being the leading cause for negative feedback.
• 60% of diners who had a bad experience cited food quality as the reason they would not return, highlighting the critical importance of maintaining high standards.
• Recapturing diners after a bad experience is challenging, with half or fewer willing to return only in response to a refund or significant discount.

Using digital advertising, restaurants can take advantage of various ways to reach families, frequent diners, and even loyalty members. Through Behavioral Targeting, you can use various products to reach that target demographic:

 Display/Native/Social Mirror/Online Audio/Over-the-Top (OTT)/Video:

• Families with Children 16-17
• Flourishing Families
• Moms with Big Families
• New Families with Children
• Established Families with Children
• Families with School Children
• Families with School Age Children
• Household Type- Families
• Household Composition- Families
• Christian Families
• Older Families and Mature Couples
• Italian Food Frequent Diners
• Mexican Food Frequent Diners
• Restaurant Visitors- Frequent Diners
• Frequent Diners
• Steakhouse Frequent Diners
• Seafood Frequent Diners
• Chinese Food Frequent Diners
• Korean Food Frequent Diners
• Fast Casual Restaurants > Quick Serve, QSR and Fast Food
• Fast Casual Diners
• Dining (by specific location)

Facebook/Instagram:

• Parents (up to 12 months)
• Parents (magazine)
• Restaurants (dining)
• Quick (restaurant)
• Types of restaurant (restaurant)
• Fast Casual Restaurant (restaurant)
• List of fast food restaurants chains (restaurants)
• Fast food restaurants (dining)

Mobile Conquesting:

• Big City Moms
• Fit Moms
• Soccer Moms
• Stay at Home Moms
• Suburban Moms
• Working Moms
• Dads
• Millennial Parents
• Parents
• Diners
• Evening Diners
• Fast Casual Diners
• Late Night Diners
• Lunch Diners
• Morning Diners
• Morning QSR Diners
• QSR Diners
• Sit-down Diners
• Quick Service Restaurant Visitors
• Casual Restaurant Visitors
• Fine Dining Restaurant Visitors
• Specialty Restaurants Visitors
• 100s of restaurants listed by name

TikTok:

• Family
• New Parents
• Parents and Children
• Parents
• All Parents
• Single Parents
• Dining
• Fine Dining
• Restaurants
• Local Restaurants
• Food and Restaurants
• Italian Cuisine Restaurants
• Top Restaurants
• Fast Food Restaurants

 YouTube:

• Parent
• Family-focused
• Family Vacationers
• Parents of Infants (0-1 years)
• Parents of Toddlers (1-3 years)
• Parents of Preschoolers (4-5 years)
• Parents of Grade Schoolers (6-12 years)
• Parents of Teens (13-17 years)
• Restaurant Delivery & Takeout

If you have a list of previous customers or a loyalty program, you can use that to reach just those people and provide them with special offers and entice them to come back and dine with you. Here is an example of an email I received from a local pizza shop. Since I have used online ordering with them in the past, they have my contact information, and now I receive weekly deals via email and on Facebook from them. This targeting strategy, Custom Audience Matching, is available with Display, Native, Social Mirror, OTT, Online Audio, Video, Facebook/Instagram, Amazon, and LinkedIn.

What is also nice about Custom Audience Matching, is being able to take that list and stretch it even further with a Lookalike Audience. This is reaching people with similar characteristics on that initial list, finding them while they are online and then serving them your ads while they are browsing on various websites and apps. For example, if Chris P. Bacon down the road has similar behaviors to me, s/he could now be served this Sal’s ad through using a Lookalike Audience.

To back up how much of an impact digital ads have when it comes to reaching consumers’ attention for restaurants:

• 8% of Restaurant Food Delivery Orderers (twice a week) took action after seeing an ad on a social media site or app. (great opportunity for Facebook, Instagram, and/or TikTok advertising)
• 4% of Restaurant Food Delivery Orderers (twice a week) took action after seeing an ad on a streaming TV service in the past year. (great opportunity for an OTT, Social Mirror OTT, or Amazon OTT campaign)
• 1% of Restaurant Food Delivery Orderers (twice a week) responded to video pre-roll ads in the past year. (great opportunity for Video, YouTube, or Native Video ads)
• 6% of Restaurant Food Delivery Orderers (twice a week) have responded to digital display ads in the last 12 months. (great opportunity for a Display, Social Mirror, or Mobile Conquesting campaign)
• 0% of Restaurant Food Delivery Orderers (twice a week) already have a company name in mind when they begin to search for a business online. (This stresses the importance of always advertising to create top-of-mind awareness so that when people do want to go out to eat, or order take out, your business is the first place they think of)

Dining out is more popular than ever, and for good reason. As families balance the demands of modern life, the convenience and value offered by restaurants make dining out a practical choice, for both parties! Whether it’s grabbing takeout for a quick meal on the go or sitting down to share a family-sized meal, the way we dine out has adapted. Restaurants that prioritize family-friendly options, convenience, and budget-conscious choices are likely to thrive in this ever-evolving landscape. By strategically selecting restaurants that meet their needs, families can enjoy a break from cooking without breaking the bank and for restaurants, by strategically selecting their ideal target demographic with an enticing offer and/or message, they can win that share of the (pizza) pie.

The post How Restaurants Can Best Use Digital Advertising appeared first on Vici Media Inc..