All too often, advertisers are prone to think of connected TV (CTV) and programmatic digital out of home (prDOOH) as rival advertising channels; two broadcast channels with mass reach, both vying for the same slice of the campaign budget. In truth, though, they’re never more powerful than when used intelligently together, as complementary partners in a unified, multi-channel campaign.

Powered by highly granular customer data and covering different parts of the buyer journey, CTV and prDOOH are an ideal pairing to enable more finely targeted real-world ad delivery, and so drive better results with more detailed attribution. Let’s take a look at what CTV and prDOOH are, the benefits they give advertisers on their own, and how they can improve outcomes when used together.

WHAT ARE CTV and prDOOH?

First off, it’s worth defining exactly what we mean by CTV and prDOOH. Connected TV ads, as the name suggests, are adverts delivered on a smart TV – whether directly on the homepage of platforms like Amazon Fire or Roku or within streaming content delivered via services like All4 or Prime Video. It’s not to be confused with ‘over the top’ (OTT) advertising, which includes viewing on mobile devices.

Digital OOH advertising includes any form of digital ad space in physical locations: think digital billboards on bridges, bus stops, and tube platforms. Programmatic digital out of home is defined by its delivery mechanism. Rather than purchasing a certain number of appearances or a certain amount of time in a particular set of pre-determined locations, advertisers define their desired outcomes and target demographics and let intelligent software decide on the best placements and times for their budget. This is a ‘programmatic’ approach to content delivery, hence ‘prDOOH’.

THE BENEFITS OF CTV AND prDOOH

For advertisers looking to boost their results, both of these media channels bring notable advantages even before they’re combined. For example, one of the key benefits of both prDOOH and CTV is precision targeting. Due to the large amount of viewer data available for both digital billboards and smart TVs, it’s possible to deliver ads based on viewer behaviour, location, purchase history, weather, time, and more.

Linked to that, CTV and prDOOH enable in-flight optimisation, adjusting delivery based on performance. For example, if a particular ad is receiving a higher number of skips than usual on a particular CTV placement, it can be shifted to a different time slot, audience, or programme. Likewise, the performance of prDOOH ads can be tracked in real-time through DSPs providing real-time data intelligence about audience movement patterns, footfall and high-traffic locations, and delivery of the campaign can be shifted mid-campaign to higher-performing locations.

Finally, CTV and prDOOH enable rapid delivery. In both channels, programmatic trading means advertisers can get ads on screens within hours rather than days, using automated triggers to select the best placements rather than more time-consuming manual campaign construction. This in turn allows them to seize the moment – responding to a major sporting event, for example, a sudden turn in the weather, or a headline-grabbing news event. Rather than having to wait days for the campaign to be scoped, confirmed, and launched, they can go straight to viewers and strike while the iron is hot.

THE POWER OF CTV AND prDOOH COMBINED

As a result of these shared benefits of CTV and prDOOH, some advertisers have felt the need to choose between the two advertising channels, dedicating budget to one or the other. However, they both have unique strengths, which, when used together, can significantly improve the performance of a campaign. 

Here’s why you should consider linking the two in your campaigns:

First, CTV and prDOOH enable you to connect public and private screens, joining up different parts of the purchase journey into a single, nuanced viewer experience. For example, a potential customer might see an advert for a music streaming service on a digital billboard while waiting for the bus; they’re interested, but their mobile signal is weak, so they can’t download the app. Later that evening, though, they encounter the campaign again on their smart TV, and this time they’re on their home WiFi, so the download only takes a few seconds. A potential lost opportunity is converted into a win by the combined approach.

When used together, CTV and prDOOH also deepen the impact of contextual experiences, allowing campaigns to be embedded into particular occurrences across the day, from the regular commute to the first sun of spring. This contextual placement is all the stronger when it occurs within a multi-channel campaign, as viewers more rapidly develop a sense of trust towards the brand concerned – encountering it at just the right time, several times in a short period.

In essence, CTV and prDOOH are revitalising the art of highly personalised ad experiences at the same time as digital advertising is feeling the pinch. Even with cookie permissions dropping fast, advertisers don’t need to return to the ‘spray and pray’ methods of yesteryear. A programmatic approach to digital out-of-home and connected TV advertising can still deliver the personalisation that brings results.

REAL LIFE EXAMPLES

To increase sales of their hybrid SUV model, the Compass, Jeep and Starcom decided to run a location-based omnichannel campaign. The campaign was displayed to audiences within a 5km radius of the top 20 Jeep retailers across the UK. Users exposed to DOOH ads were later shown IP-targeted CTV ads to maximise the likelihood of a visit to a Jeep dealership, as well as audio and mobile ads. The campaign resulted in 2,833 visits to dealerships within 10 days of being exposed to an ad, and 700 Compass models sold: 50% of annual sales.

Or take Crack’d, a new entrant to the plant-based egg replacement market. They launched a multi-channel campaign using digital OOH advertising as well as mobile and CTV. Audiences were targeted for greater return on reach via DOOH, while CTV ads were delivered on national channels to relevant audiences and identifiable locations – resulting in an increase of 17.4% in prompted brand awareness.

In short, even though they’re celebrated for their individual strengths, CTV and prDOOH are the perfect pairing to drive results from multi-channel campaigns – ensuring viewers get meaningful experiences across their day. With the right creative and a winsome offering, together they can be the key to success.

This article originally ran in Mediashotz here.