CTV Guide Category: OTT Advertising 101

Television advertising is changing. The audience for traditional antenna, cable, and satellite TV, also called linear TV, is shrinking.

Marketers who don’t change with the times are destined to be shotgunning old-fashioned ads to fewer and fewer viewers. Those who want to keep and expand their audience need to get on board in the world of OTT advertising.

Over-the-top television, or OTT, is streamed content that’s delivered over the internet and viewed on a computer device. It’s called OTT because it most frequently comes into homes over the top of an existing cable setup.

An OTT stream is not like the transmission from a TV tower or through cable. It’s a data stream that can be recognized and displayed by a computer such as a laptop, iPad, or smartphone. It’s not viewable on most older TVs.

Fortunately, most of today’s television sets are smart TVs, which contain the computer needed to interpret OTT. Viewers with a non-smart TV can enjoy OTT content by adding an OTT device such as a Roku or an Amazon Fire Stick to their set.

There are hundreds of platforms viewers can access for OTT content. A few are free but most require a paid subscription. Among the biggest and best-known OTT platforms are Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu. These are video-on-demand (VoD) platforms that maintain repositories of TV shows, movies, and their own proprietary content.

Many OTT platforms offer viewers two subscription levels: one that includes advertising and one that doesn’t. Most viewers choose to save some money and use the version with ads. There are over 100 million Amazon Prime accounts and about 35 million Hulu accounts. That’s a huge audience for Hulu and Amazon OTT advertising.

OTT ads aren’t like linear TV ads. They’re short, 15 to 30 seconds, and they appear either before or during streamed content. They’re typically non-skippable on TV ads.

Skippable or not, there’s less tendency to ignore them than with linear TV ads. They can be targeted to a specific audience based on age, zip code, and interest, and they provide real-time statistics that report on their effectiveness. On non-TV devices they support hybrid advertising, sometimes with clickable links.

The OTT audience is growing and the linear audience is shrinking.

There’s almost a “rush to the exits” in the way people are “cutting the cord” and abandoning cable TV. Streaming internet content is taking over. Both network and cable TV have experienced double-digit viewership losses from 2019 to 2020. About half of the American homes now feature an Amazon Fire Stick or a Roku. Within a couple of years, it’s estimated, there’ll be 50 million Americans who’ll refuse to pay for cable TV.

Traditional TV is increasingly irrelevant to younger viewers. Studies indicate that millennials spend seven hours a day on streaming devices, but the 18 to 24-yr-old group has scant interest in old-fashioned TV and watches it half an hour a day or less.

OTT advertising trends are the trends of the future. They drive toward targeting the most desirable viewers for your product. Because you can go after a smaller and more specific audience, OTT advertising presents a budget opportunity for small to medium-sized businesses that might not be able to afford linear TV advertising.

There are lots of ways to participate in Amazon digital advertising. You can advertise in the Amazon marketplace. You can get your Amazon-affiliate ads to appear on the Google search page.

Amazon marketing offers Amazon advertising opportunities in a variety of media, and the Amazon OTT platform is just one of them.

Amazon knows a lot about its customers. While other OTT platforms specialize in streaming content, Amazon is a retail behemoth with an unequaled user list.

When a customer subscribes to Netflix they get streaming content, but when they become a member of Amazon Prime they get access to books, movies, and free shipping on purchases as well as the Amazon Prime streaming library. People who joined Amazon Prime for other benefits become part of the audience available for OTT Amazon Prime ads.

One of the advantages of OTT advertising is the ability to target a specific audience, and Amazon is uniquely positioned to help you do that.

They know which of their customers shopped for a particular type of merchandise. They have age, income, education and geographical data on most of these folks. They categorize into interest groups such as homeowners or luxury vehicle drivers. They can identify who viewed your product but didn’t purchase it.

Unlike Amazon, Hulu doesn’t have a massive retail operation and a huge database of customer shopping data. However, Hulu is one of the more innovative companies in offering flexible advertising on its popular streaming service.

There are hundreds of OTT advertising platforms in the United States and more are being added every day. To know how to advertise on OTT, you have to decide which of these platforms to select.

In general, the best OTT advertising platforms are ones that have a large viewership along with the type of programming that will attract the viewers you’re most interested in. Here are some you might consider:

1.  Netflix is the undisputed giant of the OTT world with over 150 million subscribers. It is not only a distributor but is also known for its original content. Whatever your target audience is, a good portion of it is going to be watching Netflix.

2.  HBO Now has the same content as HBO, but viewers don’t need a TV set or a cable package to watch it. HBO has been providing movies for decades, but its most talked-about offering of recent years is Game of Thrones.

3.  Disney+ appeals not only to families with small children but to viewers of all ages. In addition to Disney, Pixar, and Star Wars, it also offers content from National Geographic.

4.  Hallmark Movies Now has about as enthusiastic a set of fans as there can be, in a demographic suitable for quite a few products.

OTT vs Linear TV

While OTT advertising is more flexible and more accessible than its old linear TV counterpart, the variety of choices can be intimidating to a marketer who’s new to OTT.

How do you choose your OTT advertising platforms? How can you be certain you’ll have complete coverage of your target audience without incurring the unnecessary expense of overlap? What should an interactive ad look like? You’ll be getting back a lot of data about who is watching your advertising when they’re watching and what they’re doing with it. How do you analyze his data?

Many of the OTT advertising platforms have tools and consultants to help you make the best use of their specific platform, but how do you decide whether theirs is the right platform to choose in the first place? These are questions you’re going to have to address if you want to keep abreast of the 21st-century world of OTT advertising.

The OTT abbreviation stands for ‘Over the Top’ media services. OTT meaning is described as the use of the internet to access and stream content. All the major OTT providers include companies such as Netflix, Hulu, and HBO. It can get confusing. For example, YouTube is commonly mistaken for an ideal OTT definition as a provider, however, it’s actually a social media platform.

The main form of Over The Top media is video content, especially OTT platform movies, and shows. Ideally, in using OTT services, you are bypassing all the traditional providers such as telecommunication networks and cable television companies. Instead of relying on these companies, you now only need the internet.

Many Over the Top TV services, however, are accessed via paid subscriptions every few months. Since OTT platforms now host a large group of users, it is an essential component of modern advertising. Below are a few reasons why Over The Top Advertising is important:

• Wide reach: Approximately 65% of United States internet users have at least 1 OTT subscription. That means that advertising companies have the potential of getting to over 182 million people just in the U.S. Additionally, studies have shown that people spend an average of 62 minutes per day consuming OTT videos. The figure is set to rise to over 70 minutes by 2022.
• The platforms offer advanced analytics after advertising.
• Video completion rates in OTT media are 90+% since most ads are non-skippable.
• More accurate targeting abilities: OTT providers often have a lot of information on users, which makes it easier to target the right population. Information such as geographical location, age, and topics all play a vital role in selecting an ad’s right audience. In this way, resources are fully used, and the ad’s efficiency is increased.

Numerous OTT platforms are coming up each year all over the world. Here are some of the top OTT platforms of the world, which also double up as the best OTT advertising platforms to date:

1. Netflix

Netflix is probably the best-known description of what is OTT platform. It is the best fitting description of OTT platforms full form because of their dedication to producing content. Its users pay between $8.99- $15.99 per month for premium viewing. Created way back in 1997, it has been an industry leader for numerous years and shows no signs of letting go of the title anytime soon.

2. Amazon Prime Video

Amazon has undertaken numerous projects to expand as more than just an online shopping platform. Amazon prime video is one of the latest amazon ventures, and it has become an OTT movie hit. Amazon Prime Video is linked to Amazon Prime, a shopping experience that offers numerous online shopping perks like same-day delivery. Thanks to its connection to Amazon Prime, the streaming service already has about 101 million subscribers. This also makes it one of the best OTT advertising platforms. Subscribers pay about $8.99-$14.99 per month.

3. Hulu

Hulu technically has the 2nd largest subscribers and boasts over 28 million people who access their services. It is also one of the most expensive, with users paying between $5.99- $54.99.

4. HBO Now

HBO is one of the most segmented streaming platforms with HBO GO, HBO Max, and HBO Now under its wing. Over 8 million users pay $14.99 per month for this service.

Other streaming services include Disney +, CBS All Access, Showtime, YouTubeTV, and Sling TV.

How OTT platforms reach an audience depends on multiple things, including the type of platform and how they interact with Connected TV company’s devices. One of the most common ways is through the Video Ad Serving Template that dictates how media is played, what is played, and what should be tracked. Most OTT advertising takes this form:

1. The advertiser contacts the OTT platform to run an advertisement
2. The OTT audience is then created based on data that the platform collects about its users. Most of the data is input by the users during the registration of a profile. The platform is then able to select a cohort that would serve as the ideal target. For example, people who love action animation movies could be targeted for a marvel festival in New Jersey. In this way, advertising on an OTT platform means targeting can almost be 100% accurate.
3. Ads are then channeled to the selected cohort through the platform. To enhance the ad process, tags are used to tell the media player how the viewer should see an ad.
4. Information on user interaction with the ad is collected and sent to the OTT platform and then to the advertiser. This usually contains detailed analytics that proves whether or not the ad campaign was a success.

Most of these OTT examples ideally spend billions of dollars to produce original award-worthy content. Some bigger players also have the money to purchase the right to shows that aren’t already linked to an OTT platform. Hulu is one of the most common examples of what true OTT means in movies, and even what OTT means in the film industry. It is in these movies and TV shows that advertisements are usually run. There are two main methods of inserting advertisements on OTT platforms.:

1. Client-Side Ad Insertion (CSAI)

Advertisers place ad campaigns on the OTT box before being shown to the user. It is currently the most common advertising method.

2. Server-Side Ad Insertion (SSAI)

The advertiser’s ad campaign is displayed in real-time as a seamless stream between the OTT platform content and the campaign streaming content. It is also known as ‘stitching’ because of the seamless transition between the ad and the video of the film being watched by the user.

The OTT abbreviation in movies is a powerful sign of effective advertising taking place. One of the greatest benefits of OTT advertising is that it offers advanced analytics for advertisers to use.

Here are some, but certainly not all, of the metrics that can be measured:

• Attribution Tracking. The ability of an ad to lead to a desirable action. For example, if you run an advert for a face cream, the attribution tracking monitors the number of sales made as a result of the ad. Thus, it allows advertisers to know what strategies are working and which ones to toss out.
• Video Completion Rate. It’s ideally how many times users watch your ad from start to finish. One of the greatest benefits of OTT full form in cinema advertising is that the completion rate is almost always 100%. Just like attribution tracking, it is also an efficient measure of how appealing an ad is to users. It also gives information on the type of demographic that engages with the ad and what point the viewers click off. With this information, the advertiser can change the target audience or edit out the undesirable parts.

Connected TV advertising is one of the main efforts made to move OTT platforms onto TV screens. Ideally, it is the use of a television set to access streaming platforms over the internet. CTV advertising companies usually include devices such as smart TVs, connected sticks or devices, and gaming consoles.

CTV advertising works just like OTT advertising, except that viewers are now targeted on their televisions. Most devices now come with OTT apps already pre-installed with internet access capabilities. The use of an OTT app on a big TV screen, in turn, provides a broader audience scope and more vigorous advertising. The users see the adverts on their mobile phones, laptops, tablets, and now TVs making the ad stay at the top of their minds.

In 2020 alone, OTT / CTV advertising revenue has grown by over 25%. Therefore, CTV ad spend has increased tremendously in this space. Forecasters have predicted a 22% increase in advertiser spending just in the first few months of 2021. Getting to the target audience has never been easier for marketers

There are three main factors that make an OTT TV app so appealing and addictive to users:

1. Cost

For a month’s subscription, OTT apps are relatively affordable for most users. The cheapest cost is about $5.99 for a single-use subscription.

2. Accessibility

As long as you have the internet, you can access streaming services from anywhere in the world. Some platforms also allow users to download free OTT TV shows whenever they won’t have internet access.

3. Control

Unlike traditional streaming, OTT applications allow you to choose what you want to watch at whatever time. Users also never miss out on shows because they will always be on the streaming app whenever they are ready to watch.

Overall, advertisers will see a direct return on CTV ad spend with OTT / CTV advertising whether it’s through attribution, prospecting, retargeting, cross-device targeting, and/or more. There are so many avenues an advertiser can test and identify what will make the greatest return on investment (ROI) for a brand.

What is OTT platform? At its core, over the top media (commonly referred to by the OTT abbreviation for short) refers to film and television content that is delivered to users not through a traditional cable provider, but in a streaming capacity over the Internet. The OTT definition refers to those services themselves, with Hulu and HBO Max being just a few prominent examples.

The over the top meaning involves a trend aimed at those people who are traditionally referred to as “cord-cutters.” These are the people who no longer want to deal with expensive cable bundles that are filled with channels they never watch. Instead, these people want to pay only for the content they are truly interested in. Over the top media services have emerged in the last decade as a viable way to accomplish precisely that.

In general, OTT platform providers offer content delivered through specific devices. The AppleTV and Roku streaming boxes are two of the most prominent examples, although there are many others.

According to one recent study, there were around 170 million OTT users in the United States alone as of 2018. The same source indicated that in 2010, worldwide revenue from OTT was an impressive $6.1 billion.

Flash forward just a few short years and that number is anticipated to climb to $129.59 billion by as soon as the end of 2021. At this rate, it will hit a staggering $210.29 billion as soon as 2026 – pointing to one trend that shows absolutely no signs of slowing down anytime soon.

It is important to note that there are a few differences between the OTT TV meaning and the type of video streaming content people regularly enjoy on sites like YouTube. They are not the same thing and should not be treated as such, especially for OTT advertising examples.

What OTT means in movies involves content that is being delivered on premium TV networks. Someone can subscribe to HBO via their cable provider, yes. But they can also use an OTT app and sign up for HBO Max, getting the same content delivered over the Internet and cutting out the cable company entirely. To note, it’s not possible to find the same content on YouTube, to use just one example of a popular streaming site.

Many OTT examples still operate using the “traditional” model of content creation, it’s simply the delivery mechanism that has changed. They still invest significant sums of money in shows and movies that get people talking. This is as opposed to YouTube, which is flooded with user-generated content that ultimately has little to no value to marketers.

One of the major characteristics that have made OTT so popular in such a short amount of time is the on-demand access to the content these services feature. Customers have embraced it because it gives them consistency and simple access to all of their favorite shows, movies, and other programs. This is especially contrary to traditional television, which requires someone to watch a show at a specified time unless they choose or remember to record an episode for later use.

For advertising, OTT offers a wide range of different benefits over traditional streaming that cannot be ignored. The top OTT platforms all bring with them enormous and diverse audiences.

Another recent study indicated that in the United States, OTT users tend to spend at least an hour per day with one of these services as of 2021. That number has only increased given the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic that saw people stuck in their homes indefinitely while on lockdown. To provide an example, Hulu was named one of the top 10 OTT platforms in world.

There are several benefits that an OTT TV app will offer to advertisers like enhanced credibility. If you can get your ad to run alongside a premium piece of content that gets people talking, it will be seen as far more credible than if that same ad had run on someone’s YouTube channel. Indeed, none of the content on the OTT platforms list is user generated – meaning that it’s all professionally created and is naturally assumed to be of a higher quality than something that was submitted by the users themselves.

Another one of the major reasons why OTT TV is beneficial for advertisers has to do with the idea of non-skippable ads. On a site like YouTube, users can generally skip all advertisements after about five seconds. This means that they may never interact with a marketer’s content at all in a meaningful way. On most services on any OTT platform list, this isn’t the case. People are served ads before or during a show. This makes it far more likely that they’ll see and thus retain a marketing message due to if credibility.

A major disadvantage to traditional streaming on sites like YouTube comes down to the fact that there is no set length for the content that is being published, particularly when it is uploaded by regular users. Clips can be more than seconds in length, which hardly give people time to digest the video itself, let alone any advertising content that displays before or after it. With OTT services, you’re only watching premium content with far greater lengths in content. A television show will still be at least 20 to 30 minutes on average, while movies will be an hour and a half or more. People are more invested and they know what experience they’re signing up for, making them far more receptive to any advertisements they may see along the way.

But perhaps the biggest benefit of all comes down to the fact that OTT platforms bring an incredible level of consumer freedom, and invite advertisers everywhere to come along for the ride. For consumers to enjoy the content, they’ll begin their journey with a free OTT TV player or a set-top box like the AppleTV. Then, they sign up for OTT services and have a personal experience that is practically tailor-made for their tastes.

Being a programmatic advertising platform, the gives Advertisers more options to reach their audience pulls as it is based on the targets they set on their audience. This gives them more control over who is seeing their ads and who are most likely to convert into customers. That’s not something you can get with traditional streaming.

OTT solutions have gone from being somewhat of a niche concept to the dominant form of content distribution on Earth in just a few short years. But the most exciting thing is OTT TV is only getting started.

2021 and beyond will see the launch of 5G Internet connections in more areas around the country, for example. This means that people will soon have access to more than 100 times faster connections than currently available 4G LTE networks. So not only will they have faster and more reliable connections to support higher resolutions, but it will also make it easier to engage with their favorite content on mobile devices like smartphones and tablets.

Another study indicated that about 29% of people said they would gladly pay additional money for a 5G connection if it guaranteed them better video quality on mobile devices, along with additional benefits like decreased buffering. So as 5G continues to roll out across the country over the next few years, you can expect the adoption of OTT solutions to increase even more as a result.

In the end, it’s safe to say that consumer behaviors and preferences have changed wildly over the last decade. On-demand content and over-the-top distribution were already the way of the future, but the COVID-19 pandemic acted as an accelerant that brought several trends to the forefront far sooner than a lot of people thought they would.

Make absolutely no mistake about it–OTT is here to stay, and that is very much a good thing for both consumers and advertisers alike.

The OTT platform has never been more popular for advertisers. Marketers are joining the train with how many households are cutting the cord and exclusively using streaming services to view content. OTT stands for over-the-top—an industry term used to describe accessing programming without a cable or satellite TV provider.

OTT programming only requires a stable internet connection and an internet-ready device. Smartphones, tablets, laptops, Smart TVs, and more can be used for OTT content. The viewer will then use streaming applications to view digital videos.

OTT app development has been streamlined to get more and more content creators online. Streaming services launched approximately 15 years ago with YouTube considered the first OTT platform. A couple of years later, Netflix and Hulu launched their streaming platforms. Today, dozens of OTT platforms are available for download. OTT platforms used by advertisers include Amazon Prime Video, Peacock, Paramount Plus, Discovery Plus, Vudu, IMDB TV, and Sling.

The OTT Market

The OTT market will continue to attract advertisers because of its projected viability. Statistics demonstrate that in 2019, the OTT market had a value of $121 billion. By 2027, the value is expected to be worth over $1 trillion. OTT platforms will have a total subscriber base of 2 billion by 2025. With 2 billion subscribers, marketers will have unprecedented access to viewers who are ready to engage with new brands.

The OTT platform list keeps growing. Streaming devices such as Roku, Amazon Firestick, and Chromecast. As one example, Roku offers dedicated advertising options, specific to its platform. Marketers can choose from 15 to 30-second video ads, interactive media ads, and overlays.

OTT platforms work off of two central types of business models: subscription-based and ad-based. Subscription-based services may offer an ad-free viewing experience for an extra fee. The most popular type of streaming service is ad-supported. With ad-supported OTT content, media is played with commercial breaks. The ads may appear before a program starts, mid-program, and as credits roll. Depending on the platform, ads may need to be viewed entirely and not skipped before completion. Completion rates of OTT ads are substantial with an average of 90 percent or more.

Select platforms net more ad revenue than others. According to eMarketer, half of all OTT ad revenue will come from YouTube, Hulu, and Roku. The ad revenue surge comes from the average person spending at least 80 minutes per day viewing OTT content. Marketers have more ad options when deciding to launch an OTT platform too. The format allows for more than just a traditional 30-second commercial spot. Ads can be interactive with online connections permitting a near-instantaneous Call-To-Action.

OTT platforms also give flexibility about when ads can be run. Not all businesses can afford a national network commercial during a major sporting event or awards show. Through OTT platforms, brands buying programmatically bid on ad space based on the popularity of the ad spot and target audience. OTT ads can be streamed during live programming, including sports games, awards shows, season premieres, and season finales.

An OTT platform is a space where marketers and consumers come together. Several types of ads appear on OTT platforms, but a selection of the most popular includes:

• Interactive ads. For interactive OTT ads, viewers can use their remotes to access the brand’s landing page. For example, if the brand is advertising a band, the internal link could bring the consumer to a page where concert tickets are sold.
• In-stream ads. In-stream ads can appear throughout a movie or TV program at various intervals. The ads will not be skippable and will play between 15 and 30 seconds.
• Static ads. Home screen and pause button ads can be placed within an OTT platform. The ads stay in place and will usually include a specific Call-To-Action.

OTT platforms full form include Pluto, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, and Apple TV. These platforms are among the most popular in the United States. Globally, marketers can also access some of the same or even more options.

An OTT platform app will bring elevated awareness to a brand. Marketers need to make an OTT platform a part of their marketing strategy. Ads developed can engage consumers at every step of their relationship with the brand. Targeted ads can be used to initiate brand awareness and then build trust. Marketing goals with OTT platform ads should include increased social media clout, improved sales, and heightened brand image.

OTT Marketing

OTT platform marketing involves more than simply choosing where to advertise. Once a marketer selects a platform, the company should fine-tune the creative to meet the OTT platform’s specifications. Most importantly, video ads should be developed to look exceptional on various screens. OTT content can be displayed in 4K UltraHD or run on any mobile screen. The creative should look good no matter where the ad is displayed. OTT ads run on full-screen with every pixel on display.

OTT ads are delivered at any time during live programming and on-demand streaming. Brands, even those with a budget, can display ads on content with high viewership numbers. With non-skippable ads, viewers have to watch content from start to finish.

With OTT marketing, advertising dollars are spent in a very targeted manner. Marketers can target viewers on more than just geography. Advertisers can target based on the type of content the consumers are watching and what times of day they’re viewing the OTT media.

A targeted marketing plan will also include where consumers are streaming from. Are they using Amazon Prime Video? Or are they more frequently Hulu users? How are they watching the OTT content? Are they using their smartphones? Or are they streaming from their gaming consoles? The answers to these questions help with creating a fine-tuned OTT marketing strategy.

The ideal OTT platform list will include services that deny skippable ads. Although YouTube is a streaming service, ads are skippable throughout the space. Moreover, YouTube isn’t considered a premium OTT TV app. YouTube isn’t primarily used to stream network and cable programming. The application is typically more geared towards amateur-generated content creators.

OTT examples should also exclude any services that won’t permit ads on their platform. Popular OTT platforms like Netflix currently only gain revenue through subscribers. Some OTT platform examples give several subscription options. Subscribers may access content ad-free but at a higher monthly cost. Ad-supported versions of OTT apps are among the most popular. For instance, as of 2021, Hulu had just under 40 million subscribers. Additional OTT apps examples are:

• Apple TV. The OTT platform is home to numerous popular TV shows, including Ted Lasso and The Morning Show. Apple TV produces exclusive content that cannot be streamed on any other platform.
• Paramount Plus. Paramount Plus is a relatively new platform that came off a rebrand of CBS All Access. The platform includes programming from CBS and Nickelodeon. The platform also produces exclusive content for subscribers, including the new Star Trek series.
• Peacock. Peacock is NBC’s streaming platform and includes premium and free subscription options.
• Hulu. Disney owns Hulu. Although, Hulu offers its own library of TV content that attracts different viewers. Many new episodes of network TV shows premiere the next day on the Hulu platform. Furthermore, Hulu Live is the most popular live-streaming service currently offered. Additional popular live OTT platforms include Sling and Fubo.

The top (OTT platforms in the world) can change from month to month. On a routine basis, the biggest OTT platforms in the world adjust based on the popularity of content.

For instance, Funimation was never one of the biggest OTT platforms in the world but recently saw a surge in subscribers due to high-quality anime content added. Keep in mind that advertisers can access all of the best OTT platforms in the world without being available for streaming in the United States. Some OTT platforms have restricted viewing based on the consumer’s location.

The current list of OTT platforms in the world with the highest number of subscribers are:

• Netflix. Netflix is the top service with availability in 190 countries.
• Amazon Prime Video. Amazon’s streaming service is included with the company’s Prime membership option.
• Spotify. Spotify is considered the top audio streaming service in the world.
• Tencent Video. This OTT platform is based out of China.
• QIY. The Asian service provider plays a variety of dramas, comedies, and anime.
• Disney Plus. The service plays content produced by Disney.
• Youku. YouKu is a Chinese video streaming service.
• Viu. This OTT service is based out of Hong Kong.
• Hulu. Hulu is one of the most popular streamers in the United States.
• Eros Now. Eros Now is a top pick in India.

For advertising in the United States, marketers need to look at what the top (OTT platforms) are. The best OTT platforms in the USA have a significant amount of subscribers and a business model that consistently updates their offerings. The following list of OTT platforms in the USA will only include those with ad space available.

• Hulu
• Amazon Prime Video
• Spotify
• Amazon Music
• SiriusXM
• Paramount Plus
• HBO Max
• ESPN Plus
• Apple TV Plus
• Pandora

Contact Keynes today to learn how to get your brands to appear on the top OTT platforms around the globe.

OTT has become the face of live content streaming within no time! The popularity is justifiable with the service it’s putting forth, as OTT channels have become a household choice!

OTT full form is “Over The Top,” which can be metaphorically relatable to the streaming content ahead of conventional means. OTT is all about premium content with an Avant grand diversity of content. It’s like a home cinema where you can have an interruptionless view of content across the globe.

OTT Platforms – A Great Market value

The growth of OTT platforms is following a smooth drift while catering to premium content quality and diversity. Currently, OTT marketing has crossed the gross value of 615.34 million dollars. OTT is expected to grab a net worth of 1375.45 million dollars by 2027 while entering the markets of developing countries.

Growth of Live Streaming Industry- Over the Years

The growth of OTT platforms is following a smooth drift while catering to premium content quality and diversity. Currently, OTT marketing has crossed the gross value of 615.34 million dollars. OTT is expected to grab a net worth of 1375.45 million dollars by 2027 while entering the markets of developing countries.

What is an OTT platform, and what time to make a knowledgeable understanding? OTT platforms full form is like a hosting channel where you provide multiple video streaming services to your consumers. Subscribers surf through a pile of content (like OTT movies or TV shows) from digital content creators, media hubs and channels, and whatnot.

All OTT platforms are available as full-fleshed OTT apps compatible with multiple software (iOS, Android, Smart TV, etc.).

Here’s an OTT platform list that’s popular around the globe:

• Hulu
• Netflix
• Apple TV+
• Amazon Prime Video
• YouTubeTV
• Disney+
• Peacock
• HBO Max
• Crackle

OTT Platforms – An Advertisers’ Dream

OTT platforms have become the first choice for consumers and marketers as they’re widely accessible through CTV.

• Content choice: Viewers and advertisers can switch to their desired content in a fraction of a second. Hence, it’s a piece of cake for advertisers to crash a particular market with the right advertising.
• Unicast: Unicast is another benevolent feature that provides a private connection to every CTV device. There’s no third-party involvement at both consumers’ and advertisers’ end.
• Evolutionary Space: OTT advertising or CTV advertising is evolving continuously. Hence, the demand shifts towards a creative digital landscape.

Hence, the current digital ecosystem is favorable to customizable services, where users can view what they want and when they want. Through real-time metrics, advertisers can get straight to their users’ devices and content of choice.

If you’re an advertiser or a brand owner, nothing can stop you from reaching your peak outreach through OTT.

Something to keep in mind when testing or running CTV vs OTT, we don’t all watch the same channels, all the time! Keynes cannot stress enough how important running CTV and OTT programmatically is. Having access to the world’s largest and most premium network partners means we have the highest opportunity of finding your future customers… On any OTT platform.

But in terms of OTT platforms, we suggest following the guidelines of a few while OTT platform providers face higher and higher with the introduction of advent advertising features now and then.

We consider Hulu the best OTT platform to follow to level up your advertising game:

Hulu

Hulu has strict requirements for advertisers on video creative to keep their platform pristine and never diluted with low-quality ads.

Hulu also has fantastic features of an ad-supported subscription. It can be your potential advertisement host with an active viewership of 92 million (ad-supported version).

OTT platforms have assisted the horizon of advertisement and marketing through live streaming in its evolutionary journey. Whether it’s about the groundbreaking Amazon OTT advertising or the challenging stats of viewership growth, OTT is the ultimate support system.

1. Hulu (Again)

Not only does Hulu have the best standards for assets, but Hulu also has a net viewership of 100 million active users, while the major sum comes from the 35-44 years of age group.

Hulu has exclusive subscription bundles that are customized to serve its viewers in the best possible way! Hulu CPM costs $20-$60, depending on the choice of package. Under the banner of heaven, God Forbid, House of Dragon, and many more are striking through Hulu’s massive viewership.

2. Peacock

Peacock is a comparatively new OTT platform that’s a library of phenomenal Peacock originals and NBCUniversal masterpieces.
Peacock has a free as well as a premium version too.

The current cost of Peacock CPM is running at $30 to $40. You can roam through Sports live streaming as Copa Mundial De La FIFA or watch some exclusive Peacock originals as A Friend of the Family!

3. Netflix

As evident from the OTT full form, Netflix is truly carrying the live-streaming genre on a whole new level. Being the largest and original media display site, it’s a wide array of audiences from Gen Z to millennials and Gen X viewers.

Currently, Netflix CPM (Cost Per thousand Impressions) is said to be $60 as a debut price. Whereas shows like Orange is the New Black, Stranger Things, and Narcos have gained massive popularity.

4. ESPN+

ESPN+ is popular among sports enthusiasts as it provides premium live streaming of sports events. It’s popular among millennials as well as Gen Z also.

The average CPM for ESPN+ is somewhere around $10.98. If you’re passionate about Sports shows, ESPN+ has a treat for you. Shows like Highly Questionable, First Take, and Pardon The Interruption, etc., are worth hours long sitting.

Though mostly used together terms, OTT vs CTV has distinct features.

• What is OTT? OTT accounts for video streaming services reached out through the internet. OTT examples include Hulu, HBO Max, Netflix, Amazon, Peacock, Disney+, and many more.
• What is Connected TV or what is CTV? CTV accounts for the device (connected to the internet) that displays any OTT platform or other channels. CTV examples are smart TV as Apple TV and Samsung TV and gaming consoles such as PlayStation, Xbox, etc.

The only correlation between the terms is that both support the “Cord-cutting” phenomenon.

OTT Advertising and CTV Advertising

Although OTT and CTV advertising is interchangeable terms, as most view, their roles are significantly different.

CTV Advertising:

• CTV advertising is about displaying ads through all of the streaming devices or CTV devices connected with an internet connection.
• CTV ads appear as video commercials viewed during the live content streaming break.

OTT Advertising:

• OTT advertising displays ads separately on an OTT platform based on your subscription.
• OTT Ads have multiple formats, posted on ad-supported OTT subscriptions.
• Custom user controls form a direct connection between target users and advertisers.

Moreover, CTV and OTT advertising are relatable regarding metrics analysis and 1st and 3rd party data consumption.

As real-time effectiveness is measured through advanced tactics, OTT determines the lag areas and the potent aspects of your advertisement. Henceforth, you’ve acknowledged what your consumers want from you and their expectations.

In a nutshell, CTV advertising backs up OTT platforms in accomplishing their advertisement goals.

Today the pitched battle between OTT platforms is storming through Netflix and the OTT giant “Disney” with its arbitrariness. Not just that, there are other emerging platforms as well, such as Peacock, ESPN+, etc.

The collective viewership of CTV and OTT is skyrocketing. With similar roots (cord cutters), CTV and OTT advertising often come together.

To extract the nectar, the OTT channel has to excel at certain metrics and evaluation strategies.

KPI metric examples that can be reached in a CTV/OTT campaign:

• Reach
• Impressions “CPMs”
• Video-Completion-Rate “VCR”
• Cost-Per-Visit “CPV”
• Cost-Per-Acquisition “CPA”
• Cost-Per-Walk-Through “CPWT”
• Return-On-Ad-Spend “ROAS”

This is to show that OTT advertising is a branding AND performance channel tracking real-time results.

Safely said, the exponential incline your brand will follow after investing in OTT advertising can never be touched by linear TV advertising or conventional marketing.

If you’re looking for video creative OTT advertising examples, please visit our TV Commercial Reviews HERE. Here you’ll find our CEO, Dan Larkman reviewing TV ads based on branding and direct response. He gets into the nitty gritty of what advertisers should be looking for when building their creatives based on their goals.

Cherish the fruit of your smart work through niche-specific outreach rather than struggling with traditional advertising.

Keynes Digital specializes in providing tailored solutions to complex advertising campaigns. Join us now and make it happen!

OTT agency is the organizing body behind a successful ROI boost led by a groundbreaking advertisement campaign. Being a marketer or a dedicated brand owner, you’ll always look up to an OTT agency to cater to creative campaigns and measure real-time analytics.

OTT agencies are equipped with all the essential expertise required to provide a full-stack benefit to any OTT advertising business.

How Do OTT Agencies Help Promote Marketers and Brands? 

OTT advertising companies or agencies have the holistic expertise to plan and manage advertising campaigns according to your brand’s needs.

How Are OTT Agencies Promoting Your Brand’s Outreach? 

Through traditional outreach methods, winning a significant viewer count of millions isn’t a piece of cake. OTT agencies have developed strategic concerns to target the maximum audience through a single source.

Here’s how it’s leading marketing benefits for your brand:

• Through trackable metrics, OTT agencies know when, where, and how to target a particular group of people to gain the highest user attention.
• OTT agencies seamlessly benefit cord-never and cord-cutters that aren’t easy to interact with through conventional means.
• Reaching out to audiences consuming premium entertainment content is sturdy to tackle. An OTT agency makes sure to use the same content format and platform within a sustainable cost for the said audience.

Keynes provides real-time analytics of your brand growth through top-ranking programmatic channels. Keynes proudly possesses the qualities of an ultimate advertising company aiming to provide you with the following:

• Organizing An Effective Media Strategy: Keynes helps your brand with the marketing campaign while anchoring your campaign with the most impactful programmatic media strategy.
• Direct Interaction with The Inventory: Connecting with an OTT advertising inventory directly is important, as mid-vendors might take a slack off your budget to spend on an ad campaign. Keynes ensures a fully productive consumption of your budget while ditching subsiding costs.
• Trackable Marketing Process: One of the influential sides of OTT marketing is its potential to be tracked and measured for growth and prospective policy-making. Keynes ensures this outcome through a digital (consumer conversions/Web store visits) check and in-store audience intake.

OTT or Over The Top is an umbrella term that covers premium content streaming online through renowned channels such as Hulu, Netflix, ESPN, etc. OTT channel is the advanced format of streaming entertainment content through the internet over most CTV devices.

Over the Top Market Growth and Trends 

With the inception of digital evolution, the broadcasting and content streaming industry led to an upsurge of cord-cutters and cord-nevers. Now, users can watch or download OTT movies, countless TV shows, and sports events without connecting with a traditional cable or satellite service.

We’ve split some of the significant CTV market growth stats as:

• Market size is expected to surpass 1241.6 Billion dollars by 2030 with a CAGR of 26.42%.
• The major market growth is driven by Hulu, Disney+, Netflix, Amazon, HBO Max, Apple TV+, Peacock, etc.
• Smartphones and smart devices majorly drive the demand for OTT services. The incline to adopt these devices is proportionally boosting the OTT market.

OTT Channel Expectations

Diversity in viewership options comes with great responsibility for OTT channels. The shift of control choice from OTT channels greatly towards viewers is clear evidence.

Pre and post-pandemic brought forth different expectations from streaming experts. Some believed that content consumption might decline once the matter is settled down. Ironically, the increased subscription numbers indicate an inclining trend among OTT hosts.

Henceforth, viewers are more eager in 2022 and onwards to binge-watch thrilling and exciting OTT content. Squid games, Wednesday, or Amazon’s great deal of all times as “Buying MGM.”

The best OTT platforms full form can be best described through their classification of advertisement modes. This classification divides them as:

1. SVOD (Subscription Video On Demand) 

It includes premium OTT content hosts that provide advertisement-free content to their users. SVOD OTT channels are:

• Netflix
• Prime Video
• Disney+ 
• ESPN+
• HBO Max
• Hulu

2. TVOD (Transactional Video On Demand) 

These OTT platforms are functional under the pay-per-view model, where the audience can either pay once to view it or buy it for repeated viewership. TVOD OTT platforms are:

• Amazon Prime Video Store
• Google Play
• iTunes
• Sky Box Office

3. AVOD (Advertising Based Video-On-Demand) 

AVOD provides users with free content in exchange for ads displayed over video streaming. AVOD Platforms are:

• Disney+
• YouTube TV
• Hulu
• CRACKLE
• Peacock
• The Roku Channel 

OTT advertising is the display of ads on viewers’ screens while they’re watching OTT videos. Ads can be displayed during the streaming video or after and before it. However, they’re two ways to advertise through OTT medium.

Programmatic Advertising Buying

Programmatic advertising uses an automation mode to purchase ad space on a digital platform. That ad space is then optimized with algorithms generated from your brand’s goals towards growth and reaching a particular group of people.

Benefits of Programmatic Buying: 

• Programmatic buying takes place through real-time ad space bidding and is a custom-tailored process for each brand.
• The conventional modes of advertising have already set the path for marketers and advertisers. Yet, programmatic buying enhances its products’ value by many folds.
• Programmatic ad buying has fragmented traditional TV ads into other potential short ad formats. This method doesn’t require excessive creativity and brings back more customer concentration.

Direct Buying 

Buying ad space or ads directly from the OTT platform or OTT service provider is called direct ad buying.

Benefits of Direct Buying

• Direct ad buying allows marketers to publish ads during a time frame.
• As a marketer, you can have more control over the advertising inventory than other modes of buying ads on OTT.

Henceforth, at Keynes, we believe in driving an ad campaign through its successful outcomes. The audience will stay with you for the long term as the promising jackpots in an ad campaign are trackable to guide future TV commercials.

In the current aura of digital marketing and advertising, OTT vs CTV doesn’t make a big difference regarding their service to host ad campaigns.

• OTT/CTV advertising shares identical modes of advertising through Connected TV devices or OTT platforms. Both make use of displaying creative ads alongside premium content streaming.
• OTT isn’t identical to CTV in the way both display ads. OTT displays ads while the audience views their content as video ads or pre-roll ads. In contrast, CTV advertising displays ads through apps embedded in the Connected TV devices.
• Growth trends followed by CTV and OTT advertising are almost the same. More than 80% of homes with a Connected TV device have opened inevitable opportunities for the OTT advertising industry to rise. Two years back, in 2020, OTT ads expenditure surpassed 9 billion dollars.
• OTT and CTV advertising uses an algorithm-based audience targeting mode to captivate maximum attention and conversions.

OTT marketing refers to using digital space or any OTT medium to advertise ads before a target audience. OTT marketing is achievable across any device connected to the internet.

Benefits of OTT Advertising to Brands of All Sizes 

OTT advertising benefits brands of all sizes equally, irrespective of any pre-set budget. It can serve your goals residing in your preferred expenditure.

• Transparent Branding: Brand safety is what most brand owners are looking for. OTT advertising ensures a fully functional utilization of your marketing budget into a top-notch ads inventory.
• Quality Content Delivery: OTT advertising sets the bar for LRQ (Living Room Quality) ads to display along the most potential viewing device or Connected TV device.
• Measurable and Trackable Growth Points: One of the biggest flexes owned by OTT marketing, in contrast with linear TV advertising, is its ability to track and measure the metrics for a campaign. Measuring the analytics such as viewership count, web visits, major conversions medium, etc., are conveniently done with Over The Top advertising.

Over The Top Marketing – Find Your Audience

Over The Top advertising benefits marketers with the help of:

• Test vs control group analysis
• Maximized Confidence Interval after utilizing top-tier marketing strategies
• Fruitful site visits calculation for Determining Real-Time consumer conversions.

OTT and CTV content is entirely based on automation-led metrics and trackable statistics. This practice induces the production of video assets tailored to the viewers’ expectations and interests.

Not only this, an OTT marketing strategy possess the capacity to locate audiences based on their interests in a brand and bring forth potentially long-term consumer-brand interaction.

Apart from the usual advantages extracted from extravagant OTT advertising, it’s the first choice for performance-driven marketers. Cross-device verified web visits are an impactful outcome that makes OTT marketing the ultimate way to track ad views and time windows utilized by the target audience.

Some renowned OTT examples are Netflix, Hulu, CuriosityStream, Pluto TV, Peacock, Amazon Prime Video, BritBox, etc.

For a more detailed insight into building an effective media buying strategy for your brand, contact our advertising team of experts at Keynes HERE.