Changing Perceptions of CTV: Growth Is Clear -- Now Comes Smarter Planning

Blake Hebert Senior Director of Publisher Operations at Premion shared the download on whatamp8217s really happening on the ground in CTV the steppedup confidence from advertisers where friction still exists and how companies like Premion are helping simplify an ecosystem that sometimes feels like it has more acronyms than inventoryIn a recent episode of Insider Interviews With Media ampamp Marketing Pros sparked by Premionamp8217s latest research with Advertiser Perceptions he walked through just how marketers are thinking about CTV right now Spoiler alert they are or plan to invest more are planning differently and are especially looking for smarter ways to navigate and implementFirst that survey headline CTV investment is still climbing Roughly 70 of advertisers say they plan to increase their CTV budgets while essentially no one okay 1 expects to pull back That level of confidence reflects a broader reality CTV is no longer being treated as an experimental line item but as a central component of todayamp8217s video strategyHebertamp8217s career path made him an ideal guide for the survey interpretation having worked across both the buy side and sell side agency and content side before moving to the operations side at Premion to help publishers and advertisers mitigate complexity His takeaway The question facing marketers now is not whether CTV deserves a place in the mix Itamp8217s how those investments can be deployed more intelligently and cohesivelyRethinking TV Planning The Shift Toward Total TVPart of that answer lies in rethinking how television planning itself is framedThe fact is that the industry can still fall into the trap of perceiving viewers as choosing between linear and streaming That framework may simplify planning conversations but it doesnamp8217t reflect how people actually watch Hebert put it simply and smartly amp8220Consumers donamp8217t decide to watch linear or stream they just watch They flip between Amazon Prime and Hulu and their local broadcast without giving it a second thoughtamp8221So as marketers we have to stop siloing those channels and start planning around where people actually are Simple in theory Not always simple in practice especially for local and midmarket advertisers who donamp8217t have the resources of the big holdingcompany agenciesAnd like a popular TV game show might reveal amp8220Survey Saysamp8221 four in five advertisers report that combining linear TV and streaming delivers stronger results across brand awareness reach ROI and ad recall reinforcing CTVamp8217s role within broader Total TV strategiesFor local and midmarket advertisers the implications can be even bigger CTV now lets them combine televisionamp8217s reach with the targeting and measurement tools of digital capabilities that used to require nationallevel budgetsMaking Fragmentation Work The Role of CurationOf course the opportunity also brings complexity The rapid expansion of streaming platforms means inventory is spread across dozens of services while major platforms often called amp8220walled gardensamp8221 operate with their own data and measurement environmentsThatamp8217s where curation starts to matterRather than asking buyers to navigate dozens of platforms and supply paths on their own curated marketplaces bundle inventory together and apply audience signals that help advertisers reach the viewers they actually want In simpler terms curation helps bring some order to what is otherwise a very fragmented marketplaceWhen itamp8217s done well advertisers can still get scale and transparency while applying the audience insights that make CTV attractive in the first place Thatamp8217s the role Premion aims to play Hebert says helping advertisers access streaming inventory across platforms without forcing them to piece the ecosystem together themselvesFor local and regional marketers especially that kind of access removes a lot of the operational headache Instead of needing the infrastructure of a large agency or holding company they can participate in the CTV marketplace with strategies that look surprisingly similarPrecision Matters So Does ScaleThe other piece of deploying CTV more intelligently shows up in how targeting is handled particularly at the local level Digital advertising has trained many marketers to chase increasingly narrow audience segments But once campaigns are confined to smaller geographic markets the math changesAs Hebert explained layering too many audience filters can quickly shrink the available inventory pool What starts as a precision strategy can quietly limit scale and reduce campaign effectiveness He says itamp8217s something Premion actively helps advertisers navigate balancing precision with scale rather than overconstraining campaigns His advice Balance Targeting should sharpen relevance not quietly erase reachFor local advertisers in particular the goal isnamp8217t maximum specificity Itamp8217s efficient relevance reaching the audiences most likely to respond while preserving enough scale for the campaign to actually workFollow the ViewerTaken together these shifts Total TV planning curated supply and more balanced targeting point toward a more practical approach to CTV investment Consumers after all arenamp8217t navigating media the way the industry diagrams it They simply follow the content they want to watch moving easily between platforms For advertisers that means the smartest strategies will be the ones designed to follow those audiences wherever they areThe opportunity in CTV is real The complexity is real too But as planning tools curated marketplaces and measurement solutions continue to improve the industry is getting better at managing bothFor a deeper look at how advertisers are navigating these shifts and how Premion is approaching them you can hear the full conversation with Blake Hebert on this episode of Insider Interviews With Media ampamp Marketing ProsPosted at MediaVillage through the Thought Leadership selfpublishing platformClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillageorgMyersBizNet

Become a Thought Leader. Share your thought leadership article with industry professionals & have them archived in Thought Leadership

Changing Perceptions of CTV: Growth Is Clear -- Now Comes Smarter Planning

Author

Publish date

Channel

E.B. Moss

Lead Human: Carolyn Everson on Courage, Culture, and the Human Future of Leadership (Video) - By Jack Myers

More Videos:

Become a Thought Leader. Share your thought leadership article with industry professionals & have them archived in Thought Leadership

Changing Perceptions of CTV: Growth Is Clear -- Now Comes Smarter Planning

Enjoying This Commentary? There's More to Love

E.B. Moss

TAGS:

Lead Human: Carolyn Everson on Courage, Culture, and the Human Future of Leadership (Video) - By Jack Myers

The payment was successful

Cookies