How Marketers Define and Execute OTT in Their Digital Strategies

The marketing landscape is constantly changing thanks to the increasingly rapid evolution of digital tools and technologies. As with any other area of modern business operations, companies must embrace agility if they want to keep up with innovation. In 2020, OTT has been a trend to watch—and it’s not going anywhere.

Over-the-top (OTT) marketing is a modern means of reaching tech-savvy consumers via online streaming media. It is most commonly used to describe ad delivery on streaming services, like Hulu and Apple TV. However, OTT can also refer to messaging services, web-based voice-calling solutions, and audio streaming services like Pandora. OTT formats include videos, audio tracks, and display ads.

This rapidly evolving and increasingly essential corner of the digital marketing ecosystem is a must-have in every marketer’s and advertiser’s toolkit. This guide provides a quick introduction to OTT in the marketing field, exploring how the practice is defined and executed.

Defining OTT marketing on digital channels

Faster, more reliable internet now allows us to stream anywhere and everywhere. You can listen to Spotify at the gym or watch Netflix on a bus. People are constantly consuming streaming media. With modern mobile connectivity, you don’t even need a Wi-Fi connection. The rise of even faster 5G mobile networks will increase this trend.

Given streaming’s central importance in today’s media climate, OTT marketing is a logical development. People are already staring at their screens or listening to what’s coming out of their headphones. They’re already paying attention. Why not leverage that and seize the moment for marketing?

Although marketers can agree on OTT’s utility, they can’t quite agree on just what OTT is. For instance, many U.S. marketers disagree on what types of streaming videos “count” as OTT. Some define OTT as streaming video (not counting live TV) that appears on a PC, TV, mobile device, or other screens. Others define OTT as streaming video (not live TV) that appears only on a PC screen.

OTT in action: Examples of OTT marketing

Since OTT is a relatively new term in the marketing world, it’s understandable that there’s still some discussion about what it entails. For this guide, we’re sticking to the definition provided in the introduction: OTT refers to any online streaming media and can appear on any screen, be it mobile, PC, or TV.

Concrete examples can help clarify just how OTT marketing can be executed. Here are some ways that savvy marketers may utilize it:

• Ad-supported video on demand: AVOD platforms like YouTube are supported by advertising. To view a video, the user must wait for an ad to play. Say the YouTube video features cute cat content. As a marketer, this is a prime target for a cat food ad.‍
• Hybrid support models: Spotify is a great example of this. Users can listen to the streaming platform for free but still get ads. If they pay a fee, the ads are removed. In this case, say the user listens to a podcast about wellness. This is a great platform to insert ads about fitness products or wellness apps.

OTT marketing execution: Keys to keep in mind

OTT has huge potential. Used right, it can help target consumers with marketing materials that are relevant, timely, and interesting to them. The tips below reveal how to harness the potential of OTT for success.

Take advantage of targeting precision

OTT also offers a unique benefit—the ability to tailor marketing to the target audience. Media consumption can reveal traits like a person’s gender, age, location, the device used, and likely household income.

OTT marketers can use this information to ensure they place their marketing materials in front of their desired audience. By supporting ad relevance, they increase the odds of engagement. They also avoid wasting their budget on marketing or ad placement that isn’t getting seen by the right people.

Tailor your ads to your audience

Knowing your target audience doesn’t just allow you to place your marketing and advertising materials accordingly, it also lets you tailor your ads to your audience, delivering meaningful messages that are more likely to engage their attention and, ultimately, result in conversions.

For example, say a streaming TV program attracts a predominantly teen girl viewership. Marketers selling products for teen girls can seize this opportunity for ad placement. They can then go a step further by ensuring their messages are targeted to that demographic.

Adapt your ads to particular platforms

In addition to tailoring the content to your target audience, you can even personalize the format. For instance, research suggests that teens spend two hours and 52 minutes per day viewing videos on their smartphones. Taking the above example, if you’re marketing a product to teen girls, you now know not only where to place your ad and how to target your messaging, but also what format to create your ad for.

Choose the right call to action

Most OTT marketing or advertising concludes with a call to action (CTA). This is supposed to get the consumer to take some kind of step, such as clicking a link, calling a number, or visiting a website. The aim is to transition them from a marketing lead into the sales funnel—and, ideally, to close a sale.

Your call to action should reflect your target audience. Again, the targeting information offered by OTT media is the key to success. Say you’ve created a stellar mobile-friendly video ad targeting teen girls. It’s set to play on an appropriate video streaming platform during a series proven to have a strong viewership of teenage girls. What action do you want that target audience to take? And, just as importantly, what action is that target audience most likely to take? Younger generations may be more eager to text or engage via a social media platform. Including a link to follow a social media page may be an appropriate CTA, depending on what you’re marketing.

Analyze and optimize

Another major benefit of OTT is that it can be tracked and measured. You can use a variety of analytics to assess the success of an OTT marketing endeavor, including the audience, impressions, and view details. The more granular data you can get, the better informed you’ll be about whether your marketing efforts are working.

You can even collaborate with independent marketing attribution reporting consultants to figure out when and where conversions happen. You can then tweak future marketing initiatives accordingly.

Reach your audience again with retargeting

With a more-advanced OTT strategy, you can take a cross-channel approach that lets you not only target but also retarget your desired audience using multiple channels. For example, if you first reach your target audience via an ad played during a streaming TV show, you can subsequently reach them via other media, such as social channels or paid banner ads.

You’ve likely experienced retargeting after visiting a website to view a product—only to be bombarded with ads for precisely that product in the days that follow. This powerful marketing strategy is effective because the individual has expressed interest in the given product or service. The follow-up can then potentially seal the deal.

OTT expertise: Hire top professionals skilled in this approach

Maintaining digital transformation to keep up with the latest innovations is more challenging than ever before. This holds across every sector of business, from software development to project management.

For those in the marketing and advertising space, OTT is the latest buzzword to be aware of. Over-the-top advertising and marketing isn’t just a trend, however. With the rise in streaming services and even faster internet, OTT is sure to become an integral cornerstone of future marketing strategies.

Get ahead of the game by building your OTT team of marketing specialists today. Upwork offers a global pool of independent marketing consultants who can help you tap into the power of this powerful tool.