OTT vs. CTV: What's the Difference and Which Is Right for Your Business?
Written by: Breanna Bergeron
According to a June 2024 report from Nielsen, streaming accounted for 40.3% of total U.S. TV viewing time, surpassing both cable and broadcast TV for the first time. To stay competitive in their industries, businesses must consider adding Over-the-Top (OTT) or Connected TV (CTV) to their marketing budgets. However, it is important to understand the key differences between OTT and CTV to leverage their capabilities beneficially and increase a business's return on investment (ROI). In this blog, we will dive deeper into OTT and CTV and their capabilities, similarities, differences, and what your business should consider before deciding to invest in one of them.
What is OTT?
Over-the-Top, or OTT, is any video content that is delivered directly over an internet connection and bypasses traditional cable or satellite providers. OTT can be streamed through various devices such as smartphones, tablets, desktops, laptops, gaming consoles, and smart TVs. Some examples of services include Hulu, YouTube, and Pluto TV.
What is CTV?
Connected TV, or CTV, is any TV that is connected to the internet and can stream content. This is possible through either a smart TV or external devices like Roku, Amazon Fire TV Stick, or Apple TV. Connected TV is how OTT content can be viewed.
Key Differences Between OTT and CTV
When to Use OTT
OTT advertising is a versatile form of video content that can reach people in different locations and devices. OTT is ideal for businesses that want to target younger or mobile-first audiences and also want flexible targeting options like audience behaviors and interests. In addition, OTT is a great choice for a retargeting campaign that can serve ads to consumers who may have previously visited your website or engaged with you in other ways, like opening an email. This helps drive conversions and ensures that your audience is seeing your brand's message in multiple locations. OTT can also place your content in live events or sports (e.g., sports finals, awards shows, etc.) that will capture audiences who may have left behind traditional TV and are now streaming these events instead.
OTT can be customized to your business's needs and allows you to place your brand's message in content that holds people's attention. People are using streaming services and on-demand options because they want to choose what they will be watching, meaning they will be more engaged and are more likely to convert upon seeing your message. If you are already running other tactics like social and search, OTT can also enhance the effectiveness of those campaigns by creating a unified message across multiple channels. OTT also complements linear TV and fills in gaps by serving OTT ads to cord-cutters or cord-nevers who may not have otherwise seen your message while still maintaining your presence on traditional TV.
When to Use CTV
CTV is a great choice when you want to mimic a TV-like non-skippable commercial in full-screen and brand-safe environments. CTV allows you to target specific household segments such as incomes, interests, and viewing habits. CTV combines scale with precision and is an ideal choice when you are looking to expand your message beyond channels like YouTube and Social but still want to use data-driven targeting in your TV campaigns that traditional broadcast TV may be limited to.
When you need your message to be seen in full, CTV affords you high completion rates since many ads are not skippable. Similar to OTT, CTV can help unify your message across multiple domains like display and social, which can catch viewers in multiple touchpoints during a time when they are relaxed and undistracted. CTV enhances broadcast campaigns as well by delivering the same creative to streaming viewers and boosts your overall reach and frequency across platforms in different households. In addition, CTV fully captures the living room family experience and should be used if you want to associate your brand with the highly attentive big-screen environment that is perfect for emotional impact, top-of-mind, and storytelling that identifies your brand voice. This concept also relates to co-viewing since the living room TV is typically watched with others in the room, which will increase your exposure and is excellent for products or services with purchases that are usually a shared decision between partners (e.g., home improvement, financing, etc.).
Why Not Both?
OTT and CTV are both fantastic choices on their own, but combining their capabilities opens the door for a more unified approach to advertising on streaming services. It does not come down to one or the other, but how they work better together. Each represents and plays a unique role in the buyer's journey, and by using the hybrid OTT + CTV approach, you can increase their reach and frequency and utilize smarter targeting, which ensures stronger results and an increased ROI.
CTV is great for raising awareness and introducing storytelling and brand voice on the big screen, while OTT can drive conversions and purchase decisions through precise targeting, clickable ads, and retargeting. By combining OTT and CTV, you will be able to guide your perfect customer from interest to action. When you use OTT and CTV, you're not just placing ads in front of people; you're developing a cohesive, full-funnel video marketing strategy that reaches your audiences where they are and when they're ready to engage.
How Six Media Marketing Can Help
Whether you're interested in running a high-impact CTV campaign that will increase brand awareness, an OTT campaign with hyper-targeting that drives conversions, or a full-funnel approach that blends both, Six Media Marketing has the tools, time, and expertise to make it happen. Here's what we bring to the table:
Strategic Planning
We will discuss your options and discover whether OTT, CTV, or both would be best for you and your business to reach your goals and audience while staying within your budget.
Advanced Targeting Capabilities
From behavioral, interests, and demographic-based targeting options, we can build you a campaign that doesn't just put your brand on TV but reaches the right audience in the right place at the right time.
Creative Services
Producing a video commercial that meets TV standards of quality is difficult to undertake for a local business, but we have you covered with our creative services team, who can produce high-quality video content that will grab your audience's attention.
Transparent Reporting and Optimizations
Our team prides ourselves on being transparent in our reporting and always will highlight areas of improvement or areas where your campaign is performing well. We track key performance indicators (KPIs) such as impressions, video completions, reach, and more, so you can see your ROI.
A Trusted Partner for Over 70 Years
With over 70 years of experience, our approach is creating customizable and data-driven campaigns that always align with your bottom line. Marketing is never one-size-fits-all; we always do what works for you.
Your Customized Strategy Starts Here
We are at a pivotal turning point for businesses and consumers alike in the digital ecosystem, and as streaming services continue to expand and dominate, the future of TV advertising will evolve. Both OTT and CTV offer powerful and customizable ways to connect with today's viewers but in different ways.
OTT allows your brand to reach users across various devices while offering precise and flexible targeting options that will reach your audience in the right place at the right time, meeting upper and lower sales funnel goals.
On the other hand, CTV places your brand on the biggest screen in a person's home and delivers premium non-skippable ads that are perfect for building awareness of your brand's voice through storytelling. When deciding between the two, consider your brand's campaign objectives:
What are you more worried about? Awareness or performance?
Where do you want your audience to see your message? On the go or in the living room?
Are you looking for broad reach, precise targeting options, or both?
Ready to build your brand's strategy?
We can help you build a campaign that aligns with your brand's goals and ensures results. Click here to get started.
