The way we consume content has changed. A communal living room television used to be the solitary video delivery device for the majority of households. Nowadays, individuals stream personalized content on smart TVs, laptops, mobile phones and tablet devices.
Despite this drastic change in consumer behavior, video advertising has traditionally remained a luxury reserved for big brands with deep pockets.
However, the fragmentation and personalization of digital media is causing a shift. There is increasing buzz about Amazon over-the-top (OTT) video ads which allow advertisers to target relevant audiences and reach them via their video streaming devices (such as Fire TV).
OTT ads are video ads delivered over an internet connection with a streaming device. The non-skippable ads on OTT are created and managed through Amazon’s Demand Side Platform (DSP).
There’s no other way to say it: streaming content has become mainstream. Approximately 70 million US households watch OTT content for an average of 102 hours per month.
Therefore, due to the abundance of data points at their fingertips, OTT advertisers can reach unique and relevant audiences at scale.
OTT ads were the only campaign type directly mentioned in the recent ADCon recap published on Amazon Advertising’s blog:
“OTT is affordable, measurable, and gives advertisers scale. Historically, linear TV was king, and those ads required significant budgets, which wasn’t an option for many brands. The consistent rise in OTT viewing has changed the advertising landscape. Brands can now communicate their narrative the same way they would on a traditional broadcast network, but without the significant spend required of linear television.”
"Plus, OTT delivers better relevancy because we’re able to reach audiences based on shopping/viewing signals versus buying on demos, or dayparts. OTT, and services delivering premium content like IMDb TV, captures the attention of viewers in a TV-quality ad-viewing experience, without the TV budgets and with measurable results.”
- Mark Eamer, VP, IMDb TV
Your video ads could appear:
Brands with limited video advertising experience need to first understand the fundamentals of programmatic advertising in order to achieve success with OTT. We’ve outlined the basic setup steps below.
All OTT ads are run through Amazon DSP, which is a programmatic advertising platform.
DSP is available to advertisers who sell products on Amazon as well as those who don’t. There are two options; self-service (you are in total control of your DSP campaigns) and managed-service (comes with consultative account management service from Amazon, typically requires a minimum monthly DSP ad spend of $35,000 USD).
Alternatively, you could partner with a leading DSP agency such as Bobsled to manage your account. Learn more about Bobsled’s DSP service by reading the case study below:
If you have a self-service DSP account, OTT campaigns are set up in the same way as a regular DSP campaign.
Note: Goal KPI is not necessary for OTT on connected devices because the ads are not skippable.
Emerging brands should start small with OTT spend and scale up slowly. OTT provides great insights about how the video is being consumed so you can adjust your strategy accordingly.