CTV Experience: 10 Ways to Connect With Your Audience

by The MNTN Team

6 Min Read

With its convenience, seemingly infinite content, and high levels of personalization, Connected TV (CTV) has revolutionized how modern audiences consume television. At the same time, it has also dramatically raised their expectations.

Today’s consumers don’t just want great content; they want enjoyable CTV experiences. As an advertiser, your TV ads are a key part of that experience, so you play a major role in the quality of those CTV experiences.

Want your ads to hit home? Here’s everything you need to know.

What Is the CTV Experience?

First things first: CTV refers to internet-connected devices, such as smart TVs, game consoles, or streaming devices, that consumers use instead of traditional cable boxes to watch TV. It’s a modern approach to television that offers on-demand convenience with all the perks of its time-honored counterpart.

As such, the “Connected TV experience” refers to the overall customer journey as a viewer consumes programs and navigates ads on their device(s). Ultimately, it’s up to brands like yours to make that experience holistic, fun, and enjoyable.

What Do Viewers Expect From a CTV Experience?

While each viewer has unique preferences and interests, most consumers want at least the following out of their CTV experiences:

Convenience

Viewers want convenience when watching TV, and CTV delivers that in spades by allowing them to watch their favorite shows and movies on demand. We’re far removed from viewers needing to tailor their watch times around broadcast schedules or flip through channels just to see what’s on; now they can launch their favorite streaming app and queue up their go-to show in minutes (if not seconds).

Engaging Content

CTV platforms offer a wide range of engaging content that caters to diverse audiences. From serialized medical dramas to gut-busting stand-up specials, it’s all on CTV, and you can use that expanse of programming to your advantage by positioning your content alongside it, fostering a better CTV experience.

Personalization

One of the hallmarks of CTV is its ability to personalize content recommendations based on the viewer’s past watching habits. Netflix provided one of the first examples of this and continues to do so; the more someone watches, the better the platform gets at suggesting new content.

Ad Relevance

In the CTV space, you don’t have to rely on one-size-fits-all ads. Whether your customers prefer edgy content or something more family-friendly, you can customize the tone and style of ads to align with their interests and preferences.

Non-Intrusiveness

One of the most important aspects of the CTV experience is that its ads are designed to be less intrusive, blending into the viewing experience without disrupting the flow of the content. Customers don’t want to be bombarded with two-minute commercial breaks every ten minutes, so you need to keep your ads short and to the point so you can get your message across in the most efficient way possible.

With an understanding of what customers want from their CTV experiences, you can use that information to align your advertising content with their expectations.

Below are ten ways your brand can elevate the Connected TV experience:

1. Understand Consumers’ Behaviors and Interests

If you’ve been following along thus far, the first way to create a great CTV experience is already done: diving deep into consumers’ behaviors, interests, and habits; when you know what they like, you can fill your content with it.

2. Know the Full Customer Journey Inside and Out

Alongside an understanding of a customer’s interests, a firm grasp of the customer journey is key. Once you know the what, when, and where of an audience’s viewing habits, you can create ads that are relevant and timely. Remember, the goal is to nurture audiences through multiple touchpoints and get them to take action.

3. Offer Value-Driven Content

The content you provide should offer value — be it entertainment, information, or a unique perspective — and doing so ensures that the viewer believes their time is well spent watching it. If you can make someone feel something, they are more likely to remember your brand and value proposition.

4. Personalize Messaging With Data

One of the biggest weaknesses of linear TV advertising is its intrinsic lack of personalization. Advertisers were required to appeal to large audiences, hoping that at least some would take their message to heart.

With CTV, you’ll already have access to the data needed to create personalized messaging and content and thus be able to target specific audiences that are more likely to resonate with your content.

5. Conduct A/B Testing for Creative Optimization

A/B testing different ad creatives can determine what works best with your audience, ensuring that your advertising message is as effective as possible. Try out a couple of different ads. Keep the winning content, shelve what’s not working, and then rinse and repeat until you land on the right message. Knowing what doesn’t work is just as important as understanding what your audience likes.

6. Create Exclusivity Through Limited-Time Offers

Limited-time offers create a sense of urgency, encouraging viewers to act fast. When your offers are exclusive to CTV, it also encourages viewers to connect with your brand over that medium in the future.

7. Use Cross-Promotion Across Multiple Platforms

Crafting a great CTV experience will go a long way in achieving your brand-building goals, but you need to remember that CTV content is only part of the marketing equation. You need to engage in cross-promotion, using multiple platforms to maximize the reach of your message, and that means using CTV to drive consumers to your website and social pages.

8. Make It Memorable

An ad should be unforgettable and able to stick with the viewer long after they’ve seen it. There are a few ways to make ads more memorable: You can use creative storytelling and unique visuals or make audiences laugh, but whatever you choose, ensure that your ad elicits an emotional response.

9. Optimize Your Ad Creative for Multiple Devices

Consumers don’t just watch CTV on big-screen televisions; everything from laptops and tablets to smartphones are viable CTV viewing platforms. As such, you need to make sure your ad design is versatile enough to speak to audiences no matter what device they are viewing it from.

Learn More: Marketer’s Guide to CTV Video Ad Specs & Formats

10. Play the Long Game

Building a brand via the CTV experience isn’t about quick wins; it’s something you’re in for the long haul. Consistent and sustained efforts are essential for long-term success, so review the impact of every campaign and apply what you learn to your next one. While no campaign will ever be perfect, you can make yours stand out from the competition through continuous improvement.

How MNTN Delivers the Perfect CTV Experience

CTV is the next big thing in the digital marketing landscape — 24% of brands estimate that CTV will represent 60-80% of their revenue in 2024 — but if you want to get in on the action, you need a performance marketing partner that understands the value of the CTV experience. Enter MNTN.

MNTN is a performance marketing platform that provides premium CTV inventory, optimization and measurement tools, industry leading CTV attribution, and all sorts of other features built to take the hassle out of Connected TV advertising.

Book a demo today and see why MNTN is the preferred CTV marketing platform for hundreds of brands.

Connected TV Experience: Final Thoughts

Creating a great CTV experience is part art, part science. You’ll need a knack for understanding what your customers want alongside enough hard data to support the direction of your advertising campaigns. Combining data with sound advertising practices will propel you toward your growth goals and create great experiences for your customers.