Peacock Advertising in 2024: The Complete Guide for Marketers

by The MNTN Team

7 Min Read

As of Q4 2023, Peacock has achieved a monthly active user count of 31 million. Naturally, Peacock advertising has thus become a go-to option for brands looking to acquire new customers and expand their reach.

If you’re interested in advertising on Peacock and taking advantage of its expansive audience, here’s everything you need to know.

What Is Peacock Advertising?

Peacock advertising refers to the non-skippable ads that appear as viewers enjoy their favorite shows and movies on NBCUniversal’s streaming platform. It’s a form of over-the-top (OTT) advertising that is pivotal for targeting specific audiences on the service, as it allows your brand to reach viewers across a variety of devices, from smart TVs to mobile phones.

While Peacock offers both ad-supported and ad-free versions, the platform enjoys the largest percentage of ad-supported subscribers; according to Insider Intelligence, 69% of Peacock subscribers opt for an ad-supported subscription, a figure that translates to about 48 million people.

In comparison, only 58% of Hulu subscribers subscribe to its ad-supported tier, and less than half of Discovery+, Paramount+, Disney+, and HBO Max users are signed up for those platforms’ ad-supported subscriptions.

How Does Peacock Advertising Work?

Advertising on Peacock is quite simple — all you need to do is create an account on NBCUniversal, or with a CTV platform like MNTN Performance TV. Onceonce you’re signed up, you can start running campaigns and customizing your strategy as you go along.

Benefits of Peacock Advertising

Advertising on Peacock is a cost-effective and accessible way to target the platform’s millions of viewers and effectively boost your brand recognition. Its benefits include:

Premium, Diverse Content Reach: Peacock provides access to a wide array of premium content, including live sports, original programming, and popular TV shows and movies. This diversity attracts a broad audience, enabling advertisers to reach various demographics within one platform.
Advanced Targeting Capabilities: Peacock offers sophisticated targeting options that leverage NBCUniversal’s data and analytics. Advertisers can segment audiences based on demographics, interests, viewing habits, and more.
Reduced Ad Load With High Engagement: Peacock is designed to offer a viewer-friendly CTV advertising experience, with a lower ad load compared to traditional TV advertising.

Peacock Ad Manager, Explained

Peacock Ad Manager is a simple and user-friendly advertising management interface that gives you exceptional control over every campaign you run. The ads management portal was built for small businesses, making it easy to set up your advertising goals, define your budget, and select a target audience.

Furthermore, Peacock Ad Manager has built-in optimization capabilities that can help you improve your return on ad spend (ROAS) and other critical marketing metrics based on your stated goals.

Types of Peacock Ads

When advertising on Peacock, you’ll have your pick of various types of ads, including the following:

Home Screen Banner Ads

Home screen banner ads are displayed along the borders of a user’s home screen, and they make for one of the most cost-effective options on Peacock. That said, they are still-frame ads, which means you’ll need to design some eye-catching content if you hope to drive engagement.

Screensaver Ads

Screensaver ads appear when a user’s Peacock app times out from user inactivity. They take up the majority of the screen, meaning you won’t be competing for your audience’s attention with other on-screen distractions.

Video Ads

Video ads, which stream before or during shows and movies, are the bread and butter of Peacock advertising. Users are already engaged and eager for their show to start, which makes video ads an excellent way to get your message across and connect with consumers.

How To Advertise on Peacock

As mentioned, advertising on Peacock is a straightforward process. You just need to follow these simple steps:

Register With Ad-ID

Peacock requires advertisers to register with Ad-ID — a third-party entity that assigns a valid Ad-ID registration code to each creative — before they can submit advertising content. After creating an Ad-ID account, you’ll need to do the same for NBCUniversal; once that is done, you can log in to Peacock Ad Manager and start forming your advertising strategy.

Set Your Budget and Campaign Details

Your next step is to set your budget and select your campaign details. The minimum amount required for your campaign depends on the results you’re trying to achieve. But, in general, the barrier to entry is pretty low compared to that of traditional TV marketing.

In any case, as you set up your campaign, you’ll be able to choose specific goals, like generating brand awareness or driving leads, and the platform will optimize your campaign based on your stated goals.

Choose Your Audience

Choosing the right audience is critical to the success of your campaign, and thankfully, Peacock Ad Manager gives you plenty of control over who you advertise to; you can target users based on their location, interests, and viewing habits.

Upload Your Content

Finally, it’s time to upload your content. Peacock accepts a variety of video lengths, including 6-, 15-, 30-, 45-, 60-, and 90-second clips; just make sure you review the CTV ad specs so your ad gets accepted.

In addition, keep in mind that Peacock requires you to submit at least three creatives so the platform can rotate your content, keeping its ads fresh and reducing ad fatigue.

Measure and Optimize

Make use of Peacock’s analytics tools to monitor your campaign’s performance and optimize for future success.

At the same time, you should also consider using a third-party campaign optimization solution like MNTN, which can offer granular insights and further enhance campaign performance.

How Much Does It Cost To Advertise on Peacock?

Peacock charges per impression (view), so if you intend to get your content in front of many consumers at once, which you naturally do, expect to pay more. Thankfully, though, you can set an ad spend cap in Peacock Ad Manager, which ensures you’ll stay within your budget.

Peacock Ads Best Practices

As with other streaming platforms, shorter Peacock ads are almost always better. Unless you know you have an awesome 60-90-second ad on your hands, keep your content between 15 and 30 seconds so you can engage your audiences and get your message across.

It’s also vital to keep your ads consistent with your existing branding and voice. Your Peacock advertising content should feel like an extension of your other content, such as what you post on social media and your website, so use recognizable fonts and colors.

Finally, make sure that you closely follow Peacock’s advertising regulations and format specifications. The last thing you want to do is have a campaign delayed because your ad isn’t compatible with the platform.

We also recommend submitting a few extra pieces of content, especially if you are running a big-budget, multi-week campaign.

What Is Performance TV?

Performance TV is a term coined by the team at MNTN. It’s an innovative way of optimizing CTV ads by selectively targeting audiences and customizing content in a way that resonates with them.

If you want to maximize your reach and boost your ROAS, you need to take a holistic approach that can leverage multiple streaming platforms. MNTN Performance TV also provides advantages such as:

Premium Inventory

MNTN has over 150 direct deals with premium providers, including Peacock, ESPN, CBS, Bravo, FOX, and dozens of others, ensuring you can reach your target audience, no matter the platform they prefer watching on.

Verified Visits™ Technology

When you are advertising on Peacock and several other streaming platforms simultaneously, you need a way of tracking your results in one place.

MNTN’s Verified Visits™ technology is an unrivaled CTV attribution tool that provides real-time insights into your return on investment. It allows you to track how your CTV ads are driving traffic and attribute the outcome of your campaign to specific channels and campaigns. Learn more about how the Verified Visits attribution model works here.

Creative Solutions

MNTN can serve as your all-in-one CTV advertising outlet. Once you create an account with us, you can upload creative material and submit it to multiple providers.

Need some inspiration for your next campaign? MNTN’s Creative-as-a-Subscription (CaaS) service can give you a consistent stream of performance-built creative at no additional cost beyond what you pay in media. And with QuickFrame by MNTN, you can access an entire ecosystem of vetted creators who can help you make memorable ads that resonate with your audience.

Advertising on Peacock: Final Thoughts

Advertising on Peacock is a practice that grants you access to tens of millions of consumers at once. It is affordable and accessible to businesses of all sizes, and it is a great means of familiarizing yourself with the world of CTV ads. On top of that, the Peacock platform is incredibly user-friendly and includes built-in tools you can use to stay on budget. When you are ready to take your CTV ads to the next level, MNTN Performance TV can help. Our platform will facilitate your Peacock advertising and grant you access to dozens of other streaming channels as well.