Leaders in the digital marketing field are building their cross-device marketing capabilities to take your audience targeting to a new level. Their focus is on intelligently connecting brands with their target audiences via connected TV (CTV) and other devices. This cross-device marketing enhances brands’ ability to reach their customers across desktop, tablet, mobile, and CTV devices.
Cross-device marketing takes advantage of the many methods of device identification per person available and allows for real-time analytics and targeting that lets brands optimize their ad spend and target the right viewers on the right devices. This gives the viewer a holistic experience and increases the impact across multiple devices. Retargeting across different devices for a viewer can lead to more conversions.
Clients seeing CTV ads and getting to your site on different devices
CTV advertising is at the center of cross-device marketing. According to a Facebook study, 94% of TV-watchers have their smartphone in hand as they watch TV! The power to drive the first impression through a connected TV, then retargeting the user via a separate device, is enormous. Traditional TV advertising has the goal of getting in front of as many eyeballs as possible and hoping for results. It’s almost impossible to measure results and adjust in real-time. Your campaign is often completed before changes can be made.
CTV, along with retargeting is far more interactive, real-time, and A/B testable. You can follow the customer’s user journey with cross-device tracking, perhaps moving from CTV to laptop to a mobile device. You are meeting them where they are on their journey. A 2020 survey reports that an average American has access to more than ten connected devices in their household. Accurate, real-time cross-device marketing is vital!
What data points are used for cross-device marketing?
Remember, buyers are not able to convert on your TV. So tracking them from when they see your ad to when they convert on your site is critical. The two main strategies for collecting data across multiple devices and tying them to an individual are probabilistic data and deterministic data.
Probabilistic data uses anonymous data points ranging from page visits to time of day and operating system used. This is complex but scalable. Deterministic data is collected based on login info for IDs, websites, and apps that link various devices. This would include logins for Hulu, Gmail, Netflix, Spotify, and more! So can we get the right message to the right person at the right time on the right device? Yes. Connected TV is at the heart of the strategy. Someone watching your CTV ads can be retarte4ed right after on one of their other devices. This takes the viewer from an unactionable CTV ad to relevant messaging on another device. You are now driving a curated experience that is moving the view along the customer journey.
The point of advertising is to get your potential buyer interested and engaged, and then encourage them to take the action you are promoting- buy, fill out a survey, visit a site, etc. The best way to promote this is by meeting your buyer where he is on the journey. Track and target specific behaviors across devices.
Cross-device tracking bridges the gap between CTV advertising and the retargeting that happens on another device. The tracking only retargets those who fully engaged with the TV ad, making it super-efficient.
Cross-device tracking allows us to see a person who cycles miles per week because they log it on their smartphone. Geographic info comes into play for the local businesses. Demographics and technographic-like internet speed all come into play. And now you have a hyper-targeted campaign.
Using data to increase sales
CTV ads are not clickable, but the ads are designed to create interest. Then cross-device marketing takes over to get your viewer to click, purchase, or take other action that you want him to take. You encourage this action by meeting him where he is on the customer journey. You are now serving up a curated and guided customer experience.
Optimum targeting with CTV ads
People don’t like to feel targeted, so your cross-device marketing should be subtle and not heavy-handed. Nuance is everything. CTV allows for a “smart” approach to targeting and provides the platform for optimizing your campaign. Total viewing time on connected TV jumped 81% last year, with millions of shoppers in front of streaming TV at any time. Ad-supported TV is getting a big piece of that viewership. Research says that 73% of streaming viewers watch ad-supported CTV content and 45% of streaming viewers watch ad-supported CTV the most. CTV allows for direct-response performance and tying specific goals to the ad spend.
Connected TV is excellent for putting your brand before new audiences and reconnecting with site visitors. Target your non-purchasers with a more aggressive offer to lure them back. Although viewers can watch CTV on mobile or desktop devices, the majority watch it on TV. Close to 90% use a second device while watching TV, making a solution that targets the TV screen important.
Serving CTV ads to screens on networks like Hulu or ESPN makes sure you deliver a great experience.
Most agencies track site visits following a completed ad view in a defined window of time. This is integrated into Google Analytics, letting you measure all the key metrics.
Example:
- Your viewer watched an ad on CTV.
- The user visits your site on his laptop within our defined window.
- The user converts on the laptop.
- You now know that sales can be attributed to the ad and can manage your campaigns accordingly.
Tracking and attribution
Tracking conversions driven by your advertising is essential. This means following the customer journey across devices and acquiring accurate, cross-device measurements. User visits from CTV campaigns are integrated into third-party solutions like Google Analytics.
Cross-device marketing will facilitate “smart” marketing and help you optimize your spending. You can reach a broad audience through CTV advertising and yet, still have control over your advertising by purchasing by impression, which is targeted and personalized. You can set frequency caps, which limit the number of times a viewer sees your message to reduce waste and get you more out of every CTV dollar.
You are also moving the customer along the buyer journey as you home the messaging and move him from a non-actionable platform to a purchase or action on a clickable device.
Cross-screen marketing can be a more significant investment than traditional, but the quality of the data is usually good enough to by far outweigh the cost. The real-time monitoring and post-campaign analysis provide valuable customer insights and a level of engagement that traditional advertising will never approach.
Get ready to immerse and engage your audience and bring your conversions to a new high. CTV and cross-device marketing is here to stay and should be included in your marketing mix.