A mobile marketers guide to engaging viewers on streaming TV

There's a saying often linked to the Greek philosopher Heraclitus: “Change is the only constant in life.” Anyone who works in mobile marketing will probably agree with that!

There was a time when mobile marketing was guesswork. Luckily, measurement companies came into the picture and helped clear up a lot of the confusion, making our jobs a bit easier.

But as privacy concerns grew, big tech platforms began to limit our visibility into how well our ads were doing. This didn't end our ability to see our campaign performance, but it forced marketers to adapt and add a little bit of art to what had become a very scientific approach.

This change wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. In fact, it encouraged marketers to get creative and explore new avenues. One change we are increasingly seeing mobile marketers adopt is adding streaming TV channels to their marketing mix.

Streaming TV, which is TV content delivered via an internet connection — think Hulu, Netflix etc. — and shown on connected TVs (CTV), blends the wide reach of traditional TV with the smart targeting and detailed tracking of digital marketing. This mix lets advertisers create ads that capture more attention and drive down-funnel performance by connecting emotionally with viewers on the largest screen in the home. This ability is powered by the types of deep insights into what viewers like and watch that are typical of digital advertising.

Plus, streaming TV works well with today’s focus on privacy in advertising. It lets you target your ads accurately without needing to collect too much personal information, making it a respectful and effective way to connect with viewers. 

With an increase in spending on CTV in general, including 32% of new CTV spending coming from mobile video reallocation, it’s a fast-growing focus for marketers.

As mobile marketers start using streaming TV more in their marketing mix, it's important to know how viewer behavior affects ad effectiveness. This knowledge allows us to create campaigns that leverage the high-quality content of TV, transitioning positive attention built by the content to our ad creatives, enhancing brand recall and boosting specific outcomes like sales, restaurant visits, and downloads.

Analyzing viewer retention during ads

The level of viewer engagement during ad breaks on streaming TV is an important measure for advertisers. Ad breaks typically account for about 10-20% of the viewing time per channel, which means viewers see about 6-12 minutes of ads every hour. However, how well these breaks keep viewers' attention can differ a lot.

Our graph below illustrates viewer behavior across 28 popular FAST channels (free, ad-supported streaming TV channels). It uses two different colors to show two different measures: the red bars indicate what percentage of an hour is spent watching ad breaks, content, or the end of an episode. The blue markers show what percentage of viewers leave during these ad breaks, content periods, or at episode ends.

If the blue median is to the right of the red median for a particular section, that means people disproportionately leave during that section. If the blue median is to the left of the red median, that means people are less likely to leave during that section.

Our analysis of over a million transitions from FAST channel content to ad breaks revealed a clear pattern: when ads and TV scenes match emotionally, fewer viewers drop off. To explore this, we used an algorithm to assign an ‘emotion score’ to both streaming content and ads, then measured how closely those scores matched. The closer the match, the higher the score.

Ads and scenes with a perfect score of 1.0 saw nearly a 50% decrease in user loss compared to ads with a score of 0.4. Ads that scored 0.75 or higher also helped keep viewers engaged.

Looking at the chart below, if emotions didn’t matter, all the points would align along the dashed line. However, when an ad doesn’t match the emotions of the content, the point will fall below the dashed line, showing higher user drop-off. This area is shaded to highlight increased viewer abandonment. On the other hand, points above the dashed line indicate ads with better emotional alignment, leading to higher retention.

The chart shows that most ads are below the dashed line, meaning emotionally mismatched ads tend to drive more viewers away.

Overall, our findings show that emotional resonance can reduce user loss by up to 60%.

As we look to the future, streaming TV is becoming more important for mobile marketers. Adding streaming to the marketing mix isn't just a trend, but a major change in how brands connect with audiences on the biggest screen at home.

Here are some key ways to make sure your streaming strategy is set up for success: 

• Contextual targeting: Mobile marketers are already familiar with targeting based on behavior or identity, but a big advantage of advertising on streaming is the ability to find effective contexts. Targeting on streaming can allow you to zero-in to the scene-level, placing your creative next to the content that will drive the most attention.
• Partner with smart SSPs: To place ads that connect emotionally, it helps to work with Supply-Side Platforms (SSPs) that offer emotion-based targeting. These platforms help advertisers place their ads in the most fitting emotional settings, boosting the ads' impact and effectiveness.
• Measure and adjust: Keep tracking how well your streaming TV ads are doing. Use advanced analytics tools to monitor impact: this information will help you create more focused and effective campaigns in the future.
• Focus on emotional storytelling: Remember, the secret to successful streaming TV ads is emotional storytelling. Create stories that not only tell a tale but also spark the right emotional reactions. This method will keep viewers interested and make your ads more memorable.

For more information on how you can make streaming TV advertising work for you, make sure to check out A full-funnel approach to CTV marketing 2024.