What is CTV Retargeting: Why Web-to-TV Drives ROI

Jan 27, 2022

Jason Fairchild

Co-founder and CEO, tvScientific

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From top use cases to the core benefits, this article explores the world of CTV retargeting and explains how advertisers can start their journey.

Reignite consumer interest during peak viewing periods with CTV retargeting

CTV Retargeting

80% of US households have a CTV device, and it’s likely this massive audience is only going to keep growing. But CTV’s power isn’t just in the size of its audience. The channel enables advertisers to engage with TV audiences in ways only traditional digital channels once allowed. Now, advertisers can run retargeting campaigns on TV.

If you’re interested in leveraging this emerging advertising channel to help you convert more of the curious into consumers, then read on. From top use cases to the core benefits, this article explores the entire world of CTV retargeting.

What Is CTV Retargeting?

CTV retargeting is the practice of showing follow-up CTV advertisements to a consumer previously exposed to a brand in some fashion. These consumers could have visited the brand’s website, seen the brand’s ad on social media, nearly purchased something from the brand, etc. Brands can set up CTV advertising campaigns that retarget these consumers by leveraging available user tracking information, including data from third-party providers. Retargeting has been used in advertising for years to improve campaign performance and is proving to be just as — if not more — effective when deployed in a highly targeted TV environment.

The Benefits of CTV Retargeting

Experts estimate that advertisers dedicated 21% to 40% of their budget to CTV in 2021 – and expect that percentage to only increase in the following year. Why such growth? Because CTV advertising is a powerful channel with numerous benefits, like effectively retargeting potentially interested consumers. What makes CTV retargeting so effective is its accuracy, enhanced measurement capabilities, the quality of the ad experience it provides, and the comprehensive campaign coverage it affords.

Let’s look at each of those benefits in turn.

Precision Targeting

While traditional TV advertising is infamous for its questionable targeting capabilities, CTV advertising brings the accuracy of digital to this impactful entertainment experience. CTV advertising platforms like tvScientific are compatible with all major third-party data sources, allowing advertisers to build retargeting campaigns with the precision previously only possible on the web. This ensures their ads are only seen by a high intent audience while they’re engaging with high-quality content.

Quality Measurement and Attribution

Like targeting, traditional TV advertising has long struggled with “lower funnel” metrics that connect campaigns to consumer activities. But CTV advertising — with its digital-like tracking capabilities — affords advertisers with quality measurement and attribution. This means they can assess the effectiveness of their CTV retargeting efforts much like they would on any digital channel.

The ability to accurately measure and attribute audience activity and tie these metrics into campaign success is just one of the ways CTV is changing how marketers approach television advertising. Read more in our free report:

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Premium Ad Experience

Unlike digital retargeting, CTV retargeting only connects with audiences while they are in the mood to passively consume content. Consumers on the web are often on the go, engaged in goal-oriented tasks that put them in a poor state of mind to receive a brand message, regardless of its relevance. With connected tv retargeting, on the other hand, the messaging is delivered to the consumers when at their most receptive: relaxed, on the couch, and ready to be entertained. This difference in the audience’s disposition significantly impacts the quality of ad experience, boosting the brand lift created by a retargeting campaign.

CTV retargeting also delivers ad creative on a much larger screen, giving brands more room to create exceptional ad experiences. The average computer monitor ranges between 21- to 27-inches — and most smartphones have a five- to six-inch screen. TVs are gigantic by comparison: typically 32- to 72-inches. With so much visual real estate, brands have a unique degree of freedom when it comes to developing compelling and immersive advertising.

Comprehensive Ad Coverage

CTV advertising is opening the doors for smaller companies to realize a genuine omnichannel approach. For most of advertising history, television has been dominated by massive brands. But CTV advertising’s improved targeting, measurement, and attribution capabilities are making TV a cost-effective channel for the average brand, allowing them to finally tell a unified story across the entire consumer content landscape. Whether their audiences are on desktop, mobile, or TV, brands can deliver advertising that reinforces what their consumers have seen elsewhere — and reminds them to take the next step.

Top Web-to-TV Retargeting Use Cases

Now that we’ve reviewed the benefits of CTV, let’s explore a few of its most powerful use cases. While the following examples will give you a good sense of what’s possible with this channel, it’s important to note that it’s not an exhaustive list. CTV advertising is new, and the space will develop rapidly over the coming years.  

Consumers Who’ve Seen Your Ads on Another Channel

While many advertisers are content to develop their entire strategy on digital platforms, enhancing this approach with a CTV retargeting follow-up can significantly improve campaign performance. Advertisers build CTV campaigns that target consumers who have, for example, viewed an ad on Instagram. This engaged audience would then be met with a non-skippable ad while subsequently viewing content on their CTV device, reigniting their interest in the brand.

Consumers Who’ve Nearly Made an Online Purchase

CTV retargeting provides advertisers with another means of nudging highly interested consumers over the finish line. With the average ecommerce store only converting on 25% of filled carts, advertisers can undoubtedly capture more of that potential revenue by adopting this tactic. Now, brands can reconnect with consumers during their favorite CTV program – meaning that shopper who got distracted ordering their new couch can finally complete their living room set.

Consumers Who’ve Been to Your Site

For years, advertisers have been using retargeting campaigns to draw their site visitors back for a second look, but they’ve never been able to extend those efforts to their audiences’ televisions. CTV advertising platforms like tvScientific make it easy to start reaching these consumers, featuring a straightforward setup process that allows advertisers to get up and running in no time. 

How to Add CTV Retargeting to Your Advertising Arsenal

CTV retargeting allows advertisers to keep consumers engaged across all their devices — and reach them when they’re most likely to listen. For forward-thinking brands, adoption is a must.

tvScientific is a CTV advertising platform that makes it easy for any advertiser to begin leveraging the power of CTV retargeting. In just a few steps, you can get your web-to-TV retargeting campaign up and running, allowing you to reconnect with your most valuable visitors using the highest impact ad creative on the most influential screen in media. Why wait? Get started today.