Are you considering CTV ads for your 2024 marketing strategy? For many years, placing TV ads through streaming networks (called Connected TV or CTV, for short) required going through a demand-side platform (DSP). We’re excited to announce that we now have the ability to place these ads directly in the Microsoft Advertising platform – right where you would run your other paid Microsoft campaigns. This is a major development that will transform our ability to manage CTV ads.

Below are the key benefits that makes this transformative for your marketing strategy in 2024 and beyond.

Convenience

With the ability to place CTV ads right within the Microsoft Advertising platform, you can manage more of your digital advertising campaigns all within a single platform, streamlining your management of them and maximizing efficiency. It also means integrating with a reporting tool or dashboard such as Google Looker Studio or Tableau can be easier since it’s a single data source.

Quick to Market

Although placing ads through a DSP isn’t always overly time consuming, since it is a different platform from other core campaigns you may be running such as search campaigns in Google and Microsoft (formerly Bing), it can take a bit more time. It’s especially quick and easy to get a CTV campaign running if you already have a Microsoft Advertising account. There wouldn’t be any additional onboarding steps and fees that you would get with a DSP. It’s as simple as a few clicks to set it up just like you would for a search or display campaign (of course, assuming, you already have a video you can use).

Budget Flexibility

Unlike many DSPs, Microsoft has not identified a budget minimum for CTV campaigns. With that said, it’s still important to allocate sufficient budget to ensure adequate delivery to your audience and performance that’ll generate a positive return on investment (ROI). Just like any other campaign in any other platform, if you allocate too little, you simply won’t get good results and all that budget and time would be wasted.

As a starting point, we recommend at least $5,000 and then evaluate the market response and make any necessary adjustments. This is lower than many DSP minimums which are usually at least $10,000 per month or more and may come with additional management and onboarding fees.

Exclusive Access to Netflix

The exclusive access to Netflix is something we’re especially excited about. Never before have advertisers had the ability to place CTV ads with Netflix which is the world’s largest streaming service and, as you would expect, can reach a very large audience of people. According to Statista, in 2023, Netflix had over 80 million subscribers in the U.S. and Canada alone.

Access to Premium Publishers (Thus, High-Value Audiences)

While there are many CTV publishers out there, not all should be looked at equally. While some DSPs may advertise that they have a huge volume of publishers and inventory available, some such as PlutoTV, SlingTV, and many others that are either free or low subscription cost can lead to a potentially less engaged audience and wasted spend. Those publishers sometimes can over-dominate a campaign by capitalizing too many of the impressions, especially if gone unchecked. This is why we’re pleased that in addition to Netflix, Microsoft will give advertisers access to over 860 publishers including premium ones like Disney+ and Roku. The Disney+ network especially is considered premium due to its association with live sports including NHL, College Footfall, NBA, and more. Disney+ is also considered premium inventory because it’s proven to reach a highly engaged audience with video completion rates that exceed industry benchmarks, a 19% increase in brand awareness, and a 21% increase in purchase intent, according to StackAdapt.

Are you ready to get started with Connected TV ads? We can help you determine if the Microsoft Advertising platform is the right path for you or if a DSP like StackAdapt will better fit your needs. Learn more about our Connected TV expertise and contact us to find out how we can help.