NEW YORK—Despite wider worries about the economy, a new survey is forecasting relatively healthy growth for CTV/OTT ad spending with two in three advertisers using CTV/OTT planning to increase spending according to a new 2023 CTV/OTT Advertiser Survey released by Advertiser Perceptions and Premion.
The report found the advertisers were planning an average increase of 23%.
"Advertisers have not only embraced CTV advertising but are shifting even more dollars away from other channels to bolster their CTV ad budgets," said Tom Cox, president of Premion. "Our study unequivocally affirms that CTV has evolved into an essential channel for marketers to achieve their full-funnel brand goals. The proven effectiveness of CTV in precisely reaching target audiences, delivering personalized ads in engaging content through premium inventory, and driving business outcomes has cemented streaming TV as a winning strategy for advertisers."
The survey reveals that investment and optimism for CTV/OTT advertising remain high. Respondents to the survey reported that increasing expenditure is being driven by the ability to capture declining TV audiences (46%), provide the benefits of TV with digital capabilities (44%), and the ability to achieve full-funnel objectives (39%).
Among advertisers who are increasing their CTV/OTT ad spending in 2023, a strong majority (62%) are reallocating their budgets from digital, social media, or linear TV to fund their increased spend on CTV/OTT advertising, while one in three advertisers are utilizing new ad budgets for this purpose, the researchers found.
In terms of budget control, the survey findings indicate that 52% of CTV/OTT budgets are now primarily controlled by integrated/hybrid buying teams — signaling the growing trend towards a more converged and unified approach within linear TV and digital advertising teams, the report found.
Other key findings include:
- The report finds that three out of four CTV/OTT advertisers view CTV/OTT advertising as an extension of their linear TV strategy — and two out of three advertisers agree that combining linear TV with CTV/OTT advertising increases brand awareness and improves overall ROI performance throughout the entire marketing funnel.
- According to advertisers, the top-ranking benefits of CTV/OTT advertising are found to be achieving brand awareness and performance marketing goals (38%), leveraging the advantages of TV with digital capabilities (38%), extending the reach of linear TV campaigns (37%), and capturing declining TV audiences (37%). Additionally, 86% of CTV/OTT advertisers believe that CTV/OTT’s value is greater than, or equal to, that of primetime TV, with 44% saying that CTV/OTT is more valuable.
- Seven in 10 CTV/OTT advertisers agree that CTV/OTT allows them to target audiences locally in ways that are not possible with linear TV.
- Advertisers say brand lift (42%), reach and frequency (41%), sales lift (37%) and linear reach extension measurement (35%) are the top KPIs for CTV/OTT advertising.
- More than half of CTV/OTT advertisers agree that co-viewing is a value-add benefit of CTV/OTT advertising and/or provides a like-for-like comparison to linear TV.
- More than 40% of CTV/OTT advertisers say that CTV/OTT is more effective than digital video or social media in aligning with quality content and/or ensuring a brand-safe environment.
- 97% of CTV/OTT advertisers agree that advertising on premium video content can improve ROI performance goals.
- 87% of advertisers consider brand safety a priority in their CTV/OTT advertising planning and strategy, with nearly 40% considering it a top priority.
- 84% of advertisers are concerned with ad fraud in their CTV/OTT advertising, with over 30% being very concerned.
The complete “2023 CTV/OTT Advertiser Study” and information about the methodology can be downloaded here.
