How to leverage traditional and digital TV for better results
It’s no secret that television is a valuable advertising medium, but it’s important to recognize the shifting landscape in TV today. It’s no longer just Linear TV (some call it traditional TV). It also includes streaming options through Over-the-Top TV (OTT) and Connected TV (CTV).
Similar to previous years, ad spend in CTV and OTT will continue to increase. eMarketer predicts a 23% spend increase this year as watch time continues to increase and offer better targeting and measurement.
Ad spend for Linear TV will decrease. As the number of viewers watching traditional TV continues to decline, many marketers wonder if it still makes sense to invest advertising dollars in Linear TV. It’s not a simple yes or no answer. Whether or not advertising on traditional TV makes sense varies by brand. That means marketers will need to stay nimble, balancing the opportunities and challenges of each platform to find the right mix for their media strategy.
To help you better understand what each brings to the table, we break down the benefits and the challenges of traditional TV and OTT and CTV.
Linear TV Considerations
Linear TV isn’t going anywhere. In fact, according to eMarketer, adults spend the most time watching traditional TV, providing opportunities to reach large audiences through major TV events. Baby boomers spent the most time, averaging 5 hours and 46 minutes per day in 2024. That makes it an effective medium for establishing broad reach among older demographics. As we highlight in a previous blog post about using Linear TV to target farmers, these audiences often watch traditional programming like local news, weather reports and agriculture shows, like AgDay or Market to Market.
Other benefits include:
- Cost-effective: As viewership declines, Linear TV ad prices decline as well, making it more affordable. In a study from Ad Age, the cost of advertising fell for 33 of 53 returning series on the major networks, including ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox and The CW.
- Second-screen influence: Watching TV is the most popular activity while shopping online, making TV ads highly impactful near the point of purchase. A report from Walmart and Morning Consult found that 77.2% of people in the US are second-screen users, with 37.6% watching related content on their mobile devices, tablets, or laptops. TV ads can effectively drive online shopping activity among these multitasking viewers with clear CTAs to encourage viewers to engage on their second screen.
- Linear TV captures attention: Linear TV outperforms CTV in attention metrics, as viewers are more likely to be in the room and paying attention during ads. This advantage is partly due to longer commercial breaks. Add to that, major events, like the Super Bowl, NASCAR races and other sporting events, attract viewers, especially farmers and rural audiences. While Linear ads lack shoppable buttons, they can still drive action.
For all its strengths, Linear TV advertising also presents unique challenges that can impact its effectiveness.
- Lack of targeting: Linear TV advertising relies on broad demographic targeting and lacks the precision of digital platforms, making it harder to reach specific audience segments.
- Limited attribution capabilities: Measuring the direct impact of Linear TV ads on consumer behavior is more challenging compared to digital platforms, which offer detailed performance metrics.
- Rigid scheduling: Ad placements on Linear TV are constrained by pre-set schedules, reducing flexibility and the ability to make real-time adjustments.
OTT and CTV Considerations
OTT and CTV continue to be fast-growing media channels, both in terms of users and ad spend. Advertisers have stronger targeting capabilities that go beyond basic demographics. You can target audiences based on geography, interests, device type and viewing habits to name a few. By leveraging first-party data, user behavior and viewer preferences, advertisers can create campaigns tailored to distinct audience segments. This gives brands the ability to customize ads for a more granular audience.
The ability to reach niche audiences is especially important for marketers targeting agricultural and rural lifestyle audiences. For example, platforms like Hulu, Roku or YouTube TV give you the ability to target individuals interested in farming, outdoor living, livestock care or gardening. Encourage engagement with interactive ads that allow viewers to explore products, like tractors, fencing or feed supplies directly from their screens,
CTV and OTT also offer:
- Creative advertising options: Audiences can interact with platforms by clicking through ads for more information. These tactics are key to achieving full-funnel KPIs rather than just broad awareness. Incorporating shoppable buttons also creates a seamless path from viewing to purchasing.
- Advanced measurement capabilities: Advertisers can track detailed metrics, such as impressions, completion rates and conversions, providing clearer insights into campaign performance. These insights go beyond surface-level metrics allowing marketers to identify which creative platforms or audience segments drive the most value. By analyzing this data, advertisers can make more informed decisions on how to use campaign dollars efficiently.
- Flexibility and real-time adjustments: Unlike Linear TV, OTT and CTV campaigns can be updated in real-time, allowing for greater responsiveness to audience feedback and changing market conditions. The flexibility extends to targeting as well. Targeting criteria can be refined to focus on audience segments that drive the most engagement and conversions.
These advantages offer exciting opportunities, but like Linear TV, OTT and CTV also come with complexities that need to be considered to ensure an effective strategy.
- Ad fatigue: In the fragmented landscape of streaming, a single viewer might see the same ad multiple times. While this can increase recall, that doesn’t translate into purchase intent, according to Nexen. Instead, it can lead to ad fatigue, increasing annoyance and reducing engagement.
- High competition and rising costs: As more advertisers shift to OTT and CTV, competition for ad space has increased. This rising demand, coupled with limited inventory, often leads to higher costs, which can be a barrier for smaller budgets.
- Ad inventory limitations: Some OTT platforms have limited ad inventory, particularly those with premium or exclusive content. This scarcity can drive up CPMs (cost per thousand impressions), making it harder to scale campaigns cost-effectively.
Questions to Ask Yourself When Creating Your Media Strategy
When navigating this complex media landscape, go back to the basics of campaign planning. Being able to articulate what you need to accomplish can help your team figure out the right media mix. Be sure you can answer these questions:
- Who is the audience?
- What are their demographics?
- What are their viewing habits?
- What is the goal of our media plan?
Finding the Balance of Both
When it comes to crafting a strategically sound media plan there is a role and purpose to include both traditional and digital TV. Rather than thinking in terms of either of, think of how you can leverage the strengths of each for maximum impact. For example, with its extensive reach, you can use Linear TV to build a foundation of broad awareness. Then, you can then build on that awareness using the precise targeting options offered by OTT and CTV to deliver personalized messages to specific audience segments. Here’s how it could look:
- Linear TV campaign: Air ads during popular programs like “Market to Market” to build broad awareness of your brand or products, targeting rural areas where traditional TV remains popular.
- CTV/OTT follow-up: Retarget views who watched the Linear TV ad with more personalized action-oriented ads. For example, a seed company could use CTV or OTT to promote specific hybrids based on geographic zones or farming needs. Interactive ads can encourage viewers to find the perfect seed by clicking through to a product guide or quiz.
These combined strategies ensure you leverage the strengths of both traditional and digital TV for maximum impact.
Finding the right balance takes insight and expertise. Let us work with you to build a tailored media strategy that aligns with your goals and maximizes your brand’s potential. Drop us a note to get the conversation started.