Demystifying CTV Attribution: Metrics and Insights
As the popularity of CTV has grown, so too has the prevalence of CTV advertising; after all, businesses will always flock to wherever the customers are. Whether you are already advertising on CTV platforms or are looking to add such avenues to your marketing mix, understanding the process of CTV attribution is vital.
Below is everything you need to know.
What Is CTV Attribution?
To recap, the term “connected TV,” on its own, refers to any television that can connect to the internet via built-in hardware or an external device, like Apple TV or Roku. CTV attribution, to that end, focuses on measuring the efficacy of content displayed via these
It is the process of measuring the impact of specific CTV ads on consumer behavior, determining the level of influence a particular ad is having on the customer journey by assigning a portion of “credit” to that touchpoint.
Why Is CTV Attribution Important?
In the past, tracking the impact of televised ads was incredibly difficult. While you could get a rough estimate of how many people saw your ad, that was about the extent of the available insight.
With the advent of CTV, though, you can now precisely track who views your content and oftentimes what they do next. Knowing which ads are working helps you be more efficient with your advertising dollars, allowing you to prioritize content and channels that deliver a strong ROI while reducing spending on less impactful ads.
Key Metrics in CTV Attribution
CTV attribution strategies rely on several key performance indicators (KPIs) to gauge the impact of an ad. Some of these metrics include the following:
Impressions
An “impression” simply refers to a view (or potential view) of your ad. Every time one of your CTV ads is displayed, it counts as an impression. Though they represent a good tool for gauging how many opportunities you have to connect with a customer, impressions only tell part of the story, and as such, there are two main shortcomings of impressions as a metric.
First, just because your ad was streamed to a device does not mean viewers paid attention to it. Secondly, impressions aren’t the same thing as unique views, so if the same consumer were to view your ad ten times in a 48-hour period, it would count as ten impressions.
Reach
Reach is a bit more specific than impressions in that it measures how many different people saw your ad. If you have a reach of 1,000, it means your ad was streamed to 1,000 different devices, but if one customer were to watch your ad ten times, that would only count as one reach.
Frequency
Frequency reveals how often the same person sees your ad. While you don’t want to inundate prospects with ads, you do want your brand to stay at the top of their minds. Perfecting the frequency of CTV ads can help you boost conversions and revenue.
Adjusting the frequency of CTV ads is also a great way of stretching your advertising budget. Even minor tweaks to an ad’s display frequency can save you thousands over the course of a single campaign.
View-Through Rate
An ad’s view-through rate reveals how many people watched instead of skipping it.
There are two keys to improving the view-through rate: First, keep your CTV ads short and to the point. Secondly, grab your audience’s attention from the first frame, lest they skip your ad as fast as they can.
Conversion Rate
Your ad’s conversion rate is one of the most important metrics behind CTV attribution. Though it doesn’t tell the whole story, it does let you know whether your ad achieved its ultimate goal of driving a sale.
When you examine conversion rates alongside other metrics, you’ll obtain a holistic view of the customer journey and be able to pinpoint which ads are resonating with customers, along with which need to be revamped or replaced.
Get More Out of Your Marketing With CTV Attribution
CTV attribution can help you keep pace with the rapidly evolving CTV landscape. You can identify customer trends, determine which ads are most impactful, and cut waste from your marketing budget.
The bottom line is as such: If you want to stand out in the world of CTV advertising, you need to understand your customers and their journey from awareness to conversion, and CTV attribution helps you do just that. You’ll market smarter, reach more prospects, and attain your revenue goals.
