Digital Marketers to Maximize the Potential of Over-The-Top Platforms

Incorporating OTT platforms into a digital marketer's communication mix affords significant opportunities. The OTT viewership is booming, and the platforms are generating behavioral shifts in how information is consumed.

FREMONT, CA: With the development of digital technology, the marketing landscape has continuously changed. This phenomenon has also been influenced by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, which has compelled firms to embrace agility and explore new development opportunities.

In 2020, the media and entertainment industry witnessed the demise of movie theaters and the advent of over-the-top (OTT) platforms. They crossed the divide by delivering diverse, rich, and multilingual information to individuals' smartphones, laptops, and desktops. The offering of something for everyone, affordable subscription packages, and the internet have made OTT platforms an irreversible trend. For instance, Netflix is projected to reach 188 million members in the United States alone by 2025, according to statistics from Statista.

This global expansion of OTT media services has provided digital marketers with limitless chances to reach customers in novel ways. Here is how digital marketers may capitalize on the rising popularity of over-the-top (OTT) platforms.

Precision Audience Targeting

On OTT platforms, every user logs in through their accounts. This gives marketers access to precise consumer data, such as age, gender, region, used devices, and surfing habits. This data enables marketers to adjust their marketing campaigns to their target audience. As a result, marketers can target their ideal consumers and offer relevant, personalized advertisements while increasing engagement, saving money, and maximizing their return on investment.

YouTube is one example of a platform where it can incorporate tailored advertisements into video content for prospective clients. For instance, if a YouTube video contains content about babies, user profiling can help put an ad for a baby product. ‍

Advanced Analytics

Marketers can utilize analytics to analyze and measure variables such as viewability, interactions, and delivery efficacy that are unavailable on traditional platforms to determine the success of their marketing activities. This information can assist marketers in comprehending what is effective and optimizing future ads to maximize conversions.

Cross-Channel Marketing

According to a survey published in the Harvard Business Review, 73 percent of shoppers use multiple channels during their shopping experience. To reach their target audience, marketers are not limiting themselves to social and search media platforms when distributing their advertisements.

Advertising on OTT platforms is a novel method of consumer acquisition. This enables marketers to push their ads on all the platforms (e.g., laptops, TVs, phones, and tablets) that consumers use to access the OTT platform, boosting "second chance" revenue. For instance, if a consumer looks for a pair of headphones but does not purchase them, cross-channel marketing would retarget that consumer with headphone advertisements on an OTT platform using the email address associated with the search.

Promotional Collaborations

In addition to in-show content, digital marketers can use OTT platforms to engage consumers through promotional partnerships that are out of the ordinary. These collaborations try to capitalize on the popularity of particular over-the-top (OTT) shows by developing parallel narratives that reflect the brand's identity.

For instance, PepsiCo's recent advertising agreements to capitalize on the popularity of Netflix's Spanish series Money Heist serve as an illustration. PepsiCo began selling limited-edition cans with recognizable graphics from the program and a QR code that led to an online registration form for a virtual fan gathering.