What Does OTT Mean and How Does It Benefit Marketing?
The world of marketing is changing almost daily thanks to the technological advances occurring in our modern world. With the rise of the internet, people have been able to develop new and effective ways to market to their target audience. One of the ways that marketing has leveled up is through something called OTT, which is a term that more and more people are becoming familiar with.
If you’re wondering what OTT means, you’re not alone. There are tons of new marketing strategies popping up, and keeping up with all the new terms can be a challenge, but when it comes to OTT, you’ll likely want to pay close attention.
Marketing companies use OTT to market directly to people already consuming media on the internet, and it’s proven to be an effective way to reach new potential customers. Read on to learn what OTT means and how it can benefit your marketing:
What Does OTT Mean?
The acronym OTT stands for “over-the-top.” It refers to the technology that makes it possible to go “over the top” of the standard way of consuming media. OTT is how people stream media. Previously, traditional cable and satellite television were the only ways to consume media. With the rise of the use of OTT, however, people are able to stream TV shows, films, and other media on any electronic device with access to the internet.
Nielsen Data shows that over 80 percent of adults in the US use a website or app on their smartphone to consume online content on a weekly basis. The internet is clearly becoming the preferred way to consume media, and as the way people consume media has changed, so have marketing strategies.
How Do People Use OTT?
OTT is used to deliver three main types of media to users: music, video, and even messaging. Smartphones, tablets, laptops, and desktop computers are the most popular devices used to stream media content. However, streaming-specific technology like smart TVs is growing in popularity, and even auto manufacturers have started to include streaming capabilities as standard on new models.
It’s really becoming possible to stream content from just about anywhere, and innumerable apps and online platforms have launched to fulfill user demand. Video OTT service providers such as Hulu, Netflix, Amazon Prime, YouTube, and Disney+ are among the top-used streaming sites for film, television series, documentaries, and other video content. Popular audio streaming services such as Spotify, Apple Music, and Google Play serve up podcasts and music. Certain internet messaging services are also considered OTT. WhatsApp and Slack are well-known for use both socially and professionally.
How Does It Benefit Marketing?
In the past, everyone would consume their media in the same handful of places. This put a lot of advertising power in the hands of just a few people and increased the cost to do so substantially. Think about the cost of airing a Super Bowl commercial. There was very little opportunity for a small business to throw its hat in the advertising ring. But OTT has changed that, and it has benefitted marketing in a major way.
Eighty-three percent of US households subscribe to at least one streaming service. With millions of people viewing, listening, and messaging on OTT platforms every day, opportunities for OTT marketing are booming and accessible to both large and small businesses. Marketing that works meets consumers where they are at, and consumers these days are streaming.
OTT benefits marketing in a number of ways. Here are a few of the most notable.
Impressive Analytics
With OTT, marketers no longer have to put their advertisements out there and just hope for the best. On the contrary, marketers are able to receive more information about what happens after their ad runs than they ever have before. Marketing professionals can now access Information such as who viewed the ad, how long they watched it, and if they clicked through to the website afterward.
Not only that, but professionals can also look into the demographics of those who saw the ad, including income level, current location, age range, and ethnicity. This information will help marketers narrow in on their target audience and create ads geared more toward them in the future.
More Marketing Opportunities
Television doesn’t necessarily work the way it used to. Before streaming, a popular show would air once, and everyone had to either watch it at that specific time or deal with the regret of missing it. Now, the episodes of shows are often uploaded all at once and stay on streaming platforms for years at a time.
This means people are able to watch any and every episode of their favorite shows at almost any time of the day, any day of the week, no matter where they are. This opens up more OTT marketing opportunities than there have been in the past.
Expands Consumer Access
Cable television wasn’t always accessible to everyone. The geographical location made some shows unavailable, and that canceled those people out from a marketing perspective. Still, those people are just as likely to be an audience for certain products or services offered around the world.
With the internet and OTT, that media is now available to more people across the country and even the world, and marketers are now able to target them as well. This opens up a whole new group of potential customers to businesses that they didn’t have access to before. With professional marketing companies working on your OTT marketing campaign, businesses can turn those viewers into customers. Reach out to InnoVision Marketing Group today and market your business better than ever before.
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