Digital Video Advertising Is the New TV Commercial – And You Can Get In Early
More and more homes are electing to cut the cord on network and cable TV in favor of streaming services. This is good news for small businesses that want to advertise on television.
Most mom-and-pop shops find themselves priced out of advertising on traditional television networks. Although the stereotypical daytime television commercials are often poorly produced, cheesy, and memorable for the wrong reasons, they’re still very expensive to run.
Enter OTT video advertising. Over-the-Top (OTT) video advertising is aptly named, as it allows you to pass right over traditional networks that control media advertising to get your business’s message in front of audiences who use streaming services.
Internet video advertising also bypasses the cost of traditional TV marketing. OTT ads are a fraction of the cost of the traditional commercial, making these services accessible for small businesses. The next time you log in to your favorite streaming service, you’ll likely see a lot more local commercials than you used to – and OTT video services are the reason why.
How Small Businesses Utilize Video Advertising
Due to the affordability, effectiveness, and return on investment from internet video advertising, there’s no longer a fast excuse for why a small business should avoid video ads.
What’s more, video advertising is far more effective than the average TV commercial:
- Video advertising is targeted: Unlike the TV commercials of the past where you didn’t know if the right person was watching, today, you can target specific audiences and create advertising that is specifically relevant to them.
- Video advertising is strategic and versatile: From a computer dashboard, a digital marketing strategist can adjust the frequency of your ads. They can also adjust your target audiences, as well as create a strategy to retarget qualified audiences.
Today, small businesses shouldn’t be asking whether they should advertise using OTT video services. The new marketing culture begs a different question: “I know internet video advertising is the future, so how do I do it effectively?” And that’s a question our team can get behind.
Our marketing strategists and analysts compiled this list of four highly effective ways that small businesses leverage video advertising:
- Creativity Matters: Even if you’re fully convinced you need to tap the power of OTT video services, you can’t just make any ad. Look at your competitors’ video ads. How are they communicating? What do you have to say that they aren’t saying – or that you can say better? What could you do to establish your brand, voice, and message in a way that’s memorable for consumers? If you’re stuck, consider our digital video advertising services, including strategic and artistic support from our gifted, well-versed creatives.
- Share Your Story: In today’s marketing landscape, authenticity matters – and so does storytelling. When you decide to launch a video advertising campaign, you can tell your business’s true story: where you started, why you got into the business, and how you treat your customers. People who are sitting down to consume entertainment on their favorite streaming services are already primed for a story. Meet them where they are by sharing yours.
- Cross-Channel Advertising: In the old days of your typical daytime TV commercial, an advertising team would have to do quite a bit of work to repurpose images or clips from a commercial to redesign them for other forms of advertising. In the digital world, that’s not the case. You can repurpose your video content on a variety of platforms, tailored to different stages in the marketing relay. You can adapt your brand, voice, and message – just as you envisioned it – for social media, additional streaming platforms, display ads, on YouTube, and many more online locations. This way, you’re reaching key audiences where they spend time online.
- Tap an Experienced Strategist: Designing and activating a digital video advertising campaign is a powerful tool to get your business in front of very large and engaged audiences. However, most small businesses don’t have the time or energy to treat their customers well while also running a marketing department full time. That’s where an award-winning digital marketing agency can help.
At iFocus Marketing, we help you decide which platforms will serve your business best,design creative ads on your behalf, and make data-driven, expertise-backed adjustments to your campaign to ensure you’re seeing real results.
iFocus Marketing offers exceptional OTT video services for the following platforms:
- YouTube Ads
- Hulu Ads
- Network TV apps, including ESPN Now, FOX Now, NBC (Peacock), CBS Interactive, and more
- Hulu with Live TV, AT&T TV Now, Sling, YouTube TV, FUBO, and more.
- Programmatic video ads: wherever ad space is available on the Internet, we can get you there.
- Device-based Streaming, such as Roku, Apple TV, Android, Amazon Fire, and Xbox
Let iFocus Marketing Guide You into Your Digital Marketing Future with Video Advertising
The future is bright for your small business. Streaming services have opened the door wide to create ample opportunity for you to get in front of customers. With the right digital marketing strategies at your fingertips, you can make your impact, grow your business, and reap the rewards of modern marketing technology.
iFocus Marketing partners with small businesses to provide our collective expertise with internet video advertising, including all the strategies we’ve listed above. From our dynamic creative content teams to our strategists and marketing analysts, we’ve invested in an uncommon roster of advertising talent. Our team is ready to elevate your business to the top with OTT video services.
Request a discovery call with us to find out how to advertise your small business using digital video advertising services.
Peter Mishler, senior digital copywriter at iFocus Marketing, is dedicated to using language to help clients find their audiences. He is the author of two books: a Kathryn A. Morton Prize-winning collection of poetry, from Sarabande Books (2018) and a book of reflections for public school teachers from Andrews McMeel Publishing (2021). His poetry has appeared in many national publications, including The Paris Review, and he is a contributing editor for Literary Hub. New to marketing, Peter taught English for 15 years.
