From TikTok to CTV: Why media diversification matters and how to achieve it - ClickZ

• Read original article here

When we look toward the future, it’s clear that we are rapidly moving into a world where users create and control. Very few are prepared for what this means for brands and media diversification. Everything is connected. With advanced mobile phones, CTV advertising, and other similar technologies, consumers now consider media to be an essential part of their daily lives. It is a utility.

We are moving toward a state in which users will own a greater portion of their data, and for marketers to gain access, they will be required to interact with their audience whenever and wherever it is necessary.

Brands are consistently challenged with losing touch or relevance with their prospect audience. This challenge is made more serious as the communities of today and tomorrow have shifted out of the view of easily influenced paid channels.

In this new era of media as a utility, media diversification and audience intelligence will prove key for brand survival. We examine the cases of TikTok and connected TV as utilities, where users create and control, and what this means for brands and marketers.

How, then, should we go about marketing our brand to achieve performance in this constantly shifting environment?

Tip #1: An analysis of the audience’s intelligence should be the first step in this process given that we’ve reached the point where everything is connected between buying methods both online and offline, advanced mobile phones, and so on. An audience’s intelligence analysis combines audience analytics with market trends to understand the competitive marketplace.

Despite this, users today have moved away from paid channels that can be easily influenced, particularly on social media.

Tip #2: To continue to surround and embrace communication with our consumers, we must follow their lead and diversify media and content. Remember, audience intelligence has fed creative activation and not the other way around.

Let’s examine why media diversification matters and how it impacts your paid media strategy.

The how and where to reach your customers is all underpinned by media diversification. Society today revolves around an influencer economy. We have rapidly moved into a world where the users create and control, and therefore, we are living in their world.

Having a clearly defined strategy paves the way for an essential path, which is necessary for your organization to accomplish its mission.

While the average frequency with which Gen Z members use YouTube will likely continue to place it at the top of the list of social networks in 2022, TikTok and Instagram are now tied for second place. Consider that 40% of young people don’t go to Google Maps or Search, instead, they look to Instagram and TikTok.

Moreover, outside of social media platforms, connected television has also experienced explosive growth over the course of the past two years. The ability to view ads in high definition and access to premium networks are two of the most important factors that have contributed to the rapid expansion of these new channels.

Two years ago, we certainly would never have anticipated something like this happening. Consider that TikTok saw 13% increase in the number of active Gen Z weekly users in the United States in 2021, while Snap saw a much more modest increase of only 6%.

What this ultimately means for brands and marketers is that to maintain their relevance, they need to continue to explore and expand their media diversification.

Tip #3: The one important caveat to this rule is not to do so exclusively through paid media. To assist in the development of their brand’s authenticity and equity, brands and marketers need to take control of emerging platforms by establishing a natural presence on those same platforms.

Brand and performance have often been at odds with each other. One main argument is that they are ultimately the same thing, specifically when we can measure so many more signals than ever before. Investing time and paid media into emerging media will be key to a brand’s survival.

Tip #4: The strategy needs to encompass a growth plan rather than homing in on lower-funnel gains. Ultimately these are depleting, and we need to expand and grow with today’s world to assist brands with their future growth.

CTV allows advertisers to utilize platform inventory to target a whole household in one 15 or 30 second moment. Considering that 35% of people in the United States have cut their cable subscriptions and switched to streaming services instead, this must be the direction that TV advertising will move in the future.

Despite this being new media, there are already effective ways to maximize targeting efforts to help build sustainable digital strategies for clients.

Although measurement capabilities are not fully resonating with prospective customers just yet, it is important to reach these individuals through podcasting, connected TV, and TikTok. It is more relevant than ever for brands to have a presence beyond the traditional. Meta activation is simply no longer enough when looking at a holistic media mix.

There has been a lot of progress in retargeting via device ID, and we are now looking at cross channel measurement via CTV partners to understand incremental reach from linear/CTV, and more. However, cross-network measurement will be challenging, and there is a long way to go to get to effective measurement.

Tip #5: Household level targeting, reaching users beyond traditional methods such as display and pre-roll, and using CTV to complement client’s linear TV campaign efforts when relevant are some effective ways to maximize targeting efforts.

Long term goals have never been more important for media organizations than they are today because of the rise of new platforms. Focusing on long-term media diversification can result in a diverse organic portfolio to supplement paid media and allow for the scalability of targeting new audiences.