Streaming Is Ushering In A New Era For Marketers

The streaming TV market is evolving with ad-supported platforms becoming even more popular with consumers. If you’re an in-house marketer or agency media buyer, here’s why it’s an exciting time to invest in the streaming TV ecosystem.

Magnite’s “Streaming TV’s New Era” research revealed that users find streaming TV content more engaging and has significant benefits in terms of trust and brand exposure. Plus, with the growth of ad-supported streaming, advertisers will be able to engage with a broader audience and connect in authentic ways, as Michael Whiteside, Kinesso’s chief media activations officer, explained.

“The opportunity with streaming continues to diversify. Netflix and Binge launched ad-supported services this year, whilst Amazon Prime Video will extend reach potential in 2024 with their expected June launch, followed by Paramount+, Disney+ and more,” said Whiteside.

A New Era Of TV

Advertising on the big screen in the household has long been considered an effective way to promote a brand or product to consumers and recognised as a platform with highly engaged audiences. Streaming has taken things a step further — giving more brands greater opportunities to reach the audiences that matter to them.

“All channels and formats have their role to play and streaming is imperative to brand and product establishment due to its ability to develop a narrative, influence emotion and create memory structures in what is increasingly an appointment and co-viewed medium,”, said Whiteside.

“Streaming aligns brands to cultural moments, building brand association and diffusing messaging beyond a 1-1 exchange through word of mouth”.

The premium and high quality programming found on streaming platforms helps build connections between audiences and content, leading to heightened engagement. Magnite’s research found that 91 per cent of ad-supported streamers say they are an engaged viewer when watching content via streaming services.

Ad relevance is also an important part of the streaming experience, helping to boost consumers’ trust in the medium and credibility of brands and advertisers. For example, 83 per cent of ad-supported streamers trust the ads they see within TV including streaming services, such as 9Now, 7plus, 10 play, and Binge, while 57 per cent of ad-supported streamers remember ads the most within streaming services and TV environments.

Streaming’s Unique Environment

Magnite’s research has revealed that streaming content can hold attention for longer periods than social media, which could have big benefits for advertisers when streaming is added to the media mix. 92 per cent of ad-supported streamers, for example, watch streaming services for more than 30 minutes each time they watch, while social media users engage with social media content for brief periods throughout the day, usually under a few minutes each session.

“All channels and formats have their unique way of engaging consumers, hence a complementary balance is critical. Whilst mindful of brand objectives, streaming also has benefits from an audience specificity perspective, including alignment to category entry points and mood congruence,” said Whiteside.

“Streaming,” Whiteside continued, “also gives brands the ability to compress the sales funnel by weaving commerce functionality into the viewing experience”.

Streaming can hold attention for far longer periods, and bring improved audience addressability. With audiences catching up on linear TV content via VOD, or watching TV content made available exclusively on streaming services, such as movies, back catalogues and full series, media buyers and marketers should be looking to add streaming to their channel mixes to get the best of both worlds.

What You Need To Know As Streaming Enters Its New Era

“There’s a burgeoning opportunity with streaming, which is appealing and needs to be harnessed,” said Whiteside.

“You need to identify the optimal channel mix to drive impactful reach and incrementality. Dependent on audience, that doesn’t necessarily need to remain a foundation of linear topped-up with incremental streaming, in some cases, an alternate composition can prove favourable. Continued re-evaluation is required due to evolving consumption habits”.

If you’re a media buyer or marketer, that change from a foundation of linear to a foundation of streaming might seem like a huge bet. But, Magnite’s research has shown that it’s not the case any longer and that cross-device campaigns can drive stronger purchase intent.

This new era of streaming gives brands the chance to reach engaged audiences and drive effective campaign results. Streaming services with ads will continue to evolve and grow in scale with 65 per cent of Aussie TV viewers already watching ad-supported streaming services and more than half of non-streamers saying that they would likely use a new free or reduced-rate service with ads.

With this scale of quality audiences, the time to start investing in streaming is now.

Read Magnite’s full report here.