Capture the Increasing CTV Advertising Spending for Plumbers and HVAC Companies

CTV Advertising Education Is Still Necessary

It’s common to assume that businesses understand CTV ads. After all, they are consumers who likely watch ad-supported streaming services. It’s not that they don’t know what a streaming ad is; they may not know how it works and why it’s different from buying broadcast TV spots.

Thus, you may need to start here. In these discussions, make these points:

• CTV is a programmatic ad type, which means it’s targetable based on “building” an audience with demographics, geography and interests.
• CTV is a subset of OTT advertising that only plays on connected TVs.
• Measuring CTV is possible with metrics like impressions and video completion rates.
• CTV advertising buys aren’t program or platform-specific. They work just like any programmatic tactic, matching targeting to available inventory. Whereas traditional TV buys solely focus on programming.

Visibility on Streaming Keeps Brands in Front of Audiences

Pay TV via cable or satellite has seen massive losses as more consumers decide to cut the cord. The majority of U.S. households (89%) have at least one streaming subscription.

There is still volatility in the streaming subscription model. Bundling has become more attractive, as is watching FAST (free ad-supported TV) channels. There’s also the segment of cord-nevers. These folks have never had a paid traditional TV package. It’s a rising group of TV watchers, which now makes up 12% of U.S. internet households.

If local brands want to stay top of mind, CTV is the place to be. Remember that these ads focus on brand awareness so that when someone needs plumbing and HVAC services, they’ll recall the ads they saw and make contact.

The next step is to establish why they should buy CTV from you.

You’re Their Local Media One-Stop-Shop

A core theme to winning local advertising spend is to ensure businesses know you can serve all their needs. If they only know you as a source for radio spots and sponsorships, you need to broaden your station’s marketing to promote all you can do.

It should be on your website, mentioned by your on-air talent and part of every conversation you have with advertisers. Repetition is necessary to get any message out there and recalled. It’s exactly the playbook you present to your customers.

What makes this evident is the ability to create a proposal with radio and digital together. It may seem like a simple thing, but it’s actually not common or easy. It depends on your technology and how connected these two ad sets are.

It’s proof that you are their single source for local ad buys.

Bringing in Ideas

Even if plumbers and HVAC companies are running traditional TV ads, they may need guidance on creative for CTV. In theory, they could use the same content, but the targeting of CTV offers a way to personalize it more.

If the target audience is specific to a demographic, location or interest, the messaging can be more relevant versus broad brand awareness. Those ads are important, too, but those with more personalization resonate with viewers more.

There’s also the ability to change the creative more often without much work. Thus, they can run promotions that are limited time and then move to something more general. Seasonality also matters in these industries, so they’ll have various campaigns that align with those.

Another avenue to consider is ads for residential versus commercial services. The messaging for homeowners and business owners differs, and CTV can be a good way to have parallel campaigns.

CTV Ads Are Actionable

No matter the ad topic or goal, CTV has a way to drive action. With something as simple as a QR code, viewers can scan it and then end up on a custom landing page. It can look and feel like the ad with the same promotion. It could significantly increase conversions, and companies will know they are the result of their CTV ads.