Many people have heard the term “over the top” (OTT) being used in a media context by now. In fact, more and more we hear conversations with statements like “I’m a Cord-Cutter” or “I only watch Netflix, Hulu or Roku.”
I’ve heard it all and I’m not kidding! I have attended many meetings and trainings on this very subject and recently, I invited local media outlets to come in and discuss what they are doing in the ever-growing world of OTT - services usually viewed through mobile devices, personal computers, digital media players or smart televisions.
Growth of OTT is going strong. In fact, it’s estimated there will be more than 200 million OTT users in the U.S. by 2019. With this amount of growth, you can imagine advertisers want to take advantage of the opportunity to reach their audiences who use it. But be careful. No matter what the degree of growth or high demand in this new playing field, it’s still in its infancy and there is still much learning that needs to happen.
There’s no doubt in my mind that OTT will be one of the major players in content and services, and more important, be a major player with clients being able to advertise to their consumers in a most effective and trackable way.
As advertisers get into this new arena, I personally have concerns they will jump in with vigor and spend precious media budget without being fully informed on the best way to use it. As much as my industry wouldn’t like to hear it, this media buyer has concerns that everyone is gung-ho to push a product that, as amazing as it is, still has some holes in it.
Success in any media, especially OTT (digital marketing) will require thoughtful planning, budgets, agility, mapping and understanding how to maximize digital platforms in a marketing environment where excitement can sometime overshadow smart planning.
It’s exciting to see where the media landscape is headed! If you’re ready to do some OTT advertising, call Quillin first. After reading this blog, you OTT to know better than to go at it alone.
