Performance Power Players: Roku’s Adam Markey on how CTV will continue to evolve
Adam Markey, Director of Product Management, Ad Platform at Roku
Key takeaways
- More interactive ad formats and units are on the way, enabling mobile marketers to understand the impact of CTV campaigns further.
- Think holistically about measurement; focusing too heavily on just mobile metrics such as Cost per Acquisition will miss some of the benefits of CTV, the halo effect on other channels.
- Mobile marketers should become aware of the changes IPV6 will bring; this is a standard measurement for devices rather than household ID and is being rolled out globally.
What changes have you seen in CTV over the past 12 months?
There are more opportunities to drive engagement happening all the time. We’re launching ad units that drive directly from TV to mobile to enable conversions. In 2022, Roku tested various ad units that offer interaction, and now we are seeing great success with people engaging with their TVs to create some type of action.
Of course, the advantage of Roku is the level of first-party data available. For example, Roku has a streamer’s contact information pre-loaded, or someone streaming TV can type a number in if they want to engage with the ad. Then, pressing ‘ok’ on the remote during a TV ad enables the user to take an action via a deep link, for example, visit an app where they can install or to a website where they can engage.
The mobile marketing ecosystem has always been measured by a post-click event; now, CTV can enable that with these new kinds of ad units that allow engagement on their phone; the click and the action are measured. We’re now closer than ever to closing the loop for CTV and turning it into a true performance channel.
What do you expect to see in the next 12 months?
There will continue to be development in new ad formats to connect consumers to brands as directly as possible. One of the main reasons for this is that customer identity will become even more fragmented with an increasing focus on user privacy, as illustrated by cookie depreciation coming in 2024.
Mobile marketers should become aware of the changes with IP addresses. The first significant challenge being IPV4 to IPV6. IPV6 is a standard device-level address, whereas IPV4 refers to a household-level IP address. This change will be significant because IP bridging is often used for cross-device measurement. Some streaming services are opting to use IPV6 already, and it is better for performance from a targeting point of view. However, marketers relying on IP as a signal for cross-device conversions need to know that tracking engagement after a view will become harder to track. The second major challenge with IP addresses is that more and more households are using mobile providers (like T-Mobile) as Internet Service Providers, making it difficult to know which households are viewing the ads. We see an average of 27 households on one T-mobile IP alone using Roku account information to understand who is streaming. I recommend working with targeting and attribution methodology that does not rely solely on IP information to connect audiences and measure the performance of campaigns as the IP address changes drastically.
The other area where there is likely to be focus is fraud in CTV. To combat this, Roku is fully funding a fraud watermark that allows for the validation of a genuine Roku device. This method matches the app with the user and is validated in the Roku system. The watermark is free to use for anyone in the partner program, but most marketers can get benefits of the watermark if they work with leading fraud measurement partners like Human, Double Verify, and IAS to validate impressions; therefore, if the CTV buy is through Roku or using partners that are leveraging the watermark, the marketer can be confident that they are reaching real people on Roku devices.
What KPIs should marketers use for CTV campaigns?
Don’t just assume Cost-per-Acquisition metrics will directly translate from mobile to CTV campaigns. Instead, think more holistically, for example.
- How many more new people will visit the website?
- How will search & social campaigns be affected when CTV is running?
- What is the cost of reaching a new household?
Ultimately, CTV can provide more engaged customers and has a halo effect on other channels, so it is essential to measure this uplift and engagement.
Roku is increasingly seeing marketers understand that measuring CTV the same way as search and social is probably not the best view of the channel. CPAs on CTV will be different because the medium is so different. CTV offers more for the media space than mobile does; the experience is more in-depth on a TV, memorable, and can story-tell more than mobile can.
CTV also has an impact on search and social campaigns. Search and social are suitable for mid and low-funnel engagement, whereas CTV campaigns tend to be high to mid-funnel. People convert directly from a CTV ad, but they also create awareness – which can lead someone to search in another channel. The CPM is worth more than just the 30 seconds because it provides a halo effect. There must be consistent messaging across all campaigns so that someone who sees your ad on CTV and goes to the App Store to search can find your brand by searching. So the initial touchpoint may be CTV, and then the conversion happens via Apple Search Ads – but the two channels work together and should be accounted for in measurement. For example, Media Mix Models, incrementality testing, brand uplift testing, or brand search volume and social conversion rates provide valuable indications.
Top Tips for mobile marketers planning CTV campaigns
- Avoid using search & social metrics alone to measure CTV – think about a halo effect.
- Avoid over-targeting – moving from a personal device to a household device
- Do not assume what works in one channel will work on CTV
- Use methods such as AB testing to find tactics that work for your brand
About Adam Markey
Adam has over 15 years of software development and product management experience and has been building advertising technology since 2010. Adam has created products for advertisers that help them connect to their customers across all forms of media. In 2016, this work entered the world of television when he launched Dataxu, a self-service Connected TV ad platform with audience targeting and measurement. These capabilities earned top marks from Forrester in 2017 as an omni-channel DSP and in 2019 as a holistic video platform. In 2019, Roku acquired Dataxu, and launched OneView, the Ad Platform built for TV Streaming. Today, Adam works to build the future for TV automation as a Product Director at Roku.
Further Reading
Download ‘The Retailer Marketer’s Guide to Holiday CTV Campaigns’ here.
