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The rise of streaming has fundamentally changed TV advertising, but many marketers are just waking up to the possibilities. Today, streaming accounts for 47.5% of TV viewership, making it bigger than broadcast and cable, according to Nielsen.1 Many households have cut the cord with cable and linear TV entirely.
With this change, TV is now wide open to performance marketers of all sizes. Gone are the days when TV was reserved for the world’s largest brands. TV ads can be tested, measured, and optimized in ways that are familiar to both growth marketers and TV buyers alike. For any advertisers looking to reach new audiences, Roku Ads Manager offers an ideal entry point to streaming ads. Let’s break it down.
Streaming TV ads: the modern “big screen” play
On its surface, connected TV (CTV) advertising may look similar to linear TV ads. CTV delivers video ads within streaming content, including TV shows, movies, and live sports, through apps like Hulu, Netflix, The Roku Channel, Peacock and many more.
A few things make CTV uniquely powerful. First is reach. And much of the reach in streaming is ad supported. 69% of Roku users are cordless and impossible to reach through traditional linear TV.
CTV ads also differ from search and social in an important way: They are 100% lean-back video. There are no easily overlooked display banners or accidental clicks. Ads appear in premium, full-screen environments to capture attention on the largest screen in the home. Finally, streaming ads are far more efficient and measurable than linear TV, since advertisers can target only the audiences they want and link viewers of those ads to sales and other conversion events.
So why advertise through Roku rather than other advertising platforms?
Roku is the leading streaming platform in the U.S., accounting for 21.4% of all TV viewing, compared to 18.4% for ALL of broadcast TV.2 Among U.S. households that stream monthly, 59% report using Roku, the highest share of any streaming operating system.3 Advertising on Roku allows brands to reach audiences across a wide range of streaming apps through a single platform.
What is Roku Ads Manager
Roku Ads Manager is Roku’s self-serve platform for building, buying, measuring, and optimizing streaming TV campaigns. It’s fast and intuitive, ideal for marketers who already manage campaigns on search and social platforms.
Brands can start with $500 and use existing social assets to build CTV ads free of cost through our creative partnership with Spaceback. Choose your campaign objective, target audience, desired genres, and upload your creative for approval.
Ad format options include video ads of any length between 6 and 92 seconds, as well as more immersive placements that capture attention during natural viewing breaks. Focused on conversions? Roku Action Ads allow viewers to engage directly using their remotes to subscribe to a service, purchase a product, or learn more.
Budgeting: yes, you can afford streaming TV ads
Marketers have been trained to believe TV ads are only for massive brands with massive budgets. But you can get started with Roku Ads Manager with $500, which is enough to allow Roku’s optimization engine to start learning which households are most likely to convert.
Likewise, you don’t need a 4K, Hollywood-produced commercial to launch Roku ads. Working with your existing video assets (like social video, creator clips, and product demos), Roku can easily help you upscale your creative and generate TV-ready ds.
Learn more in our blog post: How much does it cost to advertise on CTV?
Measurement: go beyond awareness
Why settle for blunt reach and awareness metrics when you can tap into Roku’s advanced measurement capabilities to track deeper insights like web visits and conversions? Roku offers pixel and conversion API tracking to help you gain stronger insights into campaign performance. Not a techie? Don’t worry, setup is simple.
Learn more in our blog post: Measuring performance on Roku: pixels & events.
Shoppable TV: turn interest into action instantly
Who says TV ads can’t drive immediate, measurable actions? Action Ads prompt viewers to take action with a few clicks of their Roku remotes. And if you use Shopify, they can even make purchases directly from their TVs.
Learn more in our blog post: The shoppable TV ad: Shopify + Action Ads
Roku Ads Manager in action
Roku Ads Manager helps top brands drive visibility and sales.
Direct to consumer wellness brand Fatty15 used Roku Ads Manager to launch shoppable ads that achieved a 120% ROAS and over 97,000 page views.
LolaVie used Action Ads to drive text-to-purchase from the Roku remote, contributing to the brand’s 40% lift in overall sales during the campaign on LolaVie.com and at Ulta Beauty.
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"Roku Ads Manager’s easy-to-use streaming ad platform got our campaigns live in minutes, and the performance was strong at both the top and bottom of the funnel."
— Minghua Hou, Director of Paid Media, MRCOOL
Interested in driving results like LolaVie, Fatty15, and MRCOOL? Sign up for Roku Ads Manager or learn more here.