In today’s competitive digital landscape, selecting the right platform is crucial for businesses looking to enhance viewership, boost app downloads, and elevate brand recognition. With numerous options like Roku, Amazon, and YouTube, navigating these choices can be overwhelming. This blog explores insights from the 2023 Upfronts and NewFronts, showcasing new, improved, and emerging opportunities to increase visibility and drive downloads for your brand.
Top Platforms for Maximizing App Downloads
Roku
New Commerce + Partnerships: Marketers can now leverage partnerships with leading retailers like Instacart and Walmart, allowing for data-driven experiences and measurement that streamline the path to purchase for major brands.
Primetime Reach Guarantee: Advertisers can ensure that their campaigns reach more TV households during primetime than the average program on top-five cable networks, enhancing brand visibility.
Roku City Brand Experiences: A new branding opportunity in Roku City, featuring brands like McDonald’s, will allow companies to make their mark in a vibrant digital environment viewed by nearly 40 million homes monthly.
New Discovery Experiences: Brands can present curated content in collaboration with Roku, enhancing user engagement through targeted collections on the Roku Home Screen.
Contextual AI: This innovative feature allows brands to display ads next to relevant moments in shows and movies, optimizing viewer connection in real-time.
Amazon Fire TV
- Leading Streaming Service: Amazon is the #1 paid streaming service in the US, with 135 million viewers. Notably, 75% of Twitch viewers are aged 18-34, and Freevee’s 300-channel bundle saw a 75% viewership increase in 2022.
- FAST Channel Bundle: Viewers can access live and on-demand content from services like Xbox and TMZ directly on Fire TV.
- Shoppable Experiences: Interactive ads allow users to purchase products directly from their screens. A new horizontal QR code overlay during ads enhances engagement.
- Innovative Audio Ads: Amazon’s audio ads target connected audio customers, providing access to premium first-party and third-party audio supply. The self-service ad buying process ensures greater control for advertisers.
- Tailored NFL Commercial Breaks: Brands can present multiple commercials within the same 30-second slot, targeting different demographics effectively.
YouTube
- Massive Reach: Nielsen estimated that 150 million unique users watched YouTube and YouTube TV on TV screens in December 2022, making it the #1 most-watched service on TV screens in America. YouTube was one of the few streamers to experience month-to-month growth this past April.
- New Advertising Formats: YouTube is launching 30-second unskippable ads and is testing a “Pause Experience” ad format, which shows ads when viewers pause a video, mirroring Hulu’s earlier model. The rapidly growing YouTube Shorts platform, with daily views reaching 50 billion, is becoming a vital space for advertisers looking to connect with new audiences.
- New Advertising Features on Shorts: Google is expanding video reach campaigns on YouTube Shorts and introducing a “First Position on Shorts” feature, which ensures an advertiser’s content is the first video viewed when a user starts scrolling. Despite these advancements, Google faces challenges as advertising revenue has declined.
Netflix
- Ad-Tier Subscribers: Netflix reports nearly 5 million subscribers for its ad-supported tier, signaling a shift in strategy after years of an entirely subscription-based model.
- Cause and ‘effect’- Executives played upon the phenomenon known as “The Netflix Effect” time and again during their presentation, enticing marketers with the idea that Netflix has been instrumental in creating new moments and trends in popular culture — and could do the same for them. Netflix staffers played up what the service had done for songs from Kate Bush and Lady Gaga, the concept of binge-watching and even the “Skip Intro” button.
Comcast
- Hybrid Streaming Service: Comcast is launching NOW TV, a hybrid linear-streaming service, which will include Peacock Premium and more than 40 linear channels for a competitive $20 per month.
Vizio
- New Home Screen: Vizio unveiled a redesigned interface aimed at enhancing user experience and providing brands with more immersive advertising opportunities.
- Innovative Advertising Features: The updated UI includes auto-play video, content deep links, trailers, storefront links, and QR code activations. Vizio’s new “Discover, Reveal” row block extends the hero unit, allowing advertisers multiple touchpoints and prime ad positions.
- Interactive Ads and Branded Content Studio: Vizio has launched interactive ads on WatchFree+ and established a Branded Content Studio to create original unscripted lifestyle and culture series.
LG TV
- Enhanced Carousel Access: By December 2023, 70% of LG TVs will feature an enhanced carousel with a 40% inventory increase and a 20% estimated click-through rate (CTR) rise, available to all advertisers.
- Dynamic Creative Optimization: This feature allows advertisers to customize ads based on real-time factors like weather, sports events, and location.
Samsung TV
- New Programming and Measurement Tools: Samsung TV Plus is launching The Conan O’Brien TV channel, curating clips from his late-night archives. Additionally, Samsung is introducing real-time measurement capabilities through its TV and You Community panel.
- Interactive and Shoppable Ads: Samsung is working with the interactive video platform Kerv to create ads that are not only engaging but also enable consumers to make purchases directly through the video content.
Meta
- AR Ad Types and Interactive Features: Meta is launching new AR ad types across Instagram Reels and Facebook Stories. Enhanced interactive ads will include larger call-to-action buttons with comprehensive advertiser information.
- Third-party Measurement Partnerships: New partnerships with companies like Double Verify and IAS will provide deeper insights into Reels ads campaigns.
- Improving Creative with Meta Advantage: Advertisers want Reels ads to allow a more frictionless shopping experience. Before, people would only be able to explore a single destination — like an advertiser’s home page or one product page. Now, with new multi-destination product ads for Reels — people can easily swipe through each product image, without even leaving the Reel they’re watching. This makes it easier than ever for them to shop products from your brand.
- New watch and browse feature: Available on Facebook, people can now pause a video ad and preview where you’ll go if you click the link. Pause and browse is designed to make it easier for people to click and interact with Facebook Reels Ads. As a result, businesses may see an increase in click through rate for Reels ads.
TikTok
- Pulse Premiere: TikTok is expanding its advertising ecosystem with Pulse Premiere, allowing brands to appear alongside premium content from top publishers, enhancing targeting capabilities and potential revenue.
Snapchat
User Base: Snapchat has nearly 750 million monthly active users generating over 5 billion Snaps daily, underscoring its broad reach.
New Advertising Features:
- First Story: Advertisers can position video ads first between Friend Stories for enhanced visibility.
- YouTube Select: Now extends to Shorts, allowing advertisers to purchase slots at the start of user sessions.
- Spotlight Ads: Available globally, these ads reach 350 million monthly viewers and feature automatic placements managed via Snapchat Ads Manager.
Sports Sponsorships: Snap will deliver exclusive content during major events like the Paris 2024 Olympics, maintaining partnerships with the NFL, NBA, and WNBA.
Snap Star Collab Studio: Launched to simplify brand partnerships with top creators, including Studio71, Beeline by Brat TV, Influential, and Whalar.
AI Initiatives: Testing sponsored links in its My AI chatbot and exploring a mobile video tool based on conversational intent.
As the digital landscape continues to evolve, leveraging these top digital platforms can significantly enhance your brand’s visibility and drive app downloads. At Marshall Advertising, we’re here to help you navigate these opportunities and develop a tailored media buying strategy that positions your brand for success in this dynamic market.
