But now, marketers are realizing what researchers have known all along: Digital marketing alone lacks key ingredients that make up the most effective campaigns—ingredients that only television can provide.
The truth is that digital always needed TV to succeed. If you’re still engaging in the TV-vs.-digital debate, you’re setting yourself up to lose—no matter which side you’re on.
The thrill of digital, the agony of deceit
Make no mistake: Digital is an absolute must-have to target (and re-target) consumers at any point in their lifecycle across the demographic spectrum. But it is by no means perfect, and its shortcomings have become all too noticeable.
To start, online media’s lack of transparency creates a myriad of challenges, chief among them fraudulent data (bots, ghost sites, purchased traffic, ad stacking, to name a few)l According to a study by the IAB and Ernst & Young, this fraud costs the U.S. digital marketing, advertising and media industry $8.2 billion each year.
Furthermore, as advertising opportunities increase, the ability to track, manage and optimize ad spend becomes more difficult. And let’s not forget about the digital waste created from ineffective campaigns that suffer from insufficient data.
Filling in the gaps…one set at a time
Television, meanwhile, delivers what digital can’t provide: trust (between the viewer and the marketer), reliability (for delivering the kind of stickiness and awareness every brand craves) and greater recall (more so than any other device).
One recent study from Neustar, Turner and Horizon Media found that TV outperformed digital heavyweights like paid search (up to 7 times better) and display advertising (5 times better), proving that it can still offer the highest return on ad spend.
Realizing that digital ads can’t quite pack the same punch as TV, advertisers have slowly but surely begun to reallocate some of their budgets back to TV. According to a UBS survey, half of the media buyers said their clients are expected to shift ad dollars toward TV in the next 24 months.
The best of both worlds
Here at the NY Interconnect (NYI), we understood early on the synergistic effect between TV and digital. We expanded our audience base across new providers to offer clients more comprehensive ad solutions. And thanks to the joint venture between Altice USA, Comcast and Charter—and because we now represent DirectTV, Dish and Fios—NYI has the largest TV reach across the New York market, about 6.4 million households.
Through an audience-buying platform known as Audience One, NYI leverages the power of linear and addressable TV, VOD, OTT and digital technologies to allow advertisers to capture more impressions among targeted audiences in the number-one market. Best of all: It can all be done in one integrated ad buy.
Moving back to the future
Marketers who will thrive in this new era will be those who treat TV and digital as two sides of the same coin. According to a 2016 study from Analytic Partners, we now see a 60 percent increase in ROI when TV ad spends is combined with digital.
The real issue is understanding and appreciating the strengths that each side brings to the table. Television creates an emotional connection with audiences, the kind that influences purchase decisions the way only TV can. Digital helps amplify the message through the online touchpoints that consumers spend their days on.
Consider this: In 2017, the IAB found that when used simultaneously, digital and TV generated the biggest impact on brand familiarity, opinion, intent and awareness
The verdict? TV and digital are the ultimate power couple, one that will always deliver the most efficient and lucrative bang for your buck. Why would you want to break that up?
Source: adweek.com
