How to Hack the Holidays: Seasonal Marketing on CTV

For most retail brands, the massive influx of sales between Black Friday and New Year's Day determines the profitability of their entire year. Traditionally, local businesses are priced completely out of the broadcast market during Q4. Giant national retail conglomerates buy up all available ad inventory and drive the prices astronomically high.

Connected TV (CTV) offers a secret backdoor for local businesses to launch extremely aggressive, highly profitable holiday campaigns without going bankrupt.

The Agility of Connected TV

A traditional broadcast campaign requires a massive upfront commitment, often months in advance. If your Black Friday sale suddenly needs to change, or if a specific product sells out within 48 hours, you cannot stop the commercial from airing.

CTV operates with digital agility. You can launch a brand new commercial within days. More importantly, if a specific campaign is underperforming heading into Thanksgiving weekend, you can pause it instantly. You have total financial control.

"Conquesting" the National Brands

Because CTV allows for hyper-local geographic targeting, small businesses can run highly competitive counter-campaigns. If a national competitor is blanketing the entire US with an expensive broadcast ad, the local advertiser can create a geofence around that competitor's local stores.

When users who visit the big-box competitor go home at night, the local brand can serve them a CTV commercial stating, "Why wait in line? Get the same deals delivered locally." It is a highly aggressive, incredibly creative David vs. Goliath strategy.

The Super Bowl Strategy

While a $7 million national Super Bowl ad is out of the question, advertising during the "Super Bowl Window" is not. Instead of buying the actual game, local advertisers will aggressively target the households they know watch sports during the two weeks leading up to the game. They associate their brand with the excitement of the event, generating massive local awareness without paying the NFL premium.