Questions Media Buyers Should Ask OTT/CTV Vendors

When you decide to work with an OTT or CTV platform for your advertising needs, there are some things to ask the platform before you begin working with them. Many OTT and CTV platforms are actually just sales organizations that do not own their own platforms. Instead, they license an advertising technology vendor’s platform and sell it like it is their own.

The problem with this is that there can be a disconnect between the seller and the delivery organization, since the sales organization is essentially just the middleman. The campaign manager and salespeople are one step away from the platform owner, so there can be a lack of understanding of how everything works. You can also experience a slower turnaround time to diagnose and resolve any issues that arise during the campaign.

By contrast, JamLoop sales and platform operations are tightly linked, so we have deeper expertise, insight, and faster service turnaround times. Also, the powerful combinations of the unmatched real-time reporting transparency that our platform offers, our direct access to the data, and our deep understanding of how it all works, gives our team a tremendous advantage in how we service our clients.

To tell the difference between JamLoop and other vendors, there are some questions that agency media buyers should ask their OTT vendors. This can allow you to see how the platform works and determine if they are a reseller or a platform.

Top Questions To Ask When Considering An OTT Advertising Platform like JamLoop

Relationship to the Platform

To determine the vendor’s relationship to the platform, you can ask these questions.

• Does the vendor own and operate the platform, or are they reselling someone else’s platform?
• Do they own their own tech stack, or are they a Demand-Side Platform (DSP) build on top of other DSPs?
• If they do not own the Platform, whose DSP are they using?

Pricing and Understanding What Products Are Mixed into Your OTT and CTV Buy

These questions can help you learn how much their CPMs are, if there is a minimum spending requirement, and if the content is FEP or short-form content.

• Is the content true FEP (full episode players, full-length shows & movies), or is video pre-roll (short-form content) mixed in?
• If there is a product blend, can you see the exact breakout? Is it reflected in the pricing?
• Short Form Pre-Roll: Are they mixing in small Player size?  Is it reflected in the pricing?
• How competitive are my CPMs?
• Is there a minimum spend requirement?

Transparency and Impression Reporting

Transparency and reporting are both essential parts of any advertising campaign. These questions will help you learn more about this OTT advertising platform’s transparency and reporting.

• Is the reporting in real-time, or do I have to wait until reports are created by the vendor?
• Do I get Reach and Frequency metrics throughout the campaign?
• Do I get impression-level reporting for auditing purposes?
• Do I have complete impression-level transparency on my placements and what streaming apps I am running on?
• Do I have impression-level detail at a zip code level?

Data Partner Access

These two questions can help you determine clearly if you are working with a true platform or just a middleman.

• Who are your data partners, and how do you help pick the data segments for a campaign?
• Can you use Clients First-Party data, and what do you charge to create First-party data segments?

Planning, Implementing, and Invoicing Support

To have a successful advertising campaign, you need to know who you will be working with, how they will implement your campaign, and what kind of support you will receive during and after your OTT or CTV advertising campaign.

• Do I have a direct working relationship with my campaign manager, and are they responsive?
• How can I make mid-campaign changes, and how fast is the turnaround?
• Do I receive enough campaign detail to meet my invoicing needs?

Conclusion

We hope these questions will help you learn more about any OTT and CTV advertising platforms that you might be interested in working with. Once you have the answers to these questions, you will have a better idea of how the platforms you are interested in work and if they actually own their platform or if they lease it. Having a successful advertising campaign means you need to understand what approach the OTT platform you are interested in working with will take with your ads.