FAST Advertising – Reckless Without ROAS Insights

There is no question CTV revolutionized the home entertainment experience for everyone – audiences, publishers, and advertisers. Audiences enjoy previously unimaginable content choices; publishers have more opportunities to stream; and advertisers savor the new targeting and measurement capabilities for TV. It’s all very exciting!

However, these newfound performance insights for CTV advertisers are not relevant for all streaming platforms powering the ecosystem. FAST advertisers still struggle to get a complete picture of their campaign performance. Unlike SVOD and HVOD streamers focused on what action is being taken in the app, such as clicks and payments, FAST channels monetize their content by attracting more engaged viewers.  

Attribution without viewership value 

Simply put, FAST channels want more viewers to watch longer and return again and again. This trend helps to drive ad revenue goals by filling inventory at higher rates. The top audience sources for FAST channels are: viewers converting from linear TV and existing FAST viewers finding new channels. 

The sheer volume of FAST content available for free makes it difficult for audiences to find content they’re actually interested in watching. To overcome this discoverability dilemma, FAST services must invest in CTV ads promoting their channels to attract new audiences – without breaking the bank. 

Third-party attribution providers, like MMPs (mobile measurement partners), track which campaigns are successfully driving new viewership. However, MMPs cannot provide a complete monetization picture for FAST because they cannot track ad revenue KPIs, such as CPM paid, how many ads are available, and fill rate. 

To build a healthy business, FAST channels need to connect MMP attribution data and “viewership value.” A passive metric not related to an action, viewership value is tied to HOV (hours of viewing) and the CPM rates for the available inventory. 

Not connecting these revenue dots means FAST channels do not know ROAS (return on ad spend), dramatically impacting business decisions. It’s difficult to justify increasing, or even continuing, ad spend when you are unable to prove profitable UA (user acquisition) accurately. 

Attempting to determine ROAS for FAST is a time-consuming manual data collection process reconciling MMP data (viewer attribution) with monetization data (ad revenue) and UA data (campaign costs). Needless to say, this approach opens the door to potential errors. 

Without an infinite budget to spend on premium CTV ad placements, it’s important to invest ad spend wisely, which is a scary proposition without complete measurement. 

Complete FAST measurement 

As one of the world’s largest FAST channel networks, Wurl is uniquely able to provide integrated monetization and advertising solutions, including ROAS data to FAST advertisers. ContentDiscovery pairs in-depth insights from your FAST channel with your trusted MMP data to unlock valuable KPIs – without manual data processing.

FAST advertisers need to know how acquired viewers deliver on ad revenue goals to optimize UA strategies and creatives. ContentDiscovery ingests content insights to fuel its AI-powered engine and find viewers who deliver your target ROAS. An innovative approach to help you attract high-value audiences, increase engagement, and reduce churn with 100% measurable results. 

And don’t miss Wurl’s latest report, developed in partnership with AppLovin, which explores how applying the same performance model as mobile UA campaigns can enhance CTV campaign transparency and efficiency. Accurately tracking ROI performance can drive optimizations that increase viewership and revenue for streaming platforms.