The holy grail of SMB advertising has always been video. To see one’s face on TV is the dream of the average SMB. There’s a certain sizzle and celebrity vibe to the medium. It’s something SMBs can show their friends and their kids. Search ads and social profiles just don’t carry the same cachet.
But it’s always been a bit out of reach – a scarcity that has amplified its forbidden-fruit appeal. Points of friction include factors like cost and production capabilities. Subdividing cost concerns, there are both video production costs and video distribution costs. TV ad spots traditionally aren’t cheap.
But a few factors have emerged in the past few years to begin to chip away at these barriers to entry. Generative AI has lowered cost and friction when it comes to creative production. No film sets needed. And the rise of CTV has democratized ad placement with expanded and cost-efficient inventory.
Magnite is a company that recognized these macro trends early. As a sell-side advertising company, it’s in prime position to facilitate TV advertising and has developed that position over years. Then, last fall, it closed the loop on end-to-end video production and campaign activation by acquiring Streamer.ai.
CTV in a Box
Magnite SVP, Advanced Solutions & Channel Revenue Matt McLeggon explains this end-to-end offering as CTV in a box for SMBs. It does this by addressing the traditional barriers noted above. For example, with video production, the Streamer acquisition lets SMBs create and customize gen-AI video ads.
As for distribution, Magnite’s strengths as a sell-side platform endow access to 99 percent of CTV supply it claims. Aggregating that inventory allows it to present ample optionality to SMBs. This is done in programmatic fashion, which prevents SMBs from having to go out and negotiate several direct ad buys.
More importantly, a programmatic CTV orientation lets SMBs operate in a cost-efficient manner. For example, they can target specific audience segments, geographies, and content/contexts (think: sports, news, etc.). This lets them stretch a traditional SMB ad budget by targeting the right TV viewers.
That concept is carried to the next level by Magnite’s ability to work with an SMB’s first-party target lists. For example, when an SMB comes to the table with existing customers from its CRM system, Magnite can include, not include, or apply different messaging to those individuals in its CTV targeting.
Comcast and SearchKings Bring Video Ads to the SMB Long Tail
The Right Mix
Altogether, Magnite’s approach lowers traditional TV cost barriers by both bringing production down to almost zero and making distribution cost-efficient. The savings from the former can also be applied to the latter to give any SMB campaign greater scale. It’s the right mix of targeting and reach for SMBs.
Maginite’s positioning is also defined by its go-to-market strategy. Knowing the challenges of selling directly to the highly-fragmented SMB market, the company works with channels. These include agencies, retail media networks, demand-side platforms, and others with existing SMB relationships.
It’s also worth noting that all the above isn’t an aspirational direction; it’s already happening. Magnite has brought a steady volume of advertisers into CTV. And as it forms more channel partnerships to tap into local markets, it could tap into a larger base of SMBs for whom the offer to be on TV should resonate.
“We’re at the front end of a wave of SMB spend that will democratize CTV,” McLeggon told Localogy Insider. “The world of TV is changing. That change is good for streaming TV media owners, and it’s good for SMBs that want to tap into the power of television advertising and see themselves on a big screen during halftime of an NBA game.”
Hear more from Magnite at Localogy’s L26, April 20-21 in Houston, TX , as Matt McLeggon and Jon Moffie take the stage and are joined by Tubi’s Sujatha Mamidibathula.
