Guide to OTT Advertising for Businesses

With personal cellular devices and Smart TV's the internet is at our fingertips, and a new era of how we consume TV is rapidly catching up. Digital advertising is a changing landscape, and the future is OTT, or Over-The-Top, which refers to content delivered directly via the web (streaming)—bypassing traditional cable, satellite, or broadcast methods. It encompasses video or audio streamed on smart TVs, mobile devices, tablets, computers, and streaming hardware like Roku or Fire TV. OTT also includes subscription-based services (SVOD like Netflix), free ad-supported platforms (AVOD/FAST like Tubi or Pluto TV), and hybrid models.

Why are businesses flocking to OTT for the future of their marketing? Because in May of 2025 streaming viewership surpassed traditional broadcast and cable COMBINED for the first time, capturing 44.8% of TV viewership versus 44.2% via traditional sources, resulting in global estimates for 2025 of a user base of more than 5.27 billion people. Those 5.27 billion, with a B, world-wide translates to 260 million people, roughly 77% of the population, in the US alone. And, that 77% of the US population who are regularly watching OTT will result in industry wide revenue of over $316 billion in just the US.

With OTT services such as, YouTube, Amazon, and Netflix dominating in viewership, how do you make sure your ads are seen by the right people? Interestingly, with OTT most ad services make everything fully customizable. This means that with a clearly defined target customer, you can ensure your ads are seen by exactly those who are most likely to buy.

Next, with your clearly defined target customer, you can place OTT ads on the exact channels they are most likely to watch and by specific zip codes, economic means, age ranges, interests, and so much more. The right partnership in marketing will truly make a difference when making these distinctions, because your money will work the hardest amongst those streaming who are already the most likely to need or want what you are selling. Without these truly targeted, you might be just hollering into the abyss and praying the right people hear your message.

Learn more about OTT by visiting our Client Success page to see how advertising your business can be an investment that pays off big dividends.