Streaming trends for 2022: Data-driven streaming to hyper-targeted advertising

We will see video service providers selling prime tile space on their TV recommendations carousel to content and channel owners who will run campaigns personalised to each viewer. Armed with rich analytics and actionable insights, video service providers can continuously refine what viewers see in sponsored tiles, and drive up engagement with a new show, a new series, or even an entire channel, writes Peter Docherty, Founder and CTO, ThinkAnalytics.

These personalised tile promotions will also provide video service providers with new ad revenue streams in 2022.

The personalised tile can include a short video or trailer. For example, the interactive tile might be dynamically populated with a hero image of Bryan Cox and promoted to existing fans as well as to people who haven’t watched the programme but fit the viewer profile.

The growth in personalised tile promotions will also influence UX design. Popular devices from the likes of Samsung already feature sponsored tiles as areas for targeted content promotion and we expect this to accelerate in 2022.

Super-aggregation with supersized universal search goes mainstream

I have been predicting the rise of super-aggregation for the last four years! But in the last 12 months, one ThinkAnalytics customer, Tata Sky, has achieved what I believe to be a world-first: a full-blown super-aggregation with supersized universal search across 11 apps in one deployment. And another operator offers subscribers personalised content discovery, including voice search, across multiple streaming services, linear, VOD, catch-up, and recorded content, in 15 languages across seven countries.

This represents a massive leap forward from what I call super-aggregation light, where multiple apps are accessed through the EPG but require viewers to launch individual apps to search for something to watch.

In 2022, we will see more video service providers following in Tata Sky’s footsteps and supersizing their super-aggregation services with silo-free universal search.

Data-driven streaming will claim the viewer engagement crown

Finally, we will see the back of stagnant data lakes that are not fit for the purpose. They will be supplanted by fast-flowing, dynamic data streams from devices, platforms, metadata and consumer behaviour that can be harnessed for ultra-dynamic, rapid decision-making. Out with outdated ways of evolving the UX, such as surveys, in favour of a data-led approach that adds value to the everyday running of the business.

In 2022, we will see more video service providers adopting data-driven strategies incorporating hyper-personalisation, context-aware and semantic technologies that boost audience engagement and consumer satisfaction and open up monetisation opportunities.

One customer is integrating the Think360 cloud-based learning platform into its TV stack and building data-led businesses across its footprint that allows for testing, and modification of the UX in super-quick time, based on real-world data. As well as optimising engagement in the here and now, these state-of-the-art learning systems can even gaze into the future, and suggest modifications to personalised UXs that anticipate viewers’ future requirements too.

In 2022, video service providers who work their data hard to optimise the customer journey and proactively adapt to viewers’ needs will have the power to leave the data lake laggards in their wake.

Hyper-targeted TV advertising moves to prime time

Another of my predictions that evolves every year is targeted advertising, which is set to break through in 2022. Consumer profiling advancements during the past 12 months, such as those in the latest version of ThinkAdvertising, will help make this possible. Armed with rich user profiles, TV advertisers can now reach highly segmented audience niches that they recognise, value, and can measure, including those important but elusive “light” TV viewer categories.

We expect to see the adoption of the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) taxonomy for addressable TV advertising. This will remove the friction involved in buying and running cross-media campaigns that include targeted TV ads. ThinkAdvertising, for example, is able to automate the creation of segments based on more than 160 IAB audience affinities, such as people interested in adventure vacations.

Plus, breakthroughs in the predictive behavioural analysis will make it possible to predict a viewer’s purchase intent, and dynamically capture and build audience segments that demonstrate an enhanced interest in a particular purchasing category at a particular time. For example, a sudden interest in programmes about trekking vacations gives the green light to brands offering trekking tours.