OTT for Small Businesses: A Comprehensive Guide

Streaming has officially overtaken traditional cable. As of 2023, streaming accounts for over 38% of U.S. TV usage, according to Nielsen’s The Gauge report, surpassing cable and broadcast combined.

That means your customers, and your competitors’ customers, are watching shows, sports, and news on streaming platforms right now. Here’s why OTT is tailor-made for growth-minded small businesses:

🎯 1. You Can Target with Laser Precision

Forget the “spray and pray” approach of traditional TV. With OTT, we can target your ideal audience with serious accuracy by ZIP code, demographic, interests, behaviors, or even down to individual households using our patented IP Targeting technology.

That means your HVAC business can reach homeowners within 10 miles of your service area, not renters in another county. Or your specialty coffee brand can serve ads only to people who’ve shown online interest in artisan coffee.

This is targeted TV, not background noise.

💰 2. You Don’t Need a Huge Budget

OTT levels the playing field. Instead of paying for airtime (with zero guarantee your audience is even watching), you pay for actual ad impressions; real people, watching real content, in real time.

You can start with a small budget, see measurable results, and scale up as you grow. That’s exactly what many of our small business clients do, and it’s one of the reasons OTT is growing fast in local markets.

📊 3. It’s Measurable — and We Go Beyond “Views”

Sure, OTT platforms can show you impressions, video completion rates, and device types, and those are useful. But we don’t stop there.

With our proprietary MatchBack Analysis, we can show you exactly which households saw your ad and then became customers. That means you’re not just reporting views, you’re reporting verified sales.

It’s one of the most powerful attribution tools in advertising. And it's built into every campaign we run.

👀 4. You’re Unskippable and Full-Screen

Most OTT ads are non-skippable and full-screen. That means viewers are actually watching your entire message, not tapping through it in half a second like a social ad.

That kind of attention is rare in digital marketing. And when your ad shows up on the same screen as their favorite shows, your brand instantly gains trust and credibility.

Common OTT Myths — Debunked

We hear the same concerns over and over from small business marketers who are new to OTT. So let’s address them:

❌ “OTT is too expensive for us.”

Actually, it’s more efficient than most digital ad channels. Because you're targeting only the audience that matters, and paying only for real views, your dollars go much further than a traditional TV or display ad ever could.

❌ “We don’t have video content.”

If you’ve run a social video ad, you’re probably already halfway there. Most OTT platforms accept :15 or :30 spots. And if you don’t have a spot yet, we can help you get one made quickly (and affordably).

❌ “It’s hard to set up.”

Not with us. We've built a system that makes OTT easy for small businesses. From targeting to creative formatting to campaign reporting, we’ve simplified every step.

How to Get Started with OTT (the Smart Way)

If you're ready to test OTT, here’s what we recommend:

1. Define Your Objective

Do you want to drive foot traffic? Website visits? Build brand awareness? A clear goal helps shape creative, targeting, and success metrics.

2. Set a Realistic Budget

You don’t need a huge bankroll. You just need to know how many impressions you want, and we can help reverse-engineer your campaign from there.

3. Use Your First-Party Data

Already have a customer list or CRM? Perfect. We can turn that into a hyper-targeted OTT campaign using IP Targeting. No cookies, no guesswork.

4. Prioritize Creative That Makes an Impact

Short-form video works best, especially if it’s punchy, emotional, or features a strong offer. If you already have social video, we’ll help you format it for OTT.

5. Optimize and Measure

Once the campaign is running, we track everything, and then some. If you're working with us, we’ll show you real ROI using MatchBack Analysis. You’ll know exactly what’s working and how to adjust.

Why El Toro Is the Right OTT Partner for Your Business

This is the part where we stop being objective, because we genuinely believe what we’ve built is the most precise and transparent OTT solution on the market.

Here’s what sets us apart:

✅ Household-Level Targeting

Our IP Targeting technology matches physical addresses to IP addresses with unmatched precision, allowing you to serve OTT ads to exact households without relying on cookies or device IDs.

✅ Built-In Sales Attribution

We don’t just track who saw your ad. We track who acted on it. With MatchBack Analysis, we prove ROI at the household level. No assumptions. Just hard data.

✅ Access to Premium Inventory

We deliver your ads across the most popular streaming services: Hulu, Peacock, Pluto TV, Max, Sling TV, Samsung TV+, and more, ensuring your message appears in high-quality content environments.

✅ No Wasted Impressions

Because we don’t rely on probabilistic data, cookies, or IP ranges, your ads aren’t hitting bots or irrelevant households. Not only is every impression intentional, but 75% of households with CTV devices are more likely to co-view than linear TV households.

✅ Built for Businesses Like Yours

Even though we power campaigns for Fortune 500 brands, we’ve built our platform to support small and mid-sized businesses with real marketing teams and real growth goals. No matter your starting point, we scale with you.

Final Thought: OTT Isn’t the Future — It’s the Right Now

Streaming is no longer the “emerging channel.” It’s the channel. And small businesses that want to grow can’t afford to sit on the sidelines.

With OTT, you can reach your audience where they’re spending more time than ever. And with El Toro, you can do it with precision, clarity, and confidence.

If you're ready to see what OTT for Small Businesses can really do, we’re ready to help.

👉 Contact El Toro and let’s launch your next campaign.