Definition: Opportunity To See [OTS]


It is traditionally thought that an ad/marketing message needs to be seen around 5 times before it becomes effective (as in users need 5 opportunities to see it).

 

7 Things To Know About Opportunity To See

  1. In a *terrible* example of marketing jargon, OTS is used to mean both:
    • Each time someone might see an ad (eg impressions)
    • The average no. of times people see an ad (eg frequency)
  2. OTS is not a consistent metric across all channels. An online video ad only needs to be 50% on screen for 2 seconds to count, while a TV ad has to play for a full 30 seconds.
  3. OTS is a way of hedging bets – they are opportunities to see an ad, not a guarantee that an ad was actually seen. To me, this really explains how ad impressions became a common metric.
  4. In online advertising, frequency is essentially the same as OTS as a metric. The difference is that that OTS is an estimated average whereas frequency is based on live data.
  5. According to Ryte, Opportunity To See is most analogous to page views (per user) in terms of SEO metrics as websites are essentially an advertising medium.
  6. The idea behind OTS is planning your marketing spend. If you want people to see an ad 5 times each, what mix of channels do you need to book to be sure to hit them 5 times?
  7. OTS is a traditional marketing metric meaning the ratio between the number of times an ad was seen, and the number of people who saw an ad.

 

Summary

Opportunity To See Definition

Glossary Index