Streaming services won five of the 11 television categories during the 2018 Golden Globe awards. Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, and the list goes on of the streaming services available today. As traditional cable moves to the back burner or perhaps becomes extinct, it is imperative that marketers take a look at how this shift effects advertising.

Since it's birth, Netflix has avoided advertising like a child avoids broccoli. Competitor Hulu Plus offers a comparable price but includes advertisements within their streaming content. Youtube also leans on ads as a major source of revenue. So the question for users becomes, are you willing to pay more to avoid interruption during the new episode of your favorite show? Or do you prefer a lower cost option, advertisements included?

Paying more money to see fewer ads could potentially destroy the younger generations ad tolerance. The solution? Quality content and a pleasant consumer experience. Rather than disrupting the user's frame of mind, advertisers must aim to enhance the user experience, offering relative content and adding value. Movie trailers are a great example of getting it right. Audiences at a movie theater sit through roughly twenty minutes of commercials and previews before their feature presentation. Capturing viewers attention with movies of similar genres.

If you hand a child an iPad to watch their favorite show of the moment and it buffers for a couple of minutes, they will promptly hand it back to you and move on to something else or throw a slight tantrum. Viewers anxiously awaiting the newest episode of Stranger Things will balk if they have to watch 2 minutes of an orthopedic shoe commercial. It's all about the user experience. Be intentional and make it enjoyable. Thoughts? Drop us a line in the comments section below.