Opportunity to See (OTS)

Opportunity to see, OTS, is a media metric that shows how often a person on average had the chance to see an ad message. The figure describes the average frequency with which members of the target audience came into contact with the ad during a period. OTS does not say whether the person actually noticed the message, only that there was a chance.

How OTS is calculated

OTS equals the total number of ad contacts divided by the number of unique people reached. Example: a campaign reaches 500,000 people with 1.5 million contacts, so OTS is three. In the media plan OTS is a steering value you balance against pure reach.

Which values are typical

Typical target values vary by goal and industry. Brand campaigns often aim for three to seven, so recipients see the message several times and remember it. Performance campaigns can work with lower frequencies, because they focus on reaction to a specific trigger. Very high OTS values lead to wear out and overstimulation.

In day to day media planning

In day to day media planning OTS is used for display bookings, print advertising and out of home media. In digital channels ad platforms also use frequency to steer delivery. Combined with direct marketing through JD Mail and JD Partner you can complement OTS from display campaigns by sending targeted follow up mailings to the same audience.