Opportunity to see (OTS)

Opportunity to See (OTS) is a metric from the advertising world that describes how often a person had the opportunity to see an ad or promotional content. It does not refer to actual views but to potential opportunities based on the frequency of ad placements. OTS is often used to evaluate the reach and impact of advertising campaigns.

A key aspect of OTS is the measurement of ad frequency, which indicates how often a target individual could theoretically come into contact with an ad. A higher OTS figure may suggest a greater likelihood of reaching the target audience and creating lasting impressions. At the same time, an excessively high frequency could risk the advertisement being perceived as intrusive.

Another advantage of the OTS metric is its applicability across various media channels. Whether it’s TV commercials, online banners, or billboards, OTS can be calculated for any type of advertisement by relating the estimated number of contacts to the number of placements.

Example: If an ad was displayed 500,000 times and the target audience consists of 100,000 people, the OTS value is 5. This means that each person in the target audience had the opportunity to see the ad an average of five times.

Opportunity to See is a valuable metric for assessing the potential visibility of a campaign and optimizing advertising effectiveness. It complements other metrics such as the click-through rate or conversion rate by analyzing the reach and frequency of the advertising message.