CTV Advertising: How Brands Can Reach Audiences on the Biggest Screen in the Home

Connected TV is changing the way brands think about television advertising.

As audiences increasingly watch content through smart TVs, streaming devices and internet-connected platforms, advertisers have an opportunity to combine the impact of television with many of the targeting, measurement and optimisation capabilities associated with digital advertising.

For brands accustomed to Meta, Google and other performance channels, CTV can provide a valuable way to extend their marketing strategy onto the biggest screen in the home.

What Is CTV Advertising?

CTV stands for Connected TV and generally refers to television content delivered through an internet-connected television or streaming device.

Unlike traditional linear television advertising, CTV campaigns can offer more data-driven audience targeting and measurement.

Depending on the platform and inventory available, advertisers may be able to manage campaigns across different content environments, monitor delivery and analyse how audiences respond.

And because many CTV advertising formats are designed specifically for television viewing, they can provide brands with a highly visible, full-screen video environment.

Why Should Brands Consider CTV?

CTV sits between two worlds.

It offers the sight, sound, motion and storytelling potential of television, while adding capabilities more familiar to digital marketers.

For growing and ecommerce brands, CTV can complement search, social and other performance channels by introducing the business to potential customers before they actively search for it.

Instead of only competing for consumers already demonstrating purchase intent, brands can use CTV to create awareness and generate new demand.

Start with a Clear Objective

Before launching a campaign, decide what success should look like.

Your objective could include:

• Increasing brand awareness

• Reaching new customers

• Driving website visits

• Generating conversions

• Improving engagement

• Increasing incremental reach

• Supporting return on advertising spend

Different objectives require different targeting, creative and measurement strategies.

A brand-awareness campaign, for example, shouldn't necessarily be judged solely on immediate website conversions.

Define Your Audience

Start with a clear understanding of your ideal customer, but don't automatically make the audience so narrow that the campaign struggles to find new prospects.

Consider factors such as demographics, location, interests, lifestyle, purchasing behaviour and other relevant audience characteristics.

Campaigns can then potentially combine prospecting and retargeting.

Prospecting introduces the brand to new potential customers, while retargeting can reinforce the message among audiences who have already demonstrated interest.

Used together, they can help move consumers from discovery to consideration and ultimately conversion.

Set a Realistic Testing Budget

CTV doesn't have to mean committing immediately to a huge television budget.

The important thing is to establish a budget appropriate for the audience, campaign duration and objectives.

Larger budgets can provide more data more quickly, but smaller advertisers can still test CTV by taking a more focused approach and allowing sufficient time to evaluate performance.

The objective should be to learn, optimise and scale what works.

Creative Matters

Targeting can put your advertisement in front of the right audience, but creative determines whether they remember it.

CTV is a visual storytelling environment, so make those seconds count.

Keep your proposition simple, establish the brand clearly and give viewers a reason to remember you.

A strong CTV advert should typically have:

A clear opening. A memorable message. Strong branding. A simple call to action.

Testing different creative executions can also reveal which messages resonate most strongly with different audiences.

Get the Technical Requirements Right

Creative specifications vary between platforms and publishers, so advertisers should always confirm the requirements for the inventory they're buying.

Common video specifications may include:

• 16:9 widescreen format

• 1920 × 1080 resolution

• High-quality video bitrate

• MP4 or MOV file formats

• Common durations such as 15 or 30 seconds

Technical quality matters. Your advertising is potentially appearing alongside professionally produced television and streaming content, so your creative needs to look appropriate for that environment.

Choose the Right Advertising Environment

CTV isn't a single channel.

Audiences consume streaming content across numerous broadcasters, streaming services, apps and connected devices.

Rather than simply trying to appear everywhere, brands should think about where their target audience is most likely to be found and which environments complement the brand.

Availability and buying options differ between services, so campaigns should be planned around the inventory actually accessible to the advertiser.

Monitor and Optimise Your Campaign

Launching the campaign is only the beginning.

Advertisers should monitor factors such as delivery, audience reach, frequency, video completion and campaign outcomes.

Frequency is particularly important.

Too little exposure may mean consumers don't remember the brand. Too much can waste budget by repeatedly reaching the same audience.

Advertisers can also test different audiences, creative executions and campaign strategies to identify opportunities for improvement.

How Should CTV Advertising Be Measured?

CTV measurement should go beyond simply counting impressions.

Depending on the campaign and measurement capabilities available, useful metrics can include:

• Reach and frequency

• Video completion rate

• Cost per completed view

• Website visits

• Conversion rate

• Brand lift

• Return on advertising spend

• Incremental reach

• Incremental sales or conversions

The final two are particularly important.

If you already advertise through television, Meta, Google or YouTube, the question isn't simply whether your CTV campaign delivered impressions.

A more valuable question is:

What additional audience, customers or revenue did CTV contribute that we wouldn't otherwise have achieved?

CTV Should Be Part of the Wider Marketing Mix

CTV becomes particularly interesting when it isn't treated as an isolated advertising channel.

A customer might discover your brand through an advert on their television, search for you later on Google, encounter your social advertising and ultimately purchase through your website.

Looking only at the final click can underestimate the role television played in creating that customer journey.

Brands should therefore consider how CTV, search, social, digital video, ecommerce and other advertising channels work together.

The Big Screen Is Becoming a Performance Opportunity

CTV is helping remove the traditional divide between brand advertising and digital performance marketing.

Brands can use premium video to tell their story and build awareness while applying more sophisticated approaches to audience selection, measurement and optimisation.

For advertisers, the opportunity is clear:

Use the power of the big screen to get discovered. Use data to improve relevance. Measure what happens next. Then optimise and scale.

CTV isn't simply another place to run a video advert.

It's becoming an important part of a connected, cross-screen advertising strategy.