How to Turn CTV into a Performance Marketing Channel for Growth

Introduction

CTV (Connected TV) has become one of the fastest-growing marketing channels, offering unique opportunities to engage audiences where they consume content the most: their living rooms. 

One of the most exciting aspects of this shift is how CTV advertising is now able to bring the performance power of mobile user acquisition (UA) to television. 

Whether you operate in the dynamic world of gaming, the diverse realm of non-gaming apps, or are a streaming app delivering engaging content, CTV is driving incrementality and profitable growth for performance-minded marketers.

So, how exactly can you create these results for yourself? Read on, and we’ll explain.

First, some key takeaways

Defining the CTV advertising opportunity

What is CTV advertising? Before we answer this question, let’s first define what CTV is.

Connected TV (CTV) is any smart TV, CTV streaming device (such as Roku and AppleTV), or gaming console that can be used to access digital video content over the internet. CTV advertising enables marketers to deliver ad experiences through non-skippable videos on those connected devices.

Viewers are flocking to streaming from traditional cable which is creating the virtuous cycle that is fueling CTV’s growth. Streaming platforms and content publishers are investing more than ever in new content and as more content moves to CTV, so do more viewers. All of this has led to advertisers allocating more of their budgets to the medium. 

As a digital platform, CTV makes comprehensive performance tracking alongside other internet-connected marketing channels possible. What does that mean for you?

The impact of CTV by the numbers

The effectiveness of dual-screening

CTV delivers massive scale and can be highly effective within a multi-channel marketing strategy thanks to user-viewing habits. As the majority of users participate in “dual-screening,” or watching CTV while using their phones, they can learn more about the product in real-time, stimulating the down-funnel actions that marketers care about.

This presents a unique opportunity for streaming apps, specifically, to target high-value viewers across both mobile and CTV who have an affinity for a particular show. For example, a viewer may be streaming a sporting event on CTV when they receive an ad for another sporting event to check out later.

Driving performance marketing with CTV

CTV has revolutionized the delivery of TV content, viewing behaviors, and the personalization of TV advertising. Marketers can now leverage data-driven targeting and measurement, providing a clearer understanding of campaign outcomes – making TV a more accountable and measurable channel than it’s ever been.

A unique characteristic of CTV lies in its interactivity as a technology not only connected to the internet, but also with other devices. This shift toward interactivity paves the way for continued innovation in performance marketing.

The Marketing Funnel

CTV advertising plays an important role in the marketing funnel, contributing to each stage of the customer journey.

Having a full-funnel mindset is key to understanding the impact of your performance marketing strategy — not only for measurement, but also as part of a multi-channel approach. It’s important to have a set of metrics to navigate this landscape and mobile has set the standard. Consistency in measurement is essential across UA efforts spanning every marketing channel, ensuring a holistic understanding of CTV’s role in driving down-funnel actions.

• In-app Return on Ad Spend (IAP ROAS) – Optimize ROAS based on IAP revenue goals
• Cost Per Event (CPE) – Scale ROAS based on valuable funnel events
• Total ROAS – Maximize overall ROAS across IAP and ad revenue
• Ad ROAS – Drive profitable ROAS based on ad revenue goals
• Cost Per Action (CPA) – Align performance goals with your profitability indicators
• Cost Per Purchaser (CPP) – Scale your purchasers at a defined cost goal

The importance of MMPs in the marketing funnel

Collaborating with an MMP is a vital part of gaining comprehensive visibility into performance across all of your marketing channels, so you can accurately attribute activities throughout the entire marketing funnel. 

This includes measuring the influence of CTV ads on mobile app adoption, targeting high-value audiences ready to subscribe, and implementing cross-device measurement strategies. By leveraging the expertise of an MMP (mobile measurement partner), you can obtain a more complete understanding of campaign effectiveness and make more informed decisions to drive the best results.

CTV drives incrementality

CTV allows you to expand reach to previously untapped audiences and acquire net-new users and subscribers. This is called incrementality and it can be a powerful A/B testing method that assesses the true impact of CTV advertising compared to the results achieved without it. 

As more marketers lean into CTV as a performance channel, they are measuring the incremental conversions and revenue to truly understand its effectiveness and contribution to overall marketing performance.

Creating impactful CTV ad creatives 

CTV offers unique opportunities for producing emotionally evocative ad creatives, providing an ideal way to tell stories and connect with your audience on a deeper level. The ability to test and optimize the narratives with CTV ensures the messages that resonate the most reach the right viewers. This allows for iterative improvements, ensuring that the creative elements of your ads can be continuously refined for maximum impact and higher engagement rates.

The intended action with mobile UA is to have the user interact directly with the ad, while streamers want to drive more viewer user engagement with content.

CTV ads are meant to last with the user past the point of viewing the ad. Viewers may engage with the new content immediately, but often dial in later. App interactions are also not typically the next step of the conversion funnel on a CTV device. It’s important to create ad experiences that make the users want to search for your app or streaming content afterward!

By leveraging some of the tools and strategies of the marketing mediums that came before, CTV opens up a new realm of creative possibilities for delivering ads that are memorable and action-oriented.

Maximize the impact of your CTV creative

Creative strategies to capture attention

Conclusion

Incorporating CTV into your marketing strategy will create more opportunities to reach new audiences and drive new incremental growth for your business. As more cord-cutting viewers stream their favorite shows with phones in hand, CTV provides the perfect platform to deliver immersive ad experiences that inspire viewers to take action.