Connected TV (CTV) has become a powerful complement to linear TV and other cross-channel strategies — not a replacement, but a strategic evolution. With audiences streaming more than ever, CTV offers brand marketers the precision of digital targeting alongside the immersive experience of premium, big-screen content.
CTV platforms like Roku and Amazon Prime are offering a new way for advertisers to meet their audiences. These platforms stream video content through internet-connected devices, allowing brands to serve targeted video ads within premium content. Once considered a niche alternative to cable, CTV revenue is expected to outpace linear TV revenue by 2029.
With numerous streaming options available to advertisers, it can be difficult to know where to start. The key lies in having the right tools to leverage consumer data to effectively reach target audiences.
What is a CTV advertising platform?
A CTV advertising platform delivers ads through internet-connected devices like smart TVs, offering high levels of flexibility and sophisticated targeting capabilities.
In 2026, CTV is projected to account for 20% of U.S. adult media consumption, up from 11.5% in 2020. This growth allows advertisers to use data-driven insights for personalized ads based on viewer behavior, interests, and location, enhancing ad relevance, geo-targeting, and cross-device campaigns.
Why use connected TV advertising platforms
CTV advertising platforms provide access to engaged viewers and advanced tools for efficient, targeted, and measurable campaigns. Unlike buying directly from streaming services, these platforms aggregate inventory across multiple sources, offering more flexibility and precision through programmatic buying. Here’s why brands are investing in this emerging channel:
- Enhanced tracking and attribution capabilities
- Real-time campaign optimization
- Improved conversion rates
- Scalable and flexible ad strategies
- Access to premium inventory
- Measurable ROI for ad campaigns
Enhanced tracking and attribution capabilities
CTV advertising platforms provide robust tracking and attribution tools that go beyond traditional TV metrics. Advertisers can monitor impressions, view-through rates, completion rates, and post-view conversions to measure campaign impact and audience engagement.
Real-time campaign optimization
With programmatic capabilities, CTV advertising platforms allow for real-time campaign adjustments. Brands can optimize targeting, bidding, and creative elements on the fly based on performance data. This flexibility ensures that ad spend is allocated efficiently.
Improved conversion rates
Thanks to precise audience targeting and personalized ad delivery, CTV advertising platforms often achieve higher conversion rates than directly purchasing inventory from streaming services. Advertisers can leverage first-party data to create detailed buyer profiles that ensure the right message reaches the right audience.
Scalable and flexible ad strategies
CTV advertising platforms allow advertisers to tailor campaigns based on budgets and objectives while adjusting targeting, formats, and placements for efficiency.
Access to premium inventory
CTV advertising platforms provide access to premium inventory across top streaming services, apps, and networks. This includes high-quality shows from platforms like Hulu, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, and more. Advertising alongside premium content enhances brand credibility and ensures ads are seen in brand-safe environments.
Measurable ROI for ad campaigns
CTV advertising delivers measurable ROI by tracking performance in real-time and attributing conversions to specific campaigns. By analyzing cost-effectiveness at the impression level, advertisers can make data-driven decisions and continuously refine their strategies for better results.
Key considerations for choosing a CTV advertising platform
Selecting the right CTV advertising platform is essential for a successful campaign. As streaming continues to dominate media consumption, you need a platform built for scalability and precise measurement. A few considerations to keep in mind when choosing a CTA advertising platform include:
- Flexible data collaboration capabilities
- People-based addressability
- Ad format flexibility
- Ad load
- Advanced analytics and reporting
- Responsible data use
- Premier data partner ecosystem
- Total scale
- Integration with other channels
- Scalability and durability
1. Flexible data collaboration capabilities
Look for CTV platforms that offer flexible data collaboration tools to support strategic planning and campaign performance. The ability to work productively across partners, ecosystems, and channels is critical for driving return on ad spend (ROAS), supporting cross-screen measurement, and enabling data-driven planning.
2. People-based addressability
Choose platforms capable of delivering relevant ads to specific viewers with advanced audience targeting features — demographic, behavioral, geographic, and contextual. That means prioritizing a partner that can activate your first-party data and enrich it through integrations with high-quality third-party data providers and publisher ecosystems. This unlocks a more complete view of your ideal customer and ensures your message is seen by the right viewers across multiple platforms and channels — not just CTV but social, web, and email, too.
3. Ad format flexibility
Seek platforms that support diverse ad formats like in-stream video, interactive ads, and dynamic creative optimization (DCO). As CTV audiences grow more sophisticated, so too must your creative. A scalable platform should enable you to personalize creative at scale without sacrificing speed or quality.
4. Ad load
An optimal ad load is key to striking a balance between effective brand recall and a positive viewer experience. Platforms should deliver ads efficiently while respecting the user’s viewing experience to avoid fatigue. Smart frequency capping across authenticated users ensures you’re not overexposing your message.
5. Advanced analytics and reporting
A strong CTV partner should provide real-time campaign performance dashboards, including impression counts, completion rates, engagement, and conversions. Even more important is the ability to connect CTV activity to outcomes — both online and offline — through robust attribution models.
6. Responsible data use
With regulations tightening, choose a partner that prioritizes responsible data use. Look for solutions that support secure, responsible identifiers to activate and measure campaigns. Responsible data usage shouldn’t be a bolt-on — it should be embedded in every step of the activation process.
7. Premier data partner ecosystem
To successfully activate your data in CTV, you need a partner that can deliver both expertise and scale. Look for platforms that provide instant access to high-quality third-party data and customer insights through a premier ecosystem of data partners and publishers. These partnerships enable you to enrich your customer understanding, improve targeting, and deliver better results.
8. Total scale
The total scale of a CTV platform refers to its overall reach and ability to deliver unduplicated, unique audiences across multiple streaming services and devices.
A strong platform should provide broad access to premium inventory while minimizing duplicate impressions across different touchpoints. Look for platforms that offer cross-media measurement and deduplication capabilities to ensure you’re reaching new audiences rather than serving ads to the same users.
9. Integration with other channels
Integrating CTV platforms with other marketing channels helps bridge the gaps between data silos, enabling a more unified and effective advertising strategy.
Siloed data can create blind spots in customer insights, but CTV platforms that connect social media, programmatic display, and search allow for comprehensive cross-media attribution. This helps brands measure how CTV ads influence engagement on other platforms and ensures that insights from one channel can enhance performance across others.
10. Scalability and durability
Look for a partner that provides a durable, privacy-centric identifier that can bring together consumer information across all CTV and digital touchpoints, with built-in safeguards to protect privacy while delivering and maintaining deeply personalized experiences.
Discover the full potential of CTV advertising with LiveRamp
As CTV becomes a more lucrative advertising channel, the ability to integrate siloed customer data from CTV advertising platforms and other channels like social media and programmatic display becomes that much more important. By bridging these silos, you can create more cohesive, personalized CTV advertising campaigns and gain deeper insights into performance.
Fortunately, you don’t have to manage this integration alone.
With the LiveRamp data collaboration network, you can reach authenticated audiences at scale and deliver personalized experiences everywhere it matters — across CTV, browsers, mobile devices, and more. Take a self-guided tour of the platform or contact us to learn more.