Launching your first Connected TV (CTV) campaign can feel intimidating at first. The terminology is new, the platforms are different, and the process combines elements of both traditional TV and digital advertising.
But at its core, running a CTV campaign follows a simple logic: define your audience, choose where to reach them, and deliver ads that connect on the biggest screen in the home.
Here’s a clear, step-by-step roadmap to help you launch your first CTV campaign with confidence.
Step 1: Define Your Goal
Every successful campaign starts with a clear objective.
Ask yourself what you want your CTV campaign to achieve. Is it to increase brand awareness, drive website traffic, promote a product launch, or support conversions like app downloads or purchases?
Your goal determines everything else — from the creative you use to how you measure success. For instance:
Brand awareness campaigns prioritize reach and completion rate.
Performance campaigns focus on cost per acquisition or site visits.
CTV offers flexibility for both. Once your goal is set, you can align every decision around it.
Step 2: Identify Your Audience
Unlike traditional TV, CTV lets you target with precision. You’re not buying time on a channel; you’re buying access to specific households and individuals based on data.
Start by defining who you want to reach. Consider:
Demographics: age, gender, income, family status
Geography: national, regional, or ZIP-level targeting
Behavior: streaming habits, purchase intent, interests
First-party data: customer lists or past site visitors
You can also layer in third-party data from providers that specialize in household-level insights. The more clearly you define your audience, the more efficiently your budget will perform.
Step 3: Choose Your Platforms and Partners
Next, decide where your ads will run.
You can buy CTV inventory in two main ways:
Direct from publishers like Hulu, YouTube TV, or Roku for guaranteed placements.
Programmatically through a Demand-Side Platform (DSP), which gives you access to thousands of apps and networks at once.
For your first campaign, many advertisers start with a DSP. It offers flexibility, data-driven targeting, and transparent reporting. Look for a partner that provides:
Access to premium streaming inventory
Brand safety controls
Cross-device measurement
Real-time optimization
If you already use a DSP for display or video, check if it also supports CTV buys — many now do.
Step 4: Build Your Creative
CTV is still television, and that means your creative matters more than anything else.
Viewers are watching on a large screen, often in a relaxed setting. Your ads need to feel natural in that environment while communicating your message clearly and quickly.
Keep these guidelines in mind:
Focus on storytelling, not direct response tactics.
Make sure your brand appears within the first three seconds.
Use clear audio and visuals that work well on big screens.
Test 15- and 30-second formats to see what performs best.
End with a simple, memorable call to action.
Remember that most CTV ads are non-skippable, so clarity and pacing are key.
Step 5: Set Your Budget and Bidding Strategy
CTV pricing works on a CPM (cost per thousand impressions) model. You pay for the number of ad impressions delivered, not for clicks or engagements.
Average CPMs for CTV typically range from $20 to $40, depending on targeting, audience quality, and inventory source.
If you’re launching your first campaign:
Start with a test budget that lets you gather at least two weeks of data.
Use automated bidding if your DSP offers it.
Avoid over-narrowing your audience early — it can drive costs up.
Your goal at this stage is to learn what works, not to maximize efficiency right away.
Step 6: Launch, Monitor, and Optimize
Once your campaign is live, monitor performance daily for the first week. Most DSPs provide dashboards showing metrics such as:
Impressions served
Video completion rate (VCR)
Reach and frequency
CPM
View-through conversions
Use this data to make small adjustments. If one creative outperforms another, shift more budget there. If certain audiences are driving better completion rates, narrow your targeting.
CTV campaigns improve with iteration. The key is to make decisions based on real performance data rather than assumptions.
Step 7: Measure Results and Report Learnings
After the campaign ends, take time to analyze what worked.
Look beyond top-line numbers and ask:
Which audiences delivered the highest completion rates?
Did certain devices or platforms perform better?
How did CTV complement your other media channels?
If you have web or app attribution tracking in place, compare user behavior among viewers who were exposed to your CTV ads versus those who weren’t.
Document your learnings and use them to refine your next campaign. Each round of testing brings sharper targeting, stronger creative, and better ROI.
Key Takeaway
Launching your first CTV campaign doesn’t require a huge budget or complex tech stack — just a clear strategy and an understanding of how the pieces fit together.
Define your goals, know your audience, choose the right partners, and track performance closely. CTV brings the scale of television and the precision of digital together in one place. Once you experience its impact, it quickly becomes one of the most valuable channels in your marketing mix.