Connected TV: CTV Advertising Guide

What is Connected TV

Connected TV (CTV) refers to any internet-connected television used to watch streaming content: Smart TVs, devices like Amazon Fire TV, Roku, Apple TV, Chromecast, and gaming consoles. CTV advertising is the ads shown within streaming platforms through these devices.

Unlike linear TV (where you buy a spot at a specific time for an estimated audience), CTV advertising is bought programmatically, targeted by audience data, and measured with digital metrics: impressions, completion rate, reach, and frequency.

Why CTV matters for marketers

Audiences have shifted from traditional television to streaming. In Spain, over 70% of households have at least one CTV device. In Latin America, penetration grows at double digits every year. Streaming users are younger, have higher purchasing power, and are harder to reach with linear TV.

Three key advantages:

Advanced targeting: you can serve ads by demographics, interests, purchase behavior, and even first-party data.
Non-skippable: most CTV formats do not allow the user to skip the ad (unlike YouTube pre-roll).
Big screen, high attention: CTV ads are viewed on the living room screen, with audio on and in a high-attention context.

CTV ad formats

Pre-roll

15-30 second ads that play before the content. The most common format and the one with the highest completion rate (typically above 90%).

Mid-roll

Ads inserted during natural content breaks, similar to linear TV ad breaks.

Pause ads

An innovative format: the ad appears when the user pauses the content. It is non-intrusive and captures a high-attention moment.

Interactive ads

Ads that allow interaction via the TV remote: scanning a QR code, visiting a landing page, or adding a product to cart directly from the screen.

How to buy CTV advertising

Programmatic

Programmatic buying through DSPs (Demand Side Platforms) is the most flexible method. Platforms like The Trade Desk, DV360, Amazon DSP, and MediaMath let you buy CTV inventory with automated targeting and optimization.

Direct from platforms

Major streaming platforms offer direct ad sales:

Platform	Model	Reach
Amazon Prime Video Ads	Programmatic CPM	Global
Netflix Ad Tier	Premium CPM	12 markets
Disney+ with ads	CPM	USA, Europe
YouTube CTV	CPV/CPM	Global
Pluto TV / Samsung TV+	CPM	Multi-market

Self-serve

YouTube and Amazon offer self-serve options accessible for smaller budgets, allowing mid-sized brands to access CTV without prohibitive minimum investment requirements.

CTV and the conversion funnel

CTV is fundamentally an upper-funnel channel (awareness and consideration), but its impact on conversion is measurable:

Direct impact. Interactive ads with QR codes enable direct conversion: the user scans and lands on the page. QR conversion rates on CTV range between 0.5% and 2%, higher than display.

Indirect impact. CTV generates brand searches (brand lift), direct visits, and improves conversion rates of other channels. A user who has seen your ad on CTV and then finds you on Google converts at a higher rate than one with no prior exposure.

Measurement. Tools like Innovid, TVSquared, and DSP-native solutions let you correlate CTV exposure with web conversions, store visits, and sales.

Key metrics

Metric	Description	Benchmark
VCR (Video Completion Rate)	% who watch the full ad	90-95%
CPM	Cost per thousand impressions	$15-40
Reach	Unique users reached	Variable
Frequency	Times a user sees the ad	3-7 optimal
Brand lift	Increase in brand recall	+5-15%

Common mistakes

Reusing digital creatives: an ad designed for mobile does not work on a big screen. CTV requires professional video production.
Not capping frequency: seeing the same ad 20 times in a week generates rejection, not recall.
Measuring only last click: CTV is rarely the last touchpoint. You need multi-touch attribution models or MMM to capture its real impact.
Ignoring content context: a food ad performs better alongside cooking shows than alongside true crime documentaries.

Conclusion

Connected TV combines the emotional impact of television with the precision of digital marketing. For brands that need to build awareness and generate demand that later converts on the web or in-store, CTV is a channel with growing potential.

If you want to optimize how each channel in your marketing mix contributes to the final conversion, at Boost we help connect awareness with measurable results. Audit your website for free with Scan&Boost.

Adrià Vidal — Boost