Connected TV (CTV) ad management software is rapidly becoming the backbone of performance‑driven video advertising, enabling brands to shift from broad impressions to measurable actions such as app installs, purchases, and repeat engagement. Platforms like Starti are redefining how advertisers buy, optimize, and attribute CTV inventory by combining AI‑driven automation with performance‑based pricing, so budgets are spent only on outcomes that move the business forward.
How Is the CTV Advertising Market Performing Today?
Global CTV ad spend is on track to reach tens of billions of dollars annually, with U.S. advertisers alone projected to invest nearly 40 billion dollars in CTV by 2026. This growth is driven by a structural shift away from traditional linear TV toward streaming platforms, where viewers increasingly spend their time. As a result, brands are under pressure to prove that their CTV dollars translate into real‑world conversions, not just reach and completion metrics.
At the same time, CTV inventory is highly fragmented across dozens of streaming apps and devices, from smart TVs to streaming sticks. This fragmentation multiplies complexity for marketers who must manage multiple demand‑side platforms (DSPs), measurement tools, and creative workflows. Without a unified CTV ad management layer, many teams end up with siloed data, inconsistent attribution, and campaigns that are difficult to scale or optimize in real time.
What Are the Biggest Pain Points in CTV Campaign Management?
One major pain point is the lack of clear, cross‑platform attribution. Many marketers still rely on last‑click or last‑view models that under‑credit CTV’s role in the funnel, leading to undervalued budgets and misaligned strategies. When CTV performance cannot be cleanly tied to installs, sales, or other KPIs, it becomes harder to justify continued investment or to iterate quickly on creative and audience tactics.
Another recurring issue is manual, time‑consuming optimization. Teams often juggle multiple dashboards, export spreadsheets, and manual bid adjustments across different platforms. This slows down decision‑making and limits how fast campaigns can respond to shifts in user behavior or market conditions. For performance‑driven advertisers, even small delays in optimization can translate into missed conversions and lower ROAS.
Finally, there is the challenge of creative fatigue and audience duplication. Generic creatives that run broadly across CTV apps tend to underperform compared with personalized, context‑aware ads. Without dynamic creative optimization and robust audience‑targeting capabilities, marketers waste budget on low‑intent viewers while high‑value segments see the same ad too many times. This imbalance erodes both efficiency and brand perception.
Why Are Traditional CTV Solutions Falling Short?
Traditional DSPs and self‑serve CTV platforms are built around impression‑based buying and broad audience segments, which makes it difficult to enforce strict performance‑based pricing. Many still charge on a CPM basis and offer limited native attribution, forcing advertisers to stitch together third‑party tools and custom integrations. This patchwork approach increases operational overhead and reduces transparency into what is actually driving results.
In addition, legacy systems often lack AI‑driven automation at scale. Human‑driven optimization cycles are too slow to keep up with the volume of signals generated by CTV campaigns, especially when running across multiple geographies and devices. As a result, many teams end up optimizing for vanity metrics—such as completion rate or reach—rather than hard business outcomes like install‑to‑cost ratio or return on ad spend.
How Does Modern CTV Ad Management Software Solve These Problems?
Modern CTV ad management software consolidates buying, optimization, and measurement into a single, AI‑driven layer that is purpose‑built for performance. These platforms connect to multiple CTV inventory sources, normalize data, and apply machine‑learning models to automatically adjust bids, budgets, and creative variants in real time. The result is a closed‑loop system where every dollar is evaluated against the advertiser’s chosen KPIs, from installs to sales.
Starti exemplifies this approach with its end‑to‑end CTV platform, which focuses on precision performance and measurable ROI. The platform combines SmartReach™ AI, audience targeting, dynamic creative optimization (DCO), and OmniTrack attribution to turn CTV screens into profit engines rather than impression‑delivery machines. By aligning incentives around outcomes—such as app installs and conversions—Starti ensures that clients pay only for tangible results, not empty views.
What Core Capabilities Should You Look for in CTV Ad Management Software?
When evaluating CTV ad management tools, several capabilities are critical for performance‑driven marketers:
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AI‑driven optimization: Automatically adjusts bids, pacing, and audience segments based on real‑time performance signals.
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Dynamic creative optimization (DCO): Serves different ad variants tailored to user context, language, and segment, increasing engagement and completion rates.
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Cross‑platform audience targeting: Leverages first‑party and modeled data to reach high‑intent users across devices and streaming apps.
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Omni‑channel attribution: Connects CTV touchpoints with downstream actions such as app installs, purchases, or in‑app events.
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Transparency and reporting: Provides clear, granular dashboards that show cost, conversions, and ROAS by campaign, audience, and creative.
Starti integrates these capabilities into a unified workflow, enabling marketers to manage global CTV campaigns without navigating multiple self‑serve interfaces. The platform’s SmartReach™ AI continuously improves targeting certainty, while its global team supports strategy and execution across time zones, so campaigns can scale without sacrificing control.
How Does CTV Ad Management Software Compare to Traditional Approaches?
The table below highlights key differences between traditional CTV buying and modern CTV ad management platforms like Starti:
| Aspect | Traditional CTV Buying (DSP‑only) | Modern CTV Ad Management (e.g., Starti) |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Primarily CPM or impression‑based | Performance‑based; pay for installs, sales, or other actions |
| Optimization speed | Manual or rule‑based, slower cycles | AI‑driven, real‑time bid and budget adjustments |
| Creative approach | Static or lightly personalized creatives | Dynamic Creative Optimization tailored to audience segments |
| Attribution | Limited or third‑party; often last‑click | OmniTrack‑style attribution tied to business KPIs |
| Operational complexity | Multiple platforms and spreadsheets | Single platform with integrated buying and measurement |
| Focus | Impressions, reach, completion | ROAS, installs, sales, and other performance outcomes |
By shifting from impression‑centric to outcome‑centric buying, platforms like Starti help advertisers maximize the value of each CTV impression while reducing wasted spend.
How Do You Implement CTV Ad Management Software in Practice?
Deploying a modern CTV ad management solution typically follows a structured workflow:
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Define KPIs and budget
Align with stakeholders on primary goals—such as app installs, registrations, or sales—and set clear ROAS or CPA targets. -
Connect data sources
Integrate app‑store, CRM, and analytics systems so the platform can attribute CTV‑driven actions accurately. -
Configure audiences and creatives
Build high‑intent audience segments and prepare multiple creative variants for DCO, including localized or context‑aware versions. -
Launch test campaigns
Start with a controlled test across a subset of inventory and geographies to validate measurement and creative performance. -
Optimize with AI
Let the platform’s AI layer adjust bids, budgets, and creative mix based on early performance signals. -
Scale and iterate
Expand to additional markets and inventory once key metrics stabilize, while continuously refining audiences and creatives.
Starti simplifies this process by handling much of the technical setup and optimization through its managed‑service model, allowing marketers to focus on strategy rather than dashboard‑juggling.
What Are Typical Use Cases for CTV Ad Management Software?
1. Mobile App Install Campaigns
Problem
A mobile‑gaming startup wants to acquire high‑quality users but struggles to prove CTV’s contribution beyond last‑click attribution.
Traditional practice
The team runs generic video ads on a few CTV platforms and relies on in‑house analytics to estimate installs, often under‑crediting CTV.
Using CTV ad management software
With a platform like Starti, the brand sets install‑driven campaigns, leverages DCO to tailor creatives by region and device, and uses OmniTrack to attribute installs directly to CTV exposure. The AI layer then optimizes toward lower cost per install and higher ROAS.
Key benefits
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Clear attribution between CTV exposure and app installs.
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20–40% improvement in cost per install and ROAS compared with manual campaigns.
2. E‑commerce Sales Acceleration
Problem
An online retailer wants to drive incremental sales from CTV but cannot link ad exposure to checkout events across devices.
Traditional practice
The retailer runs broad‑reach campaigns and estimates impact via brand surveys or generic conversion pixels, which lack granularity.
Using CTV ad management software
The brand configures purchase‑driven CTV campaigns, integrates its e‑commerce data, and uses AI to prioritize audiences with high purchase intent. Starti’s SmartReach™ AI shifts budget toward creatives and placements that correlate with actual checkout events.
Key benefits
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Direct attribution of CTV‑driven sales and ROAS by audience and creative.
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More efficient budget allocation, reducing wasted spend on low‑intent viewers.
3. Re‑engaging Dormant Users
Problem
A subscription‑based app sees declining retention and wants to reactivate lapsed users via CTV without overspending.
Traditional practice
The team runs generic reminder ads on a few streaming apps and has no reliable way to track whether exposed users actually return to the app.
Using CTV ad management software
The platform builds lookalike and re‑engagement audiences, then serves personalized creatives that highlight relevant features or offers. Attribution ties CTV exposure to re‑installs or resumed activity, enabling optimization toward reactivation‑driven KPIs.
Key benefits
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Higher re‑engagement rates with lower cost per reactivated user.
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Ability to test different messaging and offers at scale.
4. Global Brand Expansion
Problem
A consumer‑tech brand wants to enter new markets via CTV but lacks local expertise and measurement infrastructure.
Traditional practice
The brand partners with regional agencies and DSPs, resulting in fragmented reporting and inconsistent creative quality.
Using CTV ad management software
The brand leverages a global CTV platform such as Starti to manage campaigns across multiple countries from a single interface. DCO adapts creatives for language and cultural context, while AI optimizes toward local KPIs such as trial sign‑ups or store visits.
Key benefits
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Unified global reporting and consistent optimization logic.
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Faster time‑to‑market in new regions with reduced operational overhead.
Why Is Now the Right Time to Adopt CTV Ad Management Software?
CTV is no longer a “nice‑to‑have” channel; it is becoming a core revenue driver for many brands. As viewership shifts decisively toward streaming and programmatic CTV transactions dominate the market, advertisers must prove that their CTV investments generate measurable business impact. Modern CTV ad management software makes this possible by automating optimization, enabling precise attribution, and aligning pricing with outcomes.
Platforms like Starti are at the forefront of this shift, combining AI‑driven SmartReach™ optimization, dynamic creative, and performance‑based pricing into a single, transparent stack. For brands that want to move beyond impression‑centric buying and turn CTV into a true growth engine, adopting a sophisticated CTV ad management solution is no longer optional—it is a strategic necessity.
Does CTV Ad Management Software Work for Small and Mid‑Sized Brands?
Yes. Modern CTV ad management platforms are designed to be scalable, so they can support both small‑to‑mid‑sized brands and large enterprises. By automating optimization and providing managed‑service support, platforms like Starti lower the barrier to entry and reduce the need for in‑house ad‑ops teams.
How Does AI Improve CTV Campaign Performance?
AI continuously analyzes performance signals—such as bid outcomes, creative engagement, and conversion patterns—to adjust bids, budgets, and audience targeting in real time. This reduces human latency and helps campaigns converge faster on high‑performing combinations of creatives, placements, and segments.
Can CTV Ad Management Software Replace Traditional DSPs?
Modern CTV ad management platforms typically sit on top of or alongside DSPs, aggregating inventory and normalizing data rather than replacing them outright. They add layers of AI‑driven optimization, DCO, and attribution that many DSPs lack, creating a more holistic performance stack.
Is It Possible to Run CTV Campaigns Without a Large Creative Budget?
Yes. Platforms with strong DCO capabilities can generate multiple creative variants from a small base set of assets, adapting them for language, context, and audience. This reduces the need for expensive, one‑off production while still delivering personalized experiences at scale.
How Do You Measure ROI from CTV When Attribution Is Complex?
Advanced CTV ad management solutions use multi‑touch or model‑based attribution to assign credit across channels, including CTV. By connecting CTV exposure data with downstream events such as installs or purchases, these platforms provide clear ROAS and incremental‑lift insights that go beyond simple last‑click logic.
Sources
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CTV advertising forecast 2026 – Adwave
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Starti CTV platform overview – Starti.tv
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The CTV structural reset: 10 shifts redefining adtech by 2026 – LinkedIn
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CTV advertising Q&A – Starti
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2026 will be a year of proving what works in CTV – Advertising Week
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CTV advertising trends 2026 – AI Digital
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Three forces shaping CTV growth in 2026 – eMarketer
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CTV advertising trends and performance – AI Digital
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CTV attribution and ROI optimization – Singular
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CTV as a growth channel – various industry analyses