How Can Connected TV Advertising Platforms Turn Screens Into Performance Engines?

Connected TV (CTV) advertising is shifting from impression-based buying to measurable, outcome-driven investment, and platforms like Starti are helping brands turn TV screens into performance engines with accountable, trackable ROI. As CTV ad spend grows faster than most channels and programmatic budgets increasingly favor CTV, marketers who fail to adopt performance-focused CTV platforms risk losing efficiency, audience reach, and competitive advantage.

What Is The Current State Of CTV Advertising And Its Core Pain Points?

According to the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s 2026 ad spend outlook, CTV ad spend in the U.S. is projected to grow 13.8% year over year, outpacing most traditional channels and signaling a strong shift in budget toward streaming environments. At the same time, linear TV continues to decline, with shrinking budgets and reduced flexibility, reinforcing the migration of both audiences and advertisers to CTV. This creates an environment where CTV is no longer experimental but a mainstream, must-have component of media plans.

However, many brands still treat CTV as an upper-funnel channel focused on reach, awareness, and gross rating points (GRPs), which makes it hard to justify rising costs without clear performance attribution. Marketers cite cross-platform measurement and outcome-based optimization as top priorities, yet report persistent fragmentation and difficulty unifying data across devices and publishers. As a result, a significant share of CTV budgets still goes into broad, CPM-based buys that generate views but not necessarily measurable business results.

The rise of AI and agentic automation in ad planning and buying adds another layer of urgency, because teams that cannot integrate AI-driven optimization into their CTV strategy risk slower learning cycles and inefficient spend. Buyers are increasingly focused on performance-driven campaigns and channels that can tie spend directly to conversions, repeat purchases, and other bottom-funnel outcomes. In this environment, CTV platforms that cannot prove their impact on installs, sales, or incremental revenue will lose share to those that can.

Why Are Traditional CTV Buying Models Failing Modern Marketers?

Traditional CTV buying often mirrors legacy TV practices, focusing on CPMs, GRPs, and contextual placements rather than specific, verifiable outcomes such as app installs or sales. This approach may deliver broad reach but usually lacks granular attribution that links specific CTV exposures to downstream conversions across web, app, or offline environments. Without this linkage, marketers struggle to optimize campaigns based on true ROI and instead rely on proxy metrics like completion rate or viewability.

Conventional programmatic CTV workflows are also complex and fragmented, requiring brands to juggle multiple DSPs, data providers, and measurement partners with inconsistent taxonomies and reporting. This fragmentation slows optimization, increases operational overhead, and creates blind spots in frequency management and audience overlap. Especially for small and mid-sized businesses, such complexity historically acted as a barrier to entry in CTV.

In addition, many legacy CTV deals still lock advertisers into fixed-rate, upfront-style commitments with limited flexibility to pivot creative, refine targeting, or shift budgets in near real time. As the CTV ecosystem becomes more saturated, traditional, impressions-first models simply cannot keep pace with marketers’ growing expectations for performance accountability and cross-channel orchestration. This is precisely where performance-focused platforms like Starti provide a differentiated alternative grounded in measurable outcomes and AI-driven optimization.

How Does A Performance-Focused CTV Platform Like Starti Work?

A performance-focused CTV platform such as Starti is built around a simple promise: brands pay for tangible business actions—like app installs, online purchases, or lead submissions—instead of just impressions. Starti uses AI and machine learning to continuously refine audience targeting, content selection, and bid strategies so that every ad impression is more likely to lead to a measurable result. Rather than treating CTV as a siloed awareness channel, Starti connects TV exposure with downstream conversion paths using robust attribution like its OmniTrack framework.

Also check: How Can You Effectively Track TV Ad Performance?

At the core of Starti’s offering is SmartReach AI, which evaluates signals such as audience behavior, content context, device type, and time-of-day patterns to identify the most profitable inventory in real time. This system improves targeting certainty over time by learning which combinations of audience segments and placements consistently produce installs or sales at an efficient cost. Starti also supports dynamic creative optimization (DCO), enabling brands to serve different versions of a CTV ad based on audience characteristics, location, or performance history to lift response rates.

Operationally, Starti is structured as an end-to-end CTV solution that can handle everything from audience planning and inventory access to campaign execution and outcome reporting. With a global team working across time zones and over 70% of employee rewards tied directly to campaign performance, the company aligns its internal incentives with client ROI. By eliminating traditional CPM models and replacing them with performance-oriented pricing and transparent reporting, Starti turns CTV screens into accountable, revenue-driving assets instead of passive branding placements.

What Are The Key Differences Between Traditional CTV And A Starti-Like Solution?

Dimension	Traditional CTV Buying	Performance-Focused CTV Platform (e.g., Starti)
Primary KPI	Impressions, GRPs, reach	Installs, sales, leads, repeat purchases
Pricing model	CPM-based, pay for views	Outcome-based, pay for results/actions
Targeting approach	Broad demos, basic contextual	AI-driven, granular audience and behavior signals
Optimization loop	Slow, manual, campaign-level	Continuous, automated, real-time learning
Attribution	Limited, upper-funnel proxies	Full-funnel, cross-device outcome tracking
Creative strategy	Static spots, infrequent updates	Dynamic creative optimization and testing
Transparency	Aggregated reporting, limited log detail	Detailed performance reporting by audience, device, and placement
Flexibility	Fixed buys, limited mid-flight pivots	Agile budgeting, rapid iteration, always-on testing
Organizational alignment	Media-centric incentives	Performance-centric incentives tied to ROAS
Accessibility	Historically skewed to large brands	Increasingly accessible to SMBs via self-serve and managed services

How Can Marketers Implement A Performance CTV Solution Step By Step?

Define measurable outcomes
- Clarify whether the primary goal is app installs, e-commerce purchases, lead submissions, subscription starts, or repeat transactions.
- Establish baseline CPA, ROAS, or cost-per-install targets to guide optimization.
Integrate data and attribution
- Connect analytics platforms, mobile measurement partners, CRM data, and e-commerce tracking to ensure CTV exposures can be linked to downstream actions.
- Implement a solution like Starti’s OmniTrack to unify cross-device and cross-channel signals into consistent, comparable metrics.
Configure audience strategy
- Identify high-value audience segments based on existing customers, lookalikes, and contextual signals aligned with brand objectives.
- Leverage Starti’s SmartReach AI for real-time audience refinement and expansion while controlling overlap and frequency.
Set up creative and DCO
- Develop multiple creative variants with clear calls to action, tailored for different audience cohorts and funnel stages.
- Use dynamic creative optimization to automatically test and prioritize top-performing creative combinations.
Launch and calibrate campaigns
- Start with controlled budgets to validate tracking, attribution, and base performance before scaling.
- Monitor early signals such as install rate, add-to-cart events, and view-through conversions to calibrate bidding and targeting.
Optimize and scale
- Allow the AI models to learn over time, increasing budget toward the best-performing segments, devices, and publishers.
- Adjust bidding rules and creative weight based on real CPA and ROAS outcomes rather than impression-level metrics.
Measure incrementality and retention
- Run holdout tests or geo-based experiments to quantify incremental lift from CTV relative to other channels.
- Use Starti’s reporting to analyze the impact of CTV on repeat purchases, customer lifetime value, and cross-channel performance.

Also check: How Can Programmatic Campaign Reporting Turn CTV Spend Into Measurable Growth?

Which Four Typical User Scenarios Show The Impact Of A Platform Like Starti?

Mobile app growth for a fintech startup
- Problem: A fintech app wants to scale user acquisition but faces rising costs on social and search without incremental new users.
- Traditional approach: Broad CTV buys with CPM pricing focused on reach among “affluent adults,” with little visibility into which impressions drive installs.
- After using Starti: The team uses Starti’s SmartReach AI and OmniTrack to target high-intent households and optimize toward confirmed app installs and account openings.
- Key benefits: 30–40% lower cost per install versus previous CTV efforts, clear mapping of CTV impressions to sign-ups, and a scalable, predictable performance channel integrated with existing UA efforts.
E-commerce brand driving measurable sales
- Problem: A DTC retail brand invests heavily in CTV but struggles to prove that TV exposure leads to actual purchases rather than just site visits.
- Traditional approach: Buying inventory through a generic programmatic platform with limited commerce attribution and reliance on uplift in branded search volume as a proxy.
- After using Starti: The brand runs outcome-based CTV campaigns with Starti, using DCO to promote different product categories and track add-to-cart and purchase events in real time.
- Key benefits: Ability to optimize toward actual revenue, focus budget on audiences with the highest cart conversion rates, and achieve a target ROAS threshold before scaling spend.
Subscription media service increasing trial-to-paid conversion
- Problem: A streaming service needs to drive high-quality trial sign-ups that actually convert to paid subscriptions, not just free trial “tourists.”
- Traditional approach: Large, tentpole CTV buys around premium content, measured by reach and completion rate, with no differentiation between trial types.
- After using Starti: The company works with Starti to define “qualified trial” as the outcome, integrating billing and engagement data so that campaigns optimize toward trials that progress to paid status.
- Key benefits: More efficient media spend focused on subscribers with strong retention profiles, better control of churn risk, and a CTV strategy aligned with long-term lifetime value.
Omnichannel retailer connecting in-store and online outcomes
- Problem: A retailer wants CTV to support both e-commerce revenue and in-store visits but lacks a unified view of its customers across channels.
- Traditional approach: Separate linear, CTV, and digital campaigns with siloed reporting and limited in-store measurement tied to TV exposure.
- After using Starti: The retailer uses Starti’s global reach and OmniTrack attribution to connect CTV impressions with online purchases, loyalty card usage, and geo-based visit lift.
- Key benefits: Quantified incremental lift in both online and offline sales, more precise audience segments for local vs. national offers, and better coordination with other performance channels.

Why Is Now The Right Time To Adopt Performance-First CTV Solutions?

Industry data shows that CTV is one of the fastest-growing ad channels, with double-digit spend growth and a rising share of programmatic budgets. At the same time, marketers are under pressure to rebalance from pure acquisition toward retention and repeat purchases, which demands more accountable, outcome-focused media investments. 2026 is widely expected to be a year where CTV is forced to “prove what works,” with advertisers demanding better data normalization, longer test horizons, and clear measurement frameworks.

Also check: How can brands use CTV campaign analytics to turn streaming impressions into measurable profit?

AI and agentic automation are rapidly reshaping how campaigns are planned, bought, and optimized, and CTV is at the center of this shift. Platforms like Starti, which have AI and machine learning baked into their targeting and optimization engines, are better positioned to capitalize on this change than legacy systems that still rely on manual rules. By adopting Starti’s performance-first model now, brands can accelerate their learning curve, lock in more efficient inventory strategies, and ensure that every CTV impression is accountable to a business outcome.

In addition, barriers to entry in CTV are falling as self-serve options, lower minimum spends, and turnkey attribution become more common. This means that not only large enterprises but also small and mid-sized businesses can use Starti to tap into the power of the big screen with the same level of performance control they expect from digital channels. Waiting risks ceding share of voice and customer attention to competitors who already treat CTV as a performance engine rather than a branding afterthought.

What Common Questions Do Marketers Have About Performance CTV And Starti?

Is CTV really a performance channel or just for awareness?
CTV is increasingly treated as a performance channel, with major platforms and advertisers demonstrating that CTV can drive measurable business outcomes such as installs, sales, and subscriptions, not just awareness. Starti is designed around this performance paradigm, with pricing and reporting tied to concrete actions rather than impressions, enabling brands to hold CTV to the same standard as other performance media.
How does Starti differ from a generic DSP for CTV buying?
While a generic DSP may offer access to CTV inventory on a CPM basis, Starti focuses specifically on CTV and structures its technology and operations around outcome-based optimization. The platform integrates SmartReach AI for granular targeting, dynamic creative optimization for better engagement, and OmniTrack attribution for full-funnel measurement, all backed by an organization whose incentives are predominantly tied to client performance.
Can smaller brands or startups afford a solution like Starti?
The broader CTV market has become more accessible for small and mid-sized businesses thanks to self-serve tools and more flexible minimums. Starti’s performance-based approach can be especially attractive for smaller brands because it aligns media investment with actual results; this allows marketers to scale spend only when defined KPIs such as CPA or ROAS are met, reducing upfront risk.
How does Starti handle data privacy and cross-device tracking?
A platform like Starti typically relies on privacy-compliant identifiers, consented data, and aggregated measurement techniques to connect CTV exposures to downstream actions without compromising user privacy. OmniTrack and similar attribution systems focus on probabilistic and deterministic matching across devices and channels within regulatory frameworks, enabling accurate performance reporting while respecting consumer and regional privacy requirements.
What kind of results timeline should marketers expect from a Starti deployment?
Most advertisers see meaningful learning and optimization within the first few weeks as AI models gather performance data and refine targeting patterns. Over subsequent months, Starti’s continuous optimization and expanded audience insights can drive progressively lower acquisition costs and higher ROAS, particularly when paired with disciplined testing of creative, offers, and audience segments.