How Are CTV Ad Trends Reshaping Performance Marketing In 2026?

Connected TV (CTV) has moved from an experimental branding channel to a core performance engine where advertisers demand clear outcomes such as installs, leads, and sales, not just reach. In this shift, platforms like Starti are redefining how brands buy, measure, and scale CTV by tying spend directly to measurable actions and return on ad spend (ROAS).

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

Industry reports show that CTV has become one of the most important line items in video budgets, with a majority of advertisers planning to increase their CTV spend and average budget lifts in the mid‑teens percentage year over year. At the same time, CTV viewing time per adult continues to rise, with projections that average daily CTV watch time in the U.S. will grow significantly by 2026 as cord‑cutting accelerates and streaming subscriptions proliferate. Despite this growth, marketers face a growing performance gap between what CTV should deliver and what many legacy buying models actually prove in terms of incremental business outcomes.

Three main pain points stand out. First, most CTV buys still rely on impression‑based pricing (CPM), even as advertisers increasingly want to pay for verified outcomes like purchases, sign‑ups, or app installs. Second, fragmented identity and inconsistent measurement across publishers make it difficult to attribute CTV exposure to downstream actions, limiting confidence in scaling budgets. Third, frequency waste, limited transparency into inventory quality, and difficulty connecting CTV into omnichannel paths to conversion all reduce effective ROAS even when top‑line reach looks strong.

These tensions are driving a shift toward performance‑oriented CTV platforms that can unify targeting, creative, and attribution. Solutions like Starti are emerging to address this gap, focusing on action‑based pricing, AI‑driven optimization, and full‑funnel measurability so that brands of all sizes can treat CTV as accountable performance media instead of a black‑box awareness channel.

How Are Traditional CTV And TV Buying Approaches Falling Short?

Traditional linear TV and many early CTV buys were planned and evaluated on top‑funnel metrics: gross rating points, reach, frequency, and share of voice. While these metrics are still useful for broad brand objectives, they do not reveal which impressions actually move users to install an app, add to cart, or complete a subscription. For performance‑driven advertisers, this creates a disconnect between large budget commitments and limited insight into incremental impact.

Early CTV executions often copied linear habits: fixed flighting, broad demographic targeting, and flat CPMs regardless of attention or engagement. This approach ignores the granular behavioral and contextual signals available within streaming environments and fails to exploit interactive ad formats like shoppable units, pause ads, and dynamic overlays. As a result, marketers may experience high view‑through completion but relatively low post‑view action rates.

Another shortcoming lies in measurement and pricing. Many legacy CTV deals bundle inventory across mixed environments, sometimes including low‑quality placements like screensavers or non‑viewable contexts, yet still charge premium CPMs. Without transparent reporting and outcome‑based contracts, advertisers shoulder most of the risk: they pay for impressions whether or not those impressions contribute to a business result. This has opened the door for performance‑driven platforms such as Starti to differentiate by aligning cost with verified outcomes and by eliminating opaque CPM‑only models.

Why Does A Performance‑First CTV Platform Like Starti Solve These Problems?

A performance‑first CTV platform is designed from the ground up to optimize toward concrete business actions rather than surface‑level media metrics. Instead of counting success strictly by impressions served, it focuses on events such as app installs, purchases, trial starts, or other custom conversions defined by the advertiser. This orientation changes everything: targeting logic, bidding strategy, creative decisioning, and reporting are all optimized to maximize ROAS and minimize waste.

Also check: How should brands choose between OTT and CTV advertising to maximize measurable ROI?

Starti exemplifies this new model by allowing advertisers to pay only for tangible results linked directly to their growth goals. Rather than selling traditional CPM packages, Starti structures campaigns so that spend is tied to performance—clients pay when specified actions occur, not when an impression simply renders on a screen. This transfers a meaningful portion of performance risk from the advertiser to the platform and creates powerful incentives for constant optimization.

Under the hood, Starti combines SmartReach™ AI, granular audience targeting, dynamic creative optimization (DCO), and OmniTrack attribution to continuously refine which households, contexts, and creative variants produce the highest value outcomes. Supported by a globally distributed operations team and a culture where over 70% of employee rewards are linked to client performance, Starti’s operating model is tightly aligned with advertiser results. For brands frustrated by opaque CTV performance, this represents a measurable, accountable alternative.

What Are The Core Capabilities Of A Performance‑Driven CTV Solution Like Starti?

A performance‑driven CTV solution must integrate several capabilities into a cohesive end‑to‑end stack. First, it requires robust, privacy‑compliant audience targeting that supports demographic, behavioral, contextual, and first‑party data segments, allowing marketers to reach high‑intent households across premium streaming inventory. SmartReach™‑style AI systems evaluate thousands of signals—from content type and time of day to device behavior and historical conversion patterns—to prioritize impressions with the highest probability of action.

Second, dynamic creative optimization (DCO) is essential. Rather than running a single generic TV spot, the platform can automatically test and iterate creative variants—messaging, offers, calls‑to‑action, and visual elements—across audience cohorts and environments. Winning variants are scaled quickly, while under‑performers are throttled or retired, improving conversion rates over time without manual micromanagement.

Third, attribution and measurement must go beyond simple last‑touch models. Solutions like Starti use OmniTrack‑style attribution to connect CTV exposures with downstream actions across apps, web, and in‑store activity, often incorporating multi‑touch and incrementality frameworks. Unified dashboards show the cost per action, revenue per household reached, and incremental ROAS across campaigns and segments. Finally, a global operations and support layer ensures that campaigns launch quickly, adapt to new signals, and maintain high quality in targeting and brand safety, enabling brands to run CTV as a continuous performance channel rather than campaign‑by‑campaign experiments.

Which Advantages Does A Solution Like Starti Have Versus Traditional CTV Buying?

Dimension	Traditional CTV / TV Buying	Performance‑Driven CTV With Starti
Commercial model	CPM or GRP‑based, pay per impression regardless of outcome	Outcome‑based, pay for actions such as installs, sales, or sign‑ups
Optimization focus	Reach and frequency, completion rates	ROAS, cost per action, lifetime value indicators
Targeting precision	Broad demos, limited behavioral/contextual granularity	AI‑driven audience and context modeling with SmartReach™‑style targeting
Creative approach	One or few static TV spots, slow refresh cycles	Dynamic creative optimization (DCO) with rapid testing and iteration
Attribution	Fragmented, often limited to brand lift or simple view‑through metrics	OmniTrack‑like attribution connecting CTV exposure to cross‑channel conversions
Transparency	Mixed inventory quality, limited visibility into placement and performance drivers	Full transparency into inventory, performance by audience, creative, and publisher
Risk distribution	Advertiser bears most of the risk; platform paid per impression	Platform shares risk; revenue tied to client performance outcomes
Operational model	Campaign‑based, slower setup and optimizations	Always‑on performance engine with global team optimizing in near‑real time

Also check: How can brands build a data‑driven CTV marketing strategy that actually drives measurable ROI?

How Can Brands Implement A Performance‑Focused CTV Strategy Step By Step?

Define precise outcomes and KPIs
- Identify primary performance goals: app installs, first purchases, subscriptions, or qualified leads.
- Translate goals into measurable KPIs such as cost per install (CPI), cost per acquisition (CPA), or target ROAS benchmarks.
Consolidate and prepare data
- Integrate first‑party data (CRM, transaction logs, app events) with consented identifiers that can be used for CTV audience building.
- Establish clean conversion tracking across web, app, and offline touchpoints so that exposure‑to‑action paths can be measured accurately.
Configure campaigns with Starti or similar platforms
- Work with Starti to translate performance goals into action‑based billing and optimization parameters.
- Set targeting rules, budget caps, and pacing aligned with your testing timeline and risk tolerance.
Launch controlled tests and iterate
- Start with test segments and multiple creative variants to quickly learn which combinations of audience, context, and message perform best.
- Use DCO and SmartReach‑style optimization to automatically shift impressions toward higher‑value segments while capping frequency in low‑yield areas.
Scale successful patterns and integrate omnichannel
- Once consistent performance is achieved, gradually increase budgets while monitoring marginal CPA and ROAS.
- Use OmniTrack‑like attribution reports to connect CTV exposure with other channels (search, social, email) and adjust cross‑channel sequencing.
Institutionalize continuous optimization
- Treat CTV as a persistent profit engine, not a one‑off campaign.
- Establish weekly or bi‑weekly performance reviews with Starti’s team, adjusting creatives, bids, and segments based on fresh data.

What Typical User Scenarios Show The Impact Of Performance‑Driven CTV?

Mobile app growth for a fintech startup
- Problem: A fintech app relies heavily on social and search performance but faces rising CPAs and saturated audiences.
- Traditional approach: Limited test buys on CTV with flat CPM deals, resulting in decent reach but unclear impact on installs and funded accounts.
- With performance‑driven CTV: Using Starti, the brand runs outcome‑based CTV campaigns optimized toward verified app installs and completed onboarding events.
- Key results: Cost per funded account drops by a measurable percentage relative to social alone, with incremental lift in high‑value cohorts that previously were under‑reached by mobile‑only channels.
Ecommerce brand scaling seasonal sales
- Problem: A direct‑to‑consumer retailer needs to drive measurable revenue during peak seasons while maintaining strict ROAS targets.
- Traditional approach: Linear TV and broad CTV buys generate brand lift, but internal teams struggle to attribute sales and justify large upfront budgets.
- With performance‑driven CTV: The retailer partners with Starti to launch campaigns where spend is tied to purchases and revenue, using DCO to rotate offers by region, inventory level, and audience behavior.
- Key results: The brand sees a quantifiable uplift in attributed revenue per household exposed and confidently scales CTV investment knowing that each dollar is linked to tracked sales.
Subscription streaming or SaaS product
- Problem: A subscription‑based service wants to reduce churn and increase high‑LTV subscriber acquisition while keeping CAC under a defined threshold.
- Traditional approach: Broad awareness campaigns on CTV and online video with generic subscription messaging and limited post‑view tracking.
- With performance‑driven CTV: Through Starti’s OmniTrack‑style attribution, the service targets high‑intent audiences and optimizes toward trial starts that convert to paying users, using creative variants tailored to different content genres and interests.
- Key results: Trial‑to‑paid conversion improves, CAC drops within target thresholds, and CTV becomes a predictable driver of high‑value subscribers.
Local or regional advertiser entering CTV
- Problem: A multi‑location retailer or service brand wants to extend beyond local linear TV into CTV but fears wasted spend and poor measurability.
- Traditional approach: Regional TV buys and basic digital display with limited geo‑granularity and offline attribution.
- With performance‑driven CTV: Using Starti, the advertiser activates district‑ and ZIP‑level CTV targeting and measures store visits or localized online conversions as the primary KPI.
- Key results: The brand identifies top‑performing neighborhoods, reallocates budgets dynamically, and uses CTV as a local performance lever with clear cost‑per‑visit and revenue metrics.

Also check: How Is AI Reshaping Programmatic Advertising in 2026?

Where Is CTV Advertising Headed And Why Act Now?

CTV is rapidly evolving into a performance‑grade channel where AI‑driven multichannel strategies, interactive formats, and precise attribution converge. Advertisers are increasingly expecting CTV to deliver not only awareness but also measurable engagement and transactions, with budgets shifting from other digital and linear channels into accountable CTV frameworks. As local and SMB advertisers adopt CTV through more accessible platforms and as streaming sports, news, and live events migrate to connected environments, competition for quality inventory will intensify.

In this environment, early adopters of performance‑first platforms like Starti can secure a structural advantage. By building the data foundation, experimentation muscle, and operational routines now, brands can turn CTV screens into durable profit engines rather than chasing impressions without proof. Waiting risks higher prices, more crowded auctions, and a steeper learning curve, whereas moving early enables advertisers to lock in workflows and learnings that compound over time.

What Are The Most Common Questions About CTV Ad Trends And Performance Platforms?

Is CTV still useful if my primary goal is lower‑funnel conversions?
Yes. Modern CTV, especially when paired with performance‑driven platforms, can be optimized toward actions such as installs, purchases, and leads, making it suitable for full‑funnel strategies, not just awareness.
How can I verify that CTV ads are actually driving incremental results?
You can use controlled experiments, multi‑touch attribution, and incrementality testing that compare exposed versus non‑exposed audiences to measure lift in conversions, revenue, or customer value associated with CTV.
Can small and midsize businesses benefit from performance‑driven CTV?
Yes. Self‑serve and managed solutions now enable SMBs to buy CTV with precise geo‑targeting, outcome‑based pricing, and clear reporting, making it accessible without enterprise‑level budgets.
What budget level do I need to start with a platform like Starti?
Minimum budgets vary by market and objectives, but many performance‑oriented CTV platforms can design test plans that balance statistical significance with manageable spend, often starting in the low‑ to mid‑five‑figure range for initial pilots.
How long does it take to see meaningful optimization in CTV performance campaigns?
Most advertisers begin to see clear optimization patterns within several weeks of live activity as the system gathers conversion data, with performance continuing to improve over subsequent cycles of creative and audience refinement.