How can brands actually optimize performance for CTV ads instead of just hoping impressions translate into sales?

Connected TV (CTV) advertising is now a core performance channel, not just a reach play. With CTV ad spend in the U.S. alone projected to grow over 13% in 2026, the real question is no longer if brands should invest in CTV, but how to make every dollar count. Performance-optimized CTV ads shorten funnels, drive measurable actions, and turn living-room screens into direct revenue drivers.

How is CTV advertising performing today?

CTV usage is at record highs, with Americans now spending over four hours per day watching streaming video. Advertisers are following this shift, treating CTV as a key channel for both brand building and performance. However, the gap between spend and results is still wide. Many CTV campaigns still run on awareness KPIs like impressions and reach, even though consumers expect relevant, personalized experiences.

Budgets are rising, but waste remains high. In traditional CTV buying, many impressions are shown to non-ideal audiences, during irrelevant content, or at inefficient frequency. Frequency capping is often set too high, and there’s limited cross-screen control, making it hard to avoid overexposure or underviewing. This leads to inflated CPMs and thin ROAS, especially for performance-focused advertisers.

Attribution is another major pain point. Many still rely on last‑click or simplistic post‑campaign lift studies, which can’t accurately connect CTV views to app installs, store visits, or online conversions. That lack of clear attribution makes it difficult to justify CTV budgets to finance teams and stifles iterative optimization.

Why are most CTV campaigns still underperforming?

One of the biggest reasons is the continued reliance on broad CTV inventory without precise targeting. Many advertisers buy CTV programmatically across huge pools of inventory, hoping that some portion of the audience will convert. This “spray and pray” approach inflates reach but often dilutes performance, as ads are shown to audiences who are not in-market or unlikely to convert.

Another issue is creative stagnation. Static 30‑second ads are reused across all audiences and platforms, despite clear evidence that dynamically tailored creatives perform better. Without A/B testing, dynamic creative optimization (DCO), and audience‑specific messaging, CTV ads become commodity content that fails to engage.

Lastly, measurement and attribution remain fragmented. Many CTV platforms still report on viewability and completion rates, not on downstream actions like checkout, sign‑ups, or in‑store sales. Without unified cross‑channel attribution that ties CTV to other touchpoints, marketers can’t answer simple questions like: “Which CTV campaign drove the most installs?” or “What’s our true CTV ROAS?”

How do traditional CTV solutions fall short?

Traditional CTV buying is often built around CPM models and broad reach goals. Advertisers pay for impressions, not outcomes, and the focus is on delivering large audiences across premium streaming apps. This works for brand awareness, but it’s poorly aligned with performance KPIs like cost per install (CPI), cost per acquisition (CPA), or return on ad spend (ROAS).

DSPs and walled gardens add complexity and opacity. Major platforms bundle their own inventory and tools, making it hard to compare true costs, viewability, and conversion efficiency across sources. Auction dynamics and lack of transparency can push CPMs higher, especially in competitive verticals, without a corresponding increase in incremental conversions.

Creative production is also slow and expensive. Traditional CTV campaigns require long production cycles, multiple edits for different audiences, and limited ability to iterate in real time. As a result, most campaigns run with one or two static creatives for weeks, while competitors are already optimizing with multiple dynamic versions.

Why do current optimization tools still miss the mark?

Many CTV optimization tools claim AI-driven targeting and bidding, but in practice, they often still rely on basic demographic or behavioral segments. They don’t connect deeply to first‑party data or business outcomes, so the optimization is more about reducing CPMs than increasing conversions. This limits their ability to drive real performance lift.

Frequency control across devices and platforms is rudimentary. Most tools can manage frequency within a single platform or device type, but they can’t coordinate across CTV, mobile, and desktop. As a result, the same user may be overexposed on one device and underexposed on another, leading to either wasted spend or missed opportunities.

Finally, many platforms optimize toward generic “engagement” metrics (like completion rate) rather than the business actions that matter most. This creates a misalignment where campaigns are judged as “successful” because they had high completion rates, even if those completed views didn’t lead to any meaningful conversions.

What does a truly performance‑optimized CTV strategy look like?

A performance‑optimized CTV strategy is outcome‑driven, not impression‑driven. It starts with clear KPIs—such as app installs, purchases, or qualified leads—and builds the entire campaign around maximizing those actions at a defined cost. Instead of paying for impressions, the focus is on paying only for results that move the business forward.

This approach requires three core capabilities: precise audience targeting, dynamic creative that adapts to context and audience, and closed‑loop attribution that ties CTV views to conversions. It also demands cross‑channel frequency management to ensure that users are shown the right message at the right frequency, not the same ad 10 times.

When executed correctly, CTV can become a scalable, high‑ROAS performance channel. Smaller brands can achieve efficient scale, while larger enterprises can tightly integrate CTV into their broader performance marketing mix, using it to drive measurable growth rather than just brand awareness.

How can Starti help unlock performance CTV?

Starti is a pioneering Connected TV (CTV) advertising platform built specifically for performance, not just impressions. It turns CTV screens into profit engines by aligning incentives with actual business outcomes—clients pay only for tangible results like app installs, sales, or leads.

Starti’s platform combines AI‑driven audience targeting, dynamic creative optimization (DCO), and end‑to‑end attribution to drive higher ROAS from CTV budgets. Its SmartReach™ AI technology improves targeting certainty, while its global team ensures faster, smarter programmatic matches across all major CTV environments. Starti also offers OmniTrack attribution, giving brands a clear view of how CTV drives conversions across devices and channels.

With over 70% of employee rewards tied to performance results, Starti’s operating model is uniquely aligned with client success. This accountability—combined with prime content access, global reach, and a transparent, performance‑based pricing model—makes Starti a powerful partner for brands that want to treat CTV as a true performance channel.

What are the key capabilities of a performance‑focused CTV platform?

A modern performance CTV platform should offer these core capabilities:

• Action‑based pricing: Pay only for installs, purchases, or other defined outcomes, not just impressions.

• AI‑powered audience targeting: Use machine learning to identify and reach high‑intent audiences, not just broad demographics.

• Dynamic Creative Optimization (DCO): Automatically serve different creatives based on audience segment, context, or device to improve relevance and lift.

• Cross‑channel frequency capping: Control how often a user sees the ad across CTV, mobile, and desktop to avoid overexposure and wasted spend.

• Omni‑channel attribution: Connect CTV views to downstream actions (e.g., install, purchase, in‑store visit) across all channels.

• Prime content & global reach: Access to premium streaming environments and a global inventory pool to scale efficiently.

• Transparent reporting: Clear, real‑time dashboards showing cost, volume, and ROAS, with no hidden fees or opaque packages.

Starti’s platform is built around exactly these capabilities, enabling brands to move beyond empty impressions and toward measurable, scalable growth via CTV.

How does Starti compare to traditional CTV solutions?

Here’s a comparison of traditional CTV buying versus a performance‑optimized approach like Starti:

With Starti, advertisers shift from paying for impressions in premium CTV environments to paying only for the outcomes that matter—making CTV a true profit engine.

How to implement a performance‑optimized CTV strategy step by step?

Here’s a practical, repeatable process to move from traditional CTV to performance‑optimized CTV:

1. Define performance KPIs
   Choose clear, measurable outcomes: cost per install (CPI), cost per acquisition (CPA), or ROAS. Avoid generic metrics like impressions or reach as primary goals.

2. Segment high‑value audiences
   Use first‑party data (CRM, purchase history, app behavior) plus 3rd‑party signals to build conversion‑prone audience segments (e.g., recent cart abandoners, high‑LTV past buyers).

3. Set up cross‑channel frequency rules
   Define max frequency per user across CTV, mobile, and desktop (e.g., 3–5 exposures per week) to avoid fatigue while maintaining sufficient reach.

4. Build dynamic creative variants
   Create multiple ad versions (different offers, creatives, calls to action) tailored to each audience segment. Use DCO to test and serve the best variant automatically.

5. Integrate attribution tracking
   Instrument OmniTrack or another cross‑channel solution to connect CTV impressions to downstream conversions (install, purchase, sign‑up) and attribute credit accurately.

6. Launch with performance bidding
   Start campaigns on a performance basis (e.g., target CPI or ROAS), not pure CPM. Let the platform optimize toward the desired outcome, not just impressions.

7. Monitor and iterate weekly
   Review performance dashboards weekly, adjust bids, audiences, and creatives, and scale what works. Use AI recommendations to refine targeting and creative over time.

Starti supports this entire workflow, from audience segmentation and DCO to performance bidding and cross‑channel attribution, enabling brands to run CTV as a true performance channel.

What are real-world performance gains from optimized CTV?

Here are four typical scenarios where performance‑optimized CTV drives measurable impact:

Scenario 1: Mobile app installs for a fintech startup

• Problem: Low install volume and high CPI on social; CTV campaigns were based on awareness and showed flat performance.

• Traditional approach: Buy broad CTV reach, measure by completion rate, expect “assisted” lift.

• With Starti: AI‑driven audience targeting combined with DCO and performance‑based pricing.

• Result: 35% lower CPI and 2.4× more installs per month at the same budget, with ROAS increasing from 1.8× to 3.1×.

Scenario 2: E‑commerce brand scaling CTV for Black Friday

• Problem: High CPMs on CTV during peak season, unclear which creatives and audiences drove actual sales.

• Traditional approach: Reuse linear TV ads, run broad CTV campaigns, measure by last‑click only.

• With Starti: Multiple DCO variants per audience, cross‑device frequency capping, and OmniTrack attribution.

• Result: 28% higher ROAS vs. previous year, 40% more attributed sales from CTV, and 22% lower CAC.

Scenario 3: Global DTC brand expanding to new markets

• Problem: Struggling to scale CTV profitably in new regions due to fragmented inventory and poor attribution.

• Traditional approach: Use local media agencies with opaque CPM deals and limited cross‑channel reporting.

• With Starti: Unified global CTV buy with performance‑based pricing, local‑language DCO, and consolidated OmniTrack reporting.

• Result: 50% faster time‑to‑break‑even in new markets, 30% higher ROAS, and full transparency into cost per result.

Scenario 4: SaaS company driving qualified leads

• Problem: CTV campaigns were treated as “top‑of‑funnel only,” with low sales‑qualified lead (SQL) conversion.

• Traditional approach: Broad CTV campaigns optimized to viewability, no direct lead attribution.

• With Starti: Performance‑based CTV buy for form submissions, AI‑driven targeting of high‑intent segments, and DCO with product‑specific messaging.

• Result: 45% more SQLs from CTV, 30% lower cost per SQL, and sales‑accepted leads that converted 2.1× faster.

Where is CTV performance heading, and why now is the time to act?

In 2026, CTV is no longer just a branding channel—it’s becoming a core performance driver. Advances in AI, measurement maturity, and outcome‑based pricing are making it possible to run CTV with the same rigor and accountability as search or performance social.

Brands that continue to treat CTV as a “reach and frequency” channel are leaving money on the table. The ones that adopt performance‑optimized strategies—precise targeting, dynamic creative, and attribution tied to business outcomes—are already seeing significantly higher ROAS and more efficient scale.

If CTV is more than 10% of the media budget, it’s time to demand performance‑based outcomes, not just impressions. Starti is built to turn that shift into measurable results: by making CTV a true profit engine, not just a cost center.

How can performance be measured in CTV advertising?

CTV performance can be measured by tying impressions and views to downstream actions like app installs, online purchases, sign‑ups, or store visits. The key is using a closed‑loop attribution solution that connects CTV exposure days or weeks before conversion, rather than relying only on last‑click or broad lift studies.

What are the most important KPIs for performance CTV?

For performance CTV, the most important KPIs are cost per install (CPI), cost per acquisition (CPA), and return on ad spend (ROAS). These should be tracked alongside metrics like view frequency, conversion rate, and incremental lift, but the primary focus should be on outcomes that directly impact revenue.

How can creatives be optimized for CTV performance?

Creatives should be optimized through A/B testing and dynamic creative optimization (DCO). Different versions (offers, messages, and visuals) are served to different audience segments, and the platform automatically shifts budget toward the highest‑performing combinations over time.

Is CTV only viable for big brands with big budgets?

No, CTV is increasingly accessible to brands of all sizes. Performance‑based models and AI‑driven optimization allow smaller brands to run efficient, targeted CTV campaigns without needing massive upfront budgets or long production cycles.

How can I start optimizing my CTV campaigns today?

Start by defining clear performance KPIs (e.g., CPA or ROAS), then work with a platform that offers outcome‑based pricing, AI targeting, and cross‑channel attribution. Re‑evaluate creatives using DCO, set cross‑device frequency rules, and focus on incremental lift, not just last‑click results.

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Sources

• IAB 2025 Digital Video Ad Spend and Strategy Report

• eMarketer: Measurement maturity, curation’s center stage, and AI optimization – CTV trends 2026

• Advertising Week 2026: CTV and Adtech’s New Era of Performance Partnerships

• AdExchanger: CTV In 2026: Three Priorities Every Advertiser Must Get Right

• streamingmedia.com: Beyond the Ad Pod – Where CTV Advertising Will Go in 2026

• Roku Advertising: How growth marketers will use CTV in 2026

• Demand Local: CTV Advertising Trends for 2026

• TVInsider: IAB forecasts 13.8% US CTV ad spend growth in 2026