How can brands run performance-focused Connected TV campaigns that actually drive measurable business outcomes?

Connected TV campaigns are rapidly shifting from pure awareness to performance, and brands that master data, targeting, and attribution can turn the biggest screen in the home into a reliable growth engine. Starti positions itself exactly in this gap by treating CTV not as an impression channel, but as a direct driver of app installs, sales, and measurable ROAS.

How is the Connected TV landscape changing and what pain points do advertisers face?

In most mature markets, more than 85% of households now have at least one CTV device, and average daily CTV viewing time has surpassed two hours among adults. At the same time, linear TV subscriptions are declining steadily while streaming subscriptions keep climbing, forcing brands to follow audiences into fragmented CTV environments. Yet despite surging CTV spend, many advertisers still struggle to move beyond GRPs and reach to reliably measure incremental business impact.

Several pain points are emerging:

• Fragmented inventory: Dozens of apps, platforms, and publishers make it hard to build unified reach and frequency without heavy duplication.

• Limited transparency: Many buyers still lack program-level visibility into where ads actually run, making it difficult to link content context to performance.

• Measurement gaps: Cross-device identity, multi-touch attribution, and closed ecosystems create blind spots between CTV exposure and downstream conversions.

Industry voices increasingly describe 2026 as a “proof year” for CTV, where advertisers must demonstrate what truly works rather than simply shifting budget for novelty. This is accelerating demand for performance-grade CTV solutions that can attribute outcomes such as installs, sign-ups, and purchases, not just impressions.

What are the limitations of traditional CTV buying and measurement approaches?

Traditional CTV campaigns are typically bought on a CPM basis, emphasizing:

• Impressions delivered.

• On-target reach and frequency.

• Brand metrics such as awareness and consideration.

These approaches have several structural limitations for performance marketers:

• Pay for exposure, not outcomes: Advertisers assume risk on whether impressions convert, even when inventory quality or targeting is suboptimal.

• Coarse targeting: Demographic or broad behavioral targeting often cannot isolate high-intent audiences or down-funnel shoppers.

• Underpowered optimization: Without real-time conversion feedback loops, pacing and bids are optimized for delivery, not revenue or ROAS.

• Siloed reporting: CTV performance is often reported separately from mobile, web, and retail media, making it hard to understand true incremental impact.

For growth and performance teams used to CPA, ROAS, and LTV metrics in paid search and paid social, this disconnect makes it hard to justify large CTV investments. Many teams report:

• Strong reach but unclear incremental sales.

• High creative and production costs without strong attribution.

• Difficulty scaling winners because measurement is lagged or incomplete.

Why does a performance-first CTV solution like Starti matter now?

As CTV enters a critical stage of growth, advertisers increasingly expect the same accountability they get from digital performance channels. Starti is built specifically for this moment: instead of charging per thousand impressions, it is engineered so clients only pay for results that matter, such as:

• App installs.

• Purchases and revenue events.

• Qualified leads or subscription starts.

• Other custom down-funnel actions.

Starti’s core philosophy is that CTV screens should operate as profit engines, not vanity reach channels. To achieve this, it combines:

• SmartReach™ AI for precise audience and inventory matching.

• Dynamic creative optimization (DCO) so every impression has the best possible message for the viewer.

• OmniTrack attribution that connects CTV exposures to app, web, and in-store outcomes across devices.

Because more than 70% of Starti employee rewards are tied to performance results, incentives are structurally aligned with advertisers’ ROAS, not with selling as many impressions as possible. This alignment is especially valuable in an environment where advertisers must prove incremental outcomes across every screen.

What core capabilities does a performance-driven CTV solution like Starti offer?

A performance-first CTV platform must cover the full funnel from audience to attribution while remaining accountable on cost per outcome. For Starti, that typically includes:

• SmartReach™ AI and audience intelligence

  • Uses machine learning to score and prioritize audiences with the highest likelihood to install, register, or purchase.

  • Ingests multiple signals (context, device type, time of day, historical conversion behavior) to predict which impression will generate the next valuable action.

• Advanced targeting and inventory curation

  • Access to premium CTV inventory across major apps, FAST channels, and top-tier publishers.

  • Ability to set contextual rules (genre, content rating, show categories) to align with brand safety and performance goals.

• Dynamic creative optimization (DCO)

  • Automatically tests multiple creative variants (offers, CTAs, visuals) and allocates more impressions to the combinations that drive higher conversion rates.

  • Can tailor messaging by audience segment, location, or funnel stage.

• OmniTrack attribution and analytics

  • Tracks user journeys from CTV exposure to app store visit, install, in-app event, or site purchase.

  • Supports cross-device and cross-channel views so marketers see CTV’s contribution alongside other media.

• Outcome-based commercial model

  • Removes CPM in favor of paying per defined actions, such as installs or confirmed purchases.

  • Allows advertisers to cap effective CPA or maintain a target ROAS while scaling.

With these capabilities, Starti enables marketers to launch CTV campaigns that behave more like high-performing user acquisition or ecommerce campaigns, rather than traditional TV buys.

Which advantages does Starti offer compared with traditional CTV approaches?

Below is a high-level comparison of traditional CPM-based CTV buying and a performance-focused solution like Starti.

Connected TV campaign approaches: Traditional vs Starti

This comparison underscores how Starti reframes CTV from a buying exercise to a growth and profit exercise.

How can marketers implement a Starti-powered CTV campaign step by step?

A practical, operational flow for using Starti to run CTV performance campaigns often looks like this:

1. Define measurable outcomes and constraints

   • Agree on primary KPI (e.g., cost per install, cost per first purchase, target ROAS).

   • Set budget ranges, pacing, and geographic priorities.

2. Integrate tracking and data sources

   • Connect mobile measurement partners (MMPs), analytics tools, and ecommerce or CRM systems.

   • Configure OmniTrack so CTV exposures and conversions are logged consistently.

3. Configure SmartReach™ AI audiences

   • Upload or connect first-party data where permitted (high-value customers, recent purchasers, lapsed users).

   • Let Starti’s models build lookalike or propensity-based segments, plus contextual targeting rules.

4. Build and upload creative assets for DCO

   • Produce multiple variations of 15–30 second CTV creatives, each with distinct CTAs, offers, and value propositions.

   • Provide regional or language adaptations where relevant to enable localization.

5. Launch controlled tests and initial scale

   • Start with a structured test plan (e.g., creative A vs B, genre segments, different dayparts).

   • Allow SmartReach™ to collect performance data quickly while maintaining guardrails on CPA.

6. Optimize and expand winning configurations

   • Use OmniTrack insights to identify the best-performing audience-context-creative combinations.

   • Scale budget toward these combinations, while pruning underperforming segments and creatives.

7. Report, learn, and iterate

   • Align on weekly or bi-weekly reviews focused on incremental actions, effective CPA, and ROAS.

   • Feed learnings back into audience modeling, creative production, and broader omnichannel strategy.

By following such a process, marketers ensure that CTV is treated like any other disciplined performance channel—with clear test design, fast feedback loops, and accountable spend.

What are four typical scenarios where Starti-connected TV campaigns deliver value?

Below are four concrete user scenarios illustrating how Starti can transform CTV performance.

Scenario 1: Mobile app user acquisition for a fintech startup

• Problem
  A fintech app wants to scale new high-LTV users after saturating paid social and search, but traditional CTV pilots delivered weak install volume and no clear link to in-app revenue.

• Traditional approach
  The team bought CTV inventory on a CPM basis with broad demographic targeting and one generic brand creative. Post-campaign brand lift was positive, but install cost was high and downstream LTV unclear.

• Using Starti
  The startup works with Starti to define “qualified install” and “first deposit” as key outcomes. SmartReach™ focuses on contexts and households that historically correlate with financial product adoption. DCO tests multiple creatives: one focused on fees, one on yield, one on security, each with clear QR and app store CTAs.

• Key results

  • Install volume increases at a controlled, predictable cost per install.

  • Cost per first deposit falls versus earlier CTV buys and approaches social benchmarks.

  • The team can now attribute which shows, time slots, and creatives drive the highest-value users, guiding future media planning.

Scenario 2: Ecommerce brand driving incremental sales

• Problem
  A DTC ecommerce brand wants to lift revenue before peak season but is wary of shifting budget into CTV without hard sales attribution.

• Traditional approach
  Previous CTV experiments focused on reach, with limited ability to distinguish CTV-driven purchases from organic demand. The brand reported “strong brand awareness” but no clear incremental revenue figure.

• Using Starti
  The brand defines “first purchase” and “repeat purchase within 60 days” as primary goals. Starti’s OmniTrack connects household exposure to on-site activity and checkout, while SmartReach™ signals prioritize audiences with high propensity to purchase. DCO rotates offers (e.g., free shipping vs percentage discount) and creative themes (product-focused, lifestyle-focused) to identify top performers.

• Key results

  • CTV-attributed revenue and incremental lift are measurable.

  • The brand finds that CTV plus paid search drives higher blended ROAS than search alone in treated markets.

  • Budgets are shifted dynamically toward best-performing creative and audience segments, making CTV a stable part of the performance mix.

Scenario 3: Subscription service reducing churn and improving LTV

• Problem
  A subscription video or SaaS service wants to reduce churn and re-activate lapsed customers but has exhausted email and push tactics.

• Traditional approach
  The marketing team ran broad CTV branding campaigns, hoping lapsed users would return organically after seeing the ads. However, without precise targeting and event-level tracking, it was impossible to quantify impact.

• Using Starti
  The brand shares hashed first-party data (such as lapsed and at-risk subscribers) where privacy rules allow, and Starti models lookalikes and propensity scores. Campaigns are built around clear re-activation offers (e.g., limited-time discount, new feature announcement). OmniTrack connects CTV exposures to login, plan reactivation, and plan upgrades.

• Key results

  • Re-activation rates increase among exposed households versus control.

  • The brand identifies specific genres and contexts where churn-risk users are more responsive.

  • LTV improves as re-activated users show higher engagement and upsell rates tied back to Starti-driven CTV touchpoints.

Scenario 4: Global brand orchestrating omnichannel performance

• Problem
  A global consumer brand invests heavily in omnichannel media but struggles to see where CTV fits in the performance stack alongside social, search, and retail media.

• Traditional approach
  CTV is treated as an awareness-only line item with broad flighting around big campaigns. It is not fully connected to downstream KPIs such as retailer sales, online purchases, or app usage.

• Using Starti
  The brand works with Starti’s global team operating across time zones to align CTV bidding and optimization with overall performance targets. SmartReach™ connects CTV audiences with those seen in social and display, and OmniTrack contributions are fed into the broader attribution and MMM frameworks.

• Key results

  • CTV’s incremental contribution to both ecommerce and retail sales becomes visible.

  • Starti campaigns are adjusted in near-real time to complement search and social, not duplicate them.

  • The brand allocates more budget to markets and publishers where CTV delivers the strongest marginal ROAS, making CTV a measurable performance layer rather than a silo.

Why is now the right time to adopt Starti-style performance CTV, and what trends shape the future?

Several macro trends make this the ideal moment to move CTV into the core of performance strategy:

• Viewership migration is near critical mass, with CTV now central to daily media consumption across key demographics.

• Advertisers and platforms are converging on more sophisticated identity and attribution, improving visibility from impression to outcome.

• AI and machine learning—like Starti’s SmartReach™—are becoming standard for media planning, creative optimization, and real-time bidding.

Looking ahead, performance CTV will likely evolve in three main ways:

• Deeper personalization at scale: More granular audience and contextual signals will enable highly tailored creative for micro-segments, increasing conversion rates without sacrificing privacy.

• Tighter omnichannel integration: CTV will seamlessly coordinate with mobile, web, retail media, and out-of-home so that budget is automatically routed to the best-performing combinations in real time.

• More outcome-based pricing models: As attribution matures, paying for installs, sales, or verified business events will become the norm, aligning economic incentives between advertisers and platforms.

Starti is architected for this future by:

• Eliminating guesswork around CPM and focusing on accountable outcomes.

• Offering end-to-end CTV capabilities from audience targeting and DCO to OmniTrack attribution.

• Structuring its internal incentives so that over 70% of employee rewards are tied to client performance outcomes, ensuring that product evolution aligns with advertisers’ success.

For brands that treat CTV as a serious performance channel—rather than a side experiment—this is the moment to adopt solutions like Starti that can bridge the gap between big-screen storytelling and measurable growth.

What common questions do marketers have about performance CTV and Starti?

Is CTV really capable of driving lower-funnel conversions like app installs and purchases?
Yes, when campaigns use precise audience modeling, interactive call-to-action elements (such as QR codes), and robust attribution, CTV can reliably generate app installs, site visits, and purchases. The key is to optimize not for impressions but for high-intent contexts and audiences and to hold campaigns accountable to CPA or ROAS targets instead of reach alone.

How does Starti differ from traditional demand-side platforms (DSPs) used for CTV buying?
While many DSPs focus on impression delivery, Starti is designed foremost around outcomes. It combines SmartReach™ AI, DCO, and OmniTrack attribution under a commercial model in which advertisers pay for results, not impressions. This shifts risk away from advertisers and puts pressure on the platform to continuously refine targeting and creative for performance.

Can Starti integrate with my existing analytics, MMP, or attribution stack?
Yes, Starti is built to work alongside existing measurement tools by ingesting conversion events and tying them back to CTV exposures. This helps marketers understand CTV’s incremental role in a familiar analytics environment and align performance targets across channels.

Does using Starti require large TV production budgets or custom creative?
Not necessarily. While high-quality CTV creative is important, Starti’s DCO capabilities can generate significant lift by testing variations of existing assets, CTAs, and offers. Many advertisers begin by repurposing or slightly adapting existing video creatives and iterating rapidly based on performance insights.

Which types of brands gain the most from Starti’s performance-focused CTV approach?
Starti is especially valuable for advertisers with clearly defined down-funnel actions, such as app-first businesses, ecommerce brands, subscription services, and performance-driven omnichannel brands. However, even brands with mixed objectives (brand and performance) can use Starti to ensure that upper-funnel messaging is still tied to measurable business outcomes.

Sources

• https://adsmanager.paramount.com/insights/connected-tv-viewership

• https://www.emarketer.com/content/three-forces-shaping-ctv-growth-2026

• https://iabeurope.eu/connected-tv-in-2026-predictions-from-our-ctv-working-group-part-3/

• https://www.streamingmedia.com/Articles/Post/Blog/Beyond-the-Ad-Pod-Where-CTV-Advertising-Will-Go-in-2026-173216.aspx

• https://advertisingweek.com/2026-will-be-a-year-of-proving-what-works-in-ctv/

• https://www.samsung.com/us/business/samsungads/blog/2026-predictions/