How can brands unlock measurable growth with performance TV advertising?

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Performance TV advertising is rapidly becoming the top media investment because it combines TV’s reach with digital-grade accountability, allowing brands to pay for real business outcomes instead of vague awareness. By focusing on measurable actions and optimized ROAS, solutions like Starti turn Connected TV (CTV) screens into predictable growth and profit engines for advertisers.

How is the performance TV landscape changing and what pain points are emerging?

In 2026, performance TV has become the leading media investment channel, capturing about 24% of total media budgets and sitting alongside social as marketers’ most effective channel. This reflects a shift away from volatile environments such as certain social and video platforms toward channels that provide both reach and attributable outcomes.
At the same time, brands face increasing pressure to prove revenue impact, not just impressions, with 67% of marketers saying performance TV helped them hit revenue and growth goals in 2025 and 90% expecting the same in 2026. Yet transparency remains a major barrier, as many advertisers still struggle to get clear attribution and ROAS visibility across fragmented CTV inventory.​
Programmatic CTV is also being heavily funded by shifts from linear TV budgets, with nearly half of marketers expecting to move significant budget into programmatic CTV and audio in 2026. This budget migration exposes additional pain points: inconsistent measurement, siloed data, and gaps between media buying, creative optimization, and attribution across devices.

What are the main pain points advertisers face with current TV and CTV approaches?

First, a large share of TV and CTV spend still runs on CPM-based buying models where brands pay for impressions regardless of whether those impressions drive installs, sales, or leads. This creates a misalignment of incentives and makes it hard for marketers to defend budgets internally when finance teams demand clear cost-per-outcome metrics.
Second, measurement and transparency are inconsistent across publishers, DSPs, and walled gardens, which is why more than half of marketers cite clear measurement as critical yet elusive in performance TV. Multi-device journeys—from CTV exposure to mobile app install or web purchase—often break attribution, leading to undercounted conversions and misallocated spend.
Third, traditional TV workflows are slow and fragmented, from manual planning and buying to batch reporting and delayed testing cycles. In a world where AI is turning performance TV into an always-on experimentation platform, slow testing and limited creative variants cause brands to miss incremental growth and waste budget on underperforming segments.

Why are traditional TV and generic CTV buying models no longer sufficient?

Traditional linear TV was built for reach and awareness, not for precision targeting or measurable outcomes, so it struggles to deliver clear performance metrics like cost per install or cost per sale. Linear campaigns typically rely on panel-based measurement and modeled estimates, which are inadequate when marketers need user-level or household-level attribution across digital journeys.
Generic CTV buying through standard programmatic platforms improves targeting but often still charges on a CPM basis, leaving brands to shoulder the risk of non-converting impressions. Without tight integration between targeting, creative optimization, and outcome-based bidding, advertisers may hit superficial KPIs (completion rate, viewable impressions) while missing core revenue goals.
In addition, many generic CTV solutions offer limited transparency into where ads run, how audiences are constructed, and how conversions are attributed, which conflicts with the rising expectation for clear, auditable measurement across media investments.

What makes a performance TV solution like Starti fundamentally different?

A true performance TV solution such as Starti starts from the outcome and works backward, aligning commercial models, technology, and operations around measurable actions like app installs, online sales, or qualified leads. Instead of charging for impressions, Starti focuses on paying only for tangible results, effectively turning CTV into a performance channel with accountable ROAS.
Starti’s platform unifies SmartReach™ AI, audience targeting, dynamic creative optimization (DCO), prime CTV content access, and OmniTrack attribution into a single, end-to-end system designed for transparency and measurable impact. This integration allows continuous optimization of bids, audiences, and creatives based on downstream performance signals, not just surface-level engagement metrics.
Operationally, Starti is built as a performance-first organization: over 70% of employee rewards are tied to client results, and a globally distributed team executes and optimizes campaigns across time zones for faster feedback loops and decision-making. This ensures that the platform’s AI and machine learning models are supported by experts who can rapidly adjust strategies to maximize ROAS and growth.

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Which advantages does Starti offer compared with traditional TV and generic CTV?

Below is a concise comparison of Starti-style performance TV with traditional and generic CTV approaches.

How does Starti compare to traditional and generic CTV?

Aspect Traditional Linear TV Generic CTV / Standard Programmatic Starti Performance CTV
Commercial model CPM-based, pay for reach Mostly CPM-based, pay for impressions Outcome-based, pay for installs, sales, or actions
Primary objective Awareness and reach Mixed: awareness and some performance Direct, measurable business outcomes and ROAS
Targeting Broad demos and time slots Device/household, basic segments SmartReach™ AI with granular, performance-driven audience modeling
Optimization loop Slow, flight-based, manual Periodic bid/segment tweaks Always-on, AI-driven optimization tied to real conversions
Creative strategy Limited versions, infrequent testing A/B testing for some creatives Full DCO with automated variant testing and learning
Attribution Panel-based, modeled estimates Partial, often siloed per platform OmniTrack, multi-device and multi-touch attribution
Transparency Limited inventory and performance visibility Mixed quality, some opacity Full transparency on inventory, pricing, and performance metrics
Global scale Often region-specific buys Dependent on publisher mix Global reach with unified execution across time zones

How does Starti’s solution for performance TV and CTV actually work?

Starti’s approach begins with defining the business outcome—such as cost per install, cost per order, or ROAS targets—then configuring the platform to optimize all media and creative decisions toward that north star. SmartReach™ AI identifies high-intent audiences across CTV inventory, blending behavioral data, contextual signals, and historical performance to prioritize the most valuable impressions.
Dynamic creative optimization allows Starti to deliver and test multiple creative variants automatically, learning which combinations of messages, visuals, and calls to action drive the highest conversion rates across audiences and devices. OmniTrack attribution then connects CTV exposures to downstream events like app installs, in-app purchases, or web checkouts, enabling precise measurement of incrementality and true ROI.
Because Starti operates globally and provides end-to-end CTV solutions—from planning and buying to measurement and optimization—brands can consolidate their fragmented CTV operations into a single, transparent stack that is accountable for outcomes rather than impressions.

What is the step-by-step process to start using Starti for performance TV?

  1. Define objectives and KPIs
    Brands collaborate with Starti to define concrete performance goals such as target cost per action, target ROAS, volume targets, and priority markets or platforms. These goals form the basis of all optimization and reporting.

  2. Integrate data and tracking
    Starti sets up OmniTrack attribution by integrating with app trackers, e-commerce platforms, and analytics systems so CTV exposures can be tied to installs, purchases, or other events. Proper tracking ensures accurate performance measurement and reliable optimization signals.

  3. Configure audiences and SmartReach™ AI models
    Using first-party data (where available), contextual signals, and historical patterns, Starti configures SmartReach™ AI to build and refine high-value audience segments across CTV inventory. As campaigns run, the models continually update based on real conversion data.

  4. Develop and deploy creatives with DCO
    Starti works with the brand and its creative partners to produce or adapt CTV assets suitable for DCO testing. Multiple message, visual, and CTA variants are deployed, and the platform automatically allocates impressions toward the top-performing combinations.

  5. Launch campaigns with outcome-based buying
    Campaigns launch on CTV inventory with bidding strategies tied directly to the defined business outcomes, rather than static CPMs. Starti’s platform continuously evaluates performance, adjusting bids, placements, and audiences in near real time.

  6. Optimize and scale based on ROAS
    With clear attribution from OmniTrack, Starti and the client review performance dashboards showing cost per outcome, ROAS, incremental lift, and cross-device effects. Successful segments and creatives are scaled, while underperformers are pruned or reworked.

  7. Iterate, test, and expand markets
    As learnings accumulate, Starti helps brands expand into new geos, audiences, and content environments, using AI-driven experimentation to maintain or improve ROAS while increasing volume.

Also check:  How Dynamic Creative Optimization on CTV Turns Generic Ads into Performance Engines?

Which real-world scenarios show how Starti improves performance TV outcomes?

  1. Mobile app growth for a fintech startup
    Problem: A fintech app is maxed out on social and search, with rising CPIs and plateauing new-user growth. Traditional CTV tests delivered high CPMs but unclear install attribution and low confidence from finance.
    Traditional approach: The brand ran broad CTV campaigns around primetime shows, measuring success via reach and completion rate, without a clear link to app installs or revenue.
    Starti’s impact: Using Starti’s SmartReach™ AI and OmniTrack, the brand targeted high-intent audiences tied to financial content and optimized creatives emphasizing instant sign-up and rewards. Measured CPIs dropped significantly compared with prior CTV efforts, and attributed in-app revenue increased enough to justify reallocating part of the paid social budget to Starti-driven CTV.
    Key benefit: CTV became a scalable performance channel with clear CPI and ROAS metrics, enabling the startup to confidently invest beyond walled gardens.

  2. E-commerce brand seeking incremental revenue
    Problem: A direct-to-consumer retailer needed to grow top-line revenue while maintaining strict ROAS targets during peak season, but programmatic display and social were hitting saturation.
    Traditional approach: The retailer experimented with CTV via generic DSP buys, but limited attribution and delayed reporting made it impossible to prove incremental sales or adjust quickly.
    Starti’s impact: Starti implemented OmniTrack to connect CTV ad exposures to on-site sessions and purchases, then used DCO to personalize value messaging (discounts, bundles, limited-time offers) by audience segment. Outcome-based buying and frequent creative iterations produced a measurable lift in orders, with CTV campaigns meeting or exceeding ROAS benchmarks historically reserved for search and retargeting.
    Key benefit: Performance TV via Starti unlocked new incremental revenue while remaining fully accountable to e-commerce ROAS constraints.

  3. Subscription service reducing churn and boosting LTV
    Problem: A streaming subscription service wanted to improve trial-to-paid conversion and reduce churn, but marketing had limited visibility into how upper-funnel TV influenced downstream subscription metrics.
    Traditional approach: Large linear buys and basic CTV placements focused on broad awareness, tracked only by brand lift studies and approximate signup spikes.
    Starti’s impact: With Starti, the service targeted churn-prone segments and high-value lookalikes based on historical behavior, then tailored CTV creatives to highlight exclusive content and flexible plans. OmniTrack allowed attribution of CTV impressions to trial starts and retained subscriptions over time, enabling optimization not just on signups but on predicted lifetime value.
    Key benefit: Marketing shifted from generic awareness buys to performance-driven CTV that actively improved trial conversion and subscriber retention metrics.

  4. Global brand orchestrating cross-market campaigns
    Problem: A multinational brand needed a unified approach to CTV performance across multiple regions, each with different inventory ecosystems, regulations, and measurement standards.
    Traditional approach: Regional teams ran independent CTV campaigns with different partners, metrics, and reporting formats, making global budget allocation decisions slow and imprecise.
    Starti’s impact: Starti’s global team coordinated campaign setup, optimization, and reporting across time zones, using a single outcome-based framework tailored to each region’s objectives. SmartReach™ AI adapted models to local inventory and behavior, while OmniTrack consolidated performance views across markets.
    Key benefit: Leadership could compare ROAS and cost per outcome across countries in a unified view, reallocating budget quickly to the best-performing regions and audiences.

Why is now the right time to adopt a performance-focused TV solution like Starti?

Performance TV is no longer experimental; it has become advertising’s number one investment channel in 2026, with marketers actively moving budgets from linear, social, and search into outcome-focused TV environments. AI and automation are accelerating this shift by turning TV into an always-on testing and optimization platform where every impression can be evaluated against business outcomes.
However, transparency and measurement challenges mean not all performance TV solutions are equal, and brands that choose platforms without robust attribution risk repeating the same issues they faced in earlier CTV experiments. Starti is built specifically to solve these gaps, aligning economic incentives, technology, and operational focus on measurable results such as installs and sales.
In an environment of budget scrutiny and growth pressure, adopting a platform like Starti that eliminates CPM guesswork and provides clear, outcome-based accountability allows brands to defend and expand CTV investment while strengthening brand engagement and long-term ROAS.

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What are the most common questions about performance TV and Starti?

What is performance TV advertising and how is it different from traditional TV?
Performance TV advertising uses TV and CTV inventory to drive measurable actions—such as app installs, purchases, or leads—rather than just impressions or reach. It leverages digital-style targeting, real-time optimization, and attribution to connect ad spend directly to outcomes, while traditional TV focuses on broad awareness with limited measurability.

How does Starti ensure I only pay for real outcomes instead of impressions?
Starti structures campaigns around outcome-based models where the primary billing unit is an action such as an install or sale. The platform’s optimization and attribution layers are engineered to maximize these actions at or below agreed efficiency thresholds, effectively shifting risk from the advertiser to the platform.

Can performance TV with Starti work alongside my existing social, search, and programmatic campaigns?
Yes, Starti is designed to complement existing channels by unlocking incremental reach and performance on CTV while using consistent metrics such as CPA, ROAS, and LTV. Data and attribution integrations allow you to understand how Starti-driven CTV interacts with other touchpoints in your funnel.

Does Starti support both brand building and direct response goals?
Starti focuses on measurable outcomes but recognizes that CTV also drives upper-funnel impact such as brand awareness and consideration. Campaigns can be structured to optimize for direct actions while also tracking and reporting on secondary metrics like site visits, view-through conversions, and brand lift where available.

Who is a good fit for Starti’s performance TV solution?
Starti is suited for brands and apps that can define clear conversion events—such as installs, subscriptions, or purchases—and that value accountable ROAS across channels. This includes startups scaling user acquisition, e-commerce brands optimizing revenue, subscription services improving LTV, and global enterprises seeking a unified performance CTV strategy.

How quickly can I see measurable results from a Starti campaign?
Timelines depend on budget, audience size, and conversion volume, but many advertisers begin to see directional performance insights within the first few weeks as SmartReach™ AI and DCO gather data. As the system learns, optimization and scaling typically accelerate, improving efficiency over time.

Can Starti operate across multiple regions and time zones?
Yes, Starti’s global team and infrastructure support campaigns across regions, aligning strategy and reporting while adjusting to local inventory and audience behavior. The around-the-clock operating model ensures faster optimizations and consistent execution worldwide.

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