How to Advertise on HBO Max: Your Guide to Streaming's Premium Ad Space

HBO Max isn't just another streaming platform — it's where viewers actually pay attention. TVREV’s Alan Wolk explains, “HBO continues to remain home to the types of programming that appeals to the sort of people commonly referred to as the cultural elites.”

In addition to major hits like The White Lotus and The Last of Us, HBO Max is also home to programming across HGTV, The Food Network, Discovery Channel, TBS, TNT, and CNN. Warner Bros. Discovery has also embraced ad-supported streaming within the app, offering brands a chance to reach people who aren't just scrolling while the TV plays in the background.

Think about it: HBO Max viewers are the ones who schedule their evenings around new episodes and text friends about plot twists. That level of engagement is gold for advertisers tired of fighting for half-seconds of attention.

The targeting options make traditional TV advertising look like putting up a billboard and hoping the right people drive by. Want to reach viewers based on watching habits, interests, or demographics? HBO Max has built a system that lets you get super specific. You're not just buying impressions — you're connecting with actual humans who match your ideal customer profile.

For advertisers looking to boost brand recognition, HBO Max offers something increasingly rare: advertising that doesn't feel like shouting into the void.

That said, HBO Max has some of the highest CPMs in the connected TV (CTV) advertising space. It’s also quite limited in scale, with only 8 million ad-supported subscribers compared to Amazon Prime’s audience of 130 million ad-supported viewers. As such, there are limitations to running targeted programmatic campaigns on HBO Max, but it could be a good fit for advertisers looking to build brand awareness alongside premium content.

Interested to see how your brand fits into the streaming world's premium neighborhood? Let's get into the details of what you need to know about HBO Max advertising — from ad formats that respect the viewing experience to targeting capabilities that actually work.

Key Takeaways

• HBO Max offers premium ad inventory with engaged viewers, ensuring higher ad recall and meaningful brand connections.
• Ad formats include pre-roll, mid-roll, pause ads, and binge ads, catering to different campaign objectives.
• Advanced targeting allows advertisers to reach audiences based on demographics, interests, and viewing behavior.
• Ad costs range from $30 to $40 CPM, with premium placements commanding higher rates.
• Scale is limited with only 8 million ad-supported subscribers, making HBO Max a bad fit for advertisers looking for a single platform for CTV advertising.
• Campaign success requires ongoing optimization, A/B testing, bid management, and cross-device retargeting.
• Strategus partners with brands and agencies to simplify HBO Max advertising, handling campaign management, targeting, and optimization for maximum ROI. 
• We also offer a single solution for cross-platform CTV advertising, which delivers the combination of scale and precision needed to drive business results. Speak to a Strategus expert to learn more today.

Why Advertise on HBO Max?

As streaming dominates entertainment, HBO Max stands out as a prime advertising platform among streaming services. Its ad-supported tier offers brands access to engaged viewers consuming premium content in a brand-safe environment. 

Unlike platforms where ads feel intrusive, HBO Max creates an ecosystem where advertising complements the viewing experience, delivering higher-quality impressions for marketers seeking meaningful connections.

• Access to a Premium, Engaged Audience: HBO Max is home to some of the most critically acclaimed shows, blockbuster movies, and exclusive originals, attracting a loyal and highly engaged subscriber base. Unlike traditional TV, where viewers might channel surf during commercials, HBO Max offers video-on-demand (VOD) to its audiences that are actively invested in the content they watch, leading to higher ad recall and engagement rates.
• Advanced Audience Targeting: HBO Max offers sophisticated targeting options that allow advertisers to refine their audience based on demographics, interests, and viewing habits. Instead of broad, generalized placements, brands can reach specific viewer segments that align with their marketing goals. Additionally, HBO Max integrates with Warner Bros. Discovery’s first-party data, giving advertisers deeper insights into consumer behavior and content preferences. That said, given the cost of advertising on HBO Max and a small ad-supported subscriber base, it isn’t a great fit for local TV advertising campaigns.
• Diverse and High-Impact Ad Formats: HBO Max provides multiple ad formats designed to enhance engagement without disrupting the viewer experience. These include non-intrusive pre-roll and mid-roll video ads, interactive formats, and sponsorship opportunities that seamlessly blend into the content ecosystem. 
• Measurable Performance: HBO Max’s advertising platform includes robust CTV measurement tools that provide real-time insights into campaign performance. Advertisers can track impressions, engagement rates, brand lift, and even post-ad consumer actions, making it easy to optimize campaigns for better results.

Challenges of Advertising on HBO Max

Though HBO Max delivers quality inventory and attentive viewers, success isn't guaranteed by simply purchasing ad space. Brands managing their own campaigns often encounter significant hurdles, from navigating complex targeting options to optimizing creative performance. 

Without specialized expertise, companies frequently experience budget inefficiencies, targeting misalignment, and disappointing metrics, undermining what should be a high-performing channel in their marketing mix.

• Complex Ad Format Selection: HBO Max provides a variety of ad formats, from brand takeovers and sponsorships to interactive and shoppable ads. While this flexibility is great, choosing the right format for a specific campaign objective can be difficult. Each format comes with its own pricing structure, creative requirements, and performance benchmarks, making it easy for advertisers to overspend on ineffective placements or fail to maximize engagement with the right ad type.
• Strict Creative Requirements and Approval Process: Unlike other streaming platforms with standard video ad placements, HBO Max has rigid creative guidelines to maintain its premium, ad-lite experience. Advertisers need to ensure their content meets specific duration limits, quality standards, and formatting rules — and even then, the approval process can be time-consuming and unpredictable. A minor oversight can lead to delays, rejections, or additional production costs, derailing the timeline of an ad campaign.
• Advanced Targeting That Requires Expertise: HBO Max offers sophisticated audience targeting, leveraging Warner Bros. Discovery’s first-party data to match ads with specific viewer segments. While this is a powerful tool, using it effectively requires a deep understanding of audience segmentation, behavioral data, and performance tracking. Many advertisers fail to fully optimize their targeting, leading to costly impressions on the wrong audience or missing out on high-value segments that drive real conversions.

• Limited Ad-Supported Subscriber Base:  HBO Max isn’t a great fit for tightly focused local TV campaigns due to its limited subscriber base. With only 8 million ad-supported viewers, it can be difficult to execute targeted campaigns in specific geographic regions.

• Costly Mistakes in Bidding and Budget Allocation: With limited ad inventory and high demand, bidding on HBO Max is competitive and costly. Without experience in programmatic buying and auction dynamics, advertisers can overspend on impressions that don’t convert or undervalue their bids, resulting in low ad delivery and missed opportunities. Managing a balanced budget across multiple placements and audience segments requires ongoing optimization and strategic adjustments, something many advertisers struggle with when handling campaigns manually. It’s also a good idea to diversify your CTV strategy across a broad mix of publishers to ensure that you’re reaching your audience no matter what they're watching, so we wouldn’t recommend advertising exclusively on HBO Max.

Overcoming these Challenges with Strategus

The HBO Max ad ecosystem might be complex, but Strategus transforms it into a streamlined opportunity. Instead of wrestling with format decisions, targeting parameters, and budget allocation, our programmatic CTV expertise eliminates the guesswork and focuses on what matters: results.

We manage your HBO Max campaigns end-to-end, securing optimal placements that align with viewer behavior and your brand goals. Our team handles creative approval hurdles, ensuring your ads meet platform standards without frustrating delays that can derail campaign timelines.

Unlike broad-reach approaches, we implement precision audience targeting that connects with genuinely interested viewers. Our real-time optimization responds to performance signals, continuously refining your campaign while our attribution tracking reveals exactly how your investment translates to business outcomes.

With Strategus handling the details, you access HBO Max's premium inventory and engage the audience without the complexity, waste, or uncertainty of going it alone.

Let us take the complexity out of your campaign and deliver the results your business deserves. Speak to a Strategus expert to learn more today.

How to Advertise on HBO Max

Now that you’re familiar with the basics, here’s how your brand can make the most of  HBO Max's premium ad ecosystem — from choosing the right formats to implementing targeting strategies that connect with their engaged audience. At Strategus, we take care of all this heavy lifting so that marketers don’t have to do it themselves.

1. Setting Up an Advertising Account

To begin advertising on HBO Max, businesses need to register through HBO Max’s Ad Manager, Warner Bros. Discovery’s programmatic platform. The setup process involves:

• Creating an Account: Register with business details and verify the account.
• Setting Up a Profile: Define campaign objectives, budget limits, and target demographics.
• Accessing the Ad Manager Dashboard: Select ad formats, audience segments, and bidding strategies.

2. Choosing the Right Ad Format:

HBO Max offers a variety of ad formats, each designed to serve different campaign goals:

• Pre-Roll Ads: Play before content starts, ensuring maximum exposure before a viewer engages with their selected program.
• Mid-Roll Ads: Appear within shows or movies, offering high-impact placements when viewers are fully engaged.
• Post-Roll Ads: Run after content ends, reinforcing brand messaging at the conclusion of a viewing session.
• Pause Ads: Display when a viewer pauses their content, providing a non-intrusive, high-visibility moment to engage consumers.
• Binge Ads: Reward binge-watchers with an ad-free episode in exchange for watching a longer, interactive ad upfront.

Each ad format varies in terms of cost, engagement, and placement strategy, so advertisers should align their choices with their business objectives. Brand awareness campaigns, for example, may benefit most from pre-roll and mid-roll ads, while interactive campaigns can leverage binge and pause ads for deeper consumer engagement.

3. Use Advanced Targeting Options

One of HBO Max's most compelling advantages is its sophisticated audience targeting ecosystem, allowing brands to move beyond the shotgun approach of traditional advertising. Instead of hoping the right viewers might see your content, HBO Max's platform lets you refine campaigns with remarkable precision using your collected data.

Advertisers can target based on demographic factors like age, income brackets, and location, while also making the most of behavioral patterns drawn from viewing habits and engagement metrics. The platform's interest-based targeting creates natural alignment between your brand and relevant content genres, ensuring your luxury travel package appears alongside wanderlust-inducing documentaries rather than random programming.

Geographic capabilities further enhance this precision, giving national brands the flexibility to create market-specific messaging. That said, HBO Max isn’t a great fit for regional businesses focusing on tight service areas due to its limited ad-supported subscriber base.

4. Understanding the Cost of HBO Max Advertising:

Advertising costs on HBO Max vary depending on ad format, competition, and audience targeting. While pricing structures are flexible, advertisers should consider key cost factors when planning their budgets.

• CPM Pricing: The average cost per thousand impressions (CPM) ranges from $30 to $40, with premium ad placements commanding higher rates.
• Premium Placement Costs: Ads running during tentpole content releases, such as HBO Originals or live events, often carry higher CPMs due to increased demand.
• Seasonal Pricing Fluctuations: Costs tend to rise during Q4 (holiday season), major sports events, and election cycles, making off-peak advertising a cost-saving strategy. If you’re looking to minimize ad spend, advertising during these times should be avoided.

Advertising on HBO under a budget is all about balancing your required results with your current budget. It’s often a good idea to design campaigns that also run on more affordable channels like free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) services to maximize reach and curb unnecessary ad spend.

5. Launching and Optimizing Your Campaign

Once your campaign goes live, the real work begins. Continuous optimization separates successful HBO Max advertisers from those who merely show up. Simply launching ads and hoping for the best inevitably leads to wasted budget and missed connection opportunities with high-value viewers.

Monitoring Performance Metrics

HBO Max's analytics dashboard provides advertisers with comprehensive visibility into campaign performance. The platform tracks essential metrics, including:

• Impressions: Quantifying your ad's reach across the HBO Max ecosystem
• Engagement Rates: Measuring how viewers interact with your creative
• Conversion Metrics: Tracking meaningful actions like website visits, sign-ups, and purchases

A/B Testing Ad Creatives

Creative testing remains one of the most powerful optimization levers on HBO Max. Smart advertisers develop multiple creative variations to discover what truly resonates with their target audience. By comparing performance across different visuals, messaging approaches, and calls-to-action, you can identify which elements drive the strongest response.

The most sophisticated advertisers take this further by analyzing creative performance across different audience segments. Often, what works for one demographic group falls flat with another — insights that would remain hidden without deliberate testing.

Adjusting Bidding Strategies

The competitive nature of HBO Max's premium inventory demands active bidding management. Real-time performance monitoring allows you to make data-driven bid adjustments, reallocating budget toward your highest-performing segments while reducing spend in less effective areas. 

This ongoing refinement process often reveals unexpected audience combinations that deliver exceptional value, helping you discover your most efficient pathways to conversion.

Cross-Device Retargeting

Today's viewers rarely confine themselves to a single screen, making cross-device retargeting a crucial extension of your HBO Max strategy. By reconnecting with viewers across mobile, desktop, and social platforms, you maintain presence throughout their digital journey. 

This connected approach creates multiple touchpoints that reinforce your message and drive viewers further down the funnel, turning initial awareness from HBO Max into consideration and conversion elsewhere in your marketing ecosystem.

While cross-device retargeting may seem like a hassle, it has the potential for tremendous results. We saw this during our partnership with a grocery store, where our main purpose was to increase in-store visits. By running advanced cross-device retargeting campaigns, Strategus was able to secure 435k in-store visitors for this grocer over a span of nine months, with an additional 265k online conversions as well.

Considerations When Comparing OTT Providers

When placing ads on streaming services like HBO Max, media buyers have a few things to consider. 

• Advanced targeting. The whole point of programmatic OTT advertising is pinpointing your ideal customers. So you’ll want to let the data do the heavy lifting rather than making guesses about where your buyers spend their time. This means going beyond basic demographics to target viewers based on their interests, recent life events, and even purchase intent.
• Diversification. You want to be confident that your ideal buyers are tuning in to the ads that you’re running. But each OTT service attracts different viewers, and focusing we’d recommend taking a multi-platform approach rather than putting all your budget into a single OTT platform.
• Multi-publisher control and measurement. Viewers hate seeing the same ad on repeat. Likewise, advertisers hate wasting ad spend by investing in strategies that don’t deliver results. This is why multi-publisher control and measurement are so important. If you’re diversifying your OTT strategy across a handful of platforms, you’ll want to cap frequency and track performance in a holistic manner. 

These steps are easier said than done, but well worth the effort. If you don’t have the in-house resources to tackle these challenges, consider working with a programmatic OTT partner like Strategus that offers cross-platform targeting and measurement capabilities.

Integrating HBO Max into Multi-Platform Campaigns

The OTT ecosystem is vast and disjointed. But it doesn’t have to be. 

By partnering with Strategus, agencies and brands can take advantage of this growing channel without having to choose between different OTT publishers. Our vast library of premium inventory spans 200+ publishers that dominate the media landscape and more than 843 individual deal IDs.

We work with advertisers to reach their audience across networks and apps, no matter what they’re tuning into. We also offer full visibility into where those ads run. From there, we make it easy to quantify ROI at every touchpoint and optimize campaigns in real time.

So, rather than trying to determine which OTT platforms are best for your business, make things simple. Start advertising on all the OTT providers in this list using cross-platform ad placement and measurement from Strategus.

Closing Thoughts - How Can Brands Pull Off Successful HBO Max Campaigns?

Let's be honest — setting up HBO Max ads isn't rocket science, but turning them into a revenue-generating machine? That's something a lot of in-house teams can’t pull off. The difference between campaigns that drain budgets and those that drive business isn't just about showing up in premium content; it's about orchestrating all the moving pieces with precision.

Even seasoned marketing teams can find themselves overwhelmed by the platform's nuances. They might nail the creative but struggle with bid management. They might understand the audience in theory, but miss opportunities to refine targeting based on real-time signals. Each disconnect between strategy and execution creates tiny leaks in your budget that quickly become floods of wasted spend.

This is exactly why brands partner with Strategus. We don't just manage your HBO Max campaigns — we transform them. Our team lives and breathes programmatic CTV, bringing platform expertise that turns complexity into advantage. While your team focuses on big-picture strategy, we handle the daily optimization that makes or breaks performance: fine-tuning audience segments, adjusting bid strategies, tracking cross-device journeys, and spotting opportunities that automated systems miss.

The most successful brands don't leave their HBO Max performance to chance or treat it as a set-it-and-forget-it channel. They recognize that dedicated expertise pays for itself many times over in improved results and recaptured efficiency.

How to Advertise on HBO Max: Frequently Asked Questions

What Types of Ad Formats Does HBO Max Offer?

HBO Max provides a range of ad formats, including pre-roll, mid-roll, and interactive units, allowing you to select the best format for your campaign goals.

How Much Does It Cost to Advertise on HBO Max?

Costs vary based on factors like ad format, placement, and targeting specifics. Understanding your campaign objectives helps determine your budget and expected return.

What Targeting Capabilities Does HBO Max Provide?

Advanced targeting options include demographics, interests, and viewing behaviors, enabling tailored ad delivery to your ideal audience.

Can I Advertise on HBO Max Through a Self-Serve Platform?

While self-service options may be limited, managed services provide comprehensive campaign support and optimization.

How Do I Measure the Performance of My HBO Max Ads?

Utilize CTV measurement strategies to track key metrics like completion and click-through rates, ensuring your ads meet performance goals.

Ready to turn HBO Max ad spend into a genuine investment? Speak to a Strategus expert today and learn more about how we can help.