Performance TV and the Role of Streaming

For decades, television advertising has focused on one thing: building broad brand awareness. Capturing viewers’ attention has always been the name of the game. And until recently, a ‘spray-and-pray’ delivery model was the only method for doing so.

With the digitalization of TV, though, new possibilities have emerged. Marketers can now target individual households and measure tangible business outcomes, making performance-based tactics suitable for the biggest (and highest impact) screen in the house.

Despite this, many advertisers are still treating connected TV (CTV) like a digital version of linear, relying on an outdated playbook of broad reach and mass appeal.

That’s why we recently joined forces with the Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM) for a deep dive into performance-based CTV strategies. Our very own Joel Cox joined leaders from Innovid, Measured, and Magnite to discuss how the industry is evolving and what brands and agencies can do to modernize their media strategy.

Watch the full recording for the full conversation, or read on for a comprehensive breakdown of what performance TV looks like today.

What Is Performance TV Advertising?

Today's marketers demand more. They want measurable outcomes, direct attribution, and campaigns that drive immediate action. In a word, they want performance.

But what exactly constitutes performance TV? Ask four different experts and you’ll get four different answers.

Here’s a look at how our panelists define it.

According to Callum Gurthrie, VP of Product Management at Innovid, performance TV combines the best aspects of linear and CTV:

“Performance TV is the evolution of television advertising into a results-driven, measurable channel. It combines the scale and storytelling of traditional TV with the precision and accountability of digital marketing”

For Strategus Co-Founder and EVP of Innovation, Joel Cox, performance TV is underpinned by data.

“It means continuously utilizing, testing, and activating every array of first-party, second-party, third-party data for targeting the right audiences, and then just as importantly, utilizing as many measurement and attribution tools as possible to enable ongoing optimization. “

Speed and agility also come into play according to Kyle Benn, VP of Demand Facilitation at Magnite.

“​​Performance TV takes that linear TV that we grew up with and makes it as nimble and agile as possible to craft your campaigns to what you need to do and the outcomes that you want.”

Finally, Alex Lawrence, VP Client Partner at Measured, notes that concrete results are the focus of performance TV campaigns.

”Most of our clients think of CTV as an improvement to linear, primarily in targeting and control, offering much more surgical targeting. It provides the extra benefit of being much more measurable, allowing marketers to quantify the impact on direct responses like site traffic, add to cart, or purchase by segmenting geographies for testing"

Why Is CTV Better Suited For This?

Regardless of how you define performance TV, the goal remains the same: measurable results. And this is why CTV is much better suited for performance-based marketing campaigns than linear: It offers the programmatic targeting, measurement, and attribution required to drive direct business outcomes.

This expectation is also becoming the norm. According to the IAB’s annual Digital Video Ad Spend & Strategy Report, A whopping 54% of advertisers cite business outcomes — such as sales, store visits, and leads — as their primary KPI for determining CTV success.

But how do non-clickable ads drive these outcomes? Simple. CTV supercharges other marketing channels by building mindshare. We frequently observe an initial ad exposure on the big screen driving subsequent conversions across other digital channels, such as display and social media. 

As Alex Lawrence from Measured explains, “there are really dramatic halo effects across different sales channels. So if you just look at e-commerce, what we have found is that when you turn off CTV in certain markets, there's a very clear response in retail stores, on Amazon, and e-commerce.

That’s why connecting the dots between your TV campaigns and downstream actions is essential, making advanced attribution capabilities a must-have.

Best Practices for Performance TV

Understanding what performance TV is and why CTV is uniquely positioned to deliver it is a great starting point. But the real challenge is effective execution.

That’s why we asked our panel to share tactical insights on how leading brands are tapping into CTV's full performance potential. Here are their recommendations.

Follow the Data

Success isn't determined by where your ads run. The focus should be on finding the right viewers rather than picking the right publishers. That’s why the most effective campaigns prioritize sophisticated data strategies over premium inventory placements.

"Performance TV means looking at your data and your measurement strategies as your differentiator, while looking at your inventory as the commodity," says our EVP of Innovation,  Joel Cox.

Embrace Precision Targeting and Personalization

Unlike linear TV's broad demographic approach, CTV enables marketers to reach specific individuals based on behaviors, interests, and intent signals. This shift from mass reach to precision targeting fundamentally changes how advertisers should approach these campaigns.

If you’re segmenting your audience but you aren’t creating unique ads for each buyer, you’re not taking full advantage of the medium. As Magnite's Kyle Benn puts it, "you're able to really tailor the experience to a certain person at a certain time, rather than blanketing a whole cable zone with the same message."

Set Realistic (And Different) Performance Metrics for Each Media Type

Not every media channel should be held to the same conversion standards. Performance TV requires understanding that different touchpoints serve different roles in the customer journey, each with its own success metrics.

"A moving truck functions very differently from a Ferrari, but they have important roles to play. If you don't set different performance expectations, you will unnecessarily constrain your growth because you've fixed that same target," says Measured's Alex Lawrence.

Develop an Omnichannel Strategy

CTV's ads aren’t usually clickable, but this isn’t to say that advertisers can’t connect TV exposure to follow-up touchpoints on other devices. The most successful campaigns create deliberate pathways from the big screen to conversion-friendly channels.

"One thing that we have deployed with great success is a strategy of deterministically retargeting audiences after CTV ad exposure, with subsequent messages on every other digital device that our target audience engages with," notes Joel Cox.

Optimize Based on Real-Time Insights

The ability to make mid-campaign adjustments based on performance data is what separates performance TV from traditional advertising. Leading brands are using live insights to pivot creative, reallocate spend, and refine targeting while campaigns are still running.

Innovid's Callum Guthrie explains, "the real value comes from turning insight into actionability. We're seeing campaigns where mid-flight insights are driving creative strategy changes, audience reallocation, and even budget shifts."

Why Choose Strategus as Your Performance TV Partner

Performance TV advertising isn’t rocket science, but navigating its complexities requires expertise and a deep understanding of the CTV landscape. That's why many advertisers choose to team up with Strategus.

As the first agency to run a programmatic CTV ad in 2015, we have the experience and technology to help you achieve your performance goals.

We offer:

• Unmatched expertise. Our team of CTV specialists will guide you through every step of the process, from strategy development to campaign execution and optimization.
  
  
• Advanced targeting and attribution. Use our robust data integrations and custom audience-building tools to reach the right viewers and measure the true impact of your campaigns.
   
• Full-funnel retargeting. Extend your reach and maximize conversions with cross-device retargeting strategies that engage viewers across all their connected devices.
  
  
• Transparent reporting. Gain clear insights into campaign performance with our comprehensive reporting dashboards and custom attribution.

With Strategus as your partner, you get the broad reach, data integrations, and expertise required to drive CTV results. 

Ready to transform your TV advertising into a performance powerhouse? Contact us today and let us help you achieve your business goals with performance TV.