Connected TV (CTV) Advertising: The Complete Programmatic Guide for 2025

What is CTV Advertising?

The B2B software company had never considered TV advertising—seemed too expensive, too broad, too hard to measure. Then they tested CTV through a programmatic DSP: $15K/month, targeting decision-makers at enterprise companies, with household-level attribution. Results: 2.3x lift in branded search, 40% lower cost-per-demo than LinkedIn, and they could see exactly which impressions led to site visits. CTV gave them TV-quality exposure at digital-advertising budgets with measurement they could actually trust.

Connected TV advertising represents the convergence of television's storytelling power with digital advertising's precision targeting and measurement. As streaming now accounts for 44% of all TV viewing and video advertising becomes essential, CTV offers what no other channel can: premium, non-skippable inventory with digital-level targeting and attribution.

CTV advertisers achieve TV-level brand impact with digital-level targeting—at budgets 90% lower than linear TV.

The Living Room Premium: "CTV is the most premium real estate in advertising—your brand, on the biggest screen in the house, with the viewer's full attention. And unlike linear TV, you can target exactly who sees it and measure exactly what happens after."

CTV vs. Linear TV

CTV Market Landscape 2025

Market Size & Growth

Programmatic Dominance

75% of CTV transactions now happen programmatically through DSPs like The Trade Desk, Amazon DSP, and DV360.

CTV Buying Methods

Method 1: Programmatic (Self-Serve DSP)

Leading DSPs for CTV:

Method 2: Private Marketplace (PMP) Deals

Pre-negotiated rates with specific publishers offering guaranteed access to premium content.

Targeting Strategies

Audience Targeting Options

1. Demographic: Age, gender, income, household composition 2. Behavioral: Purchase history, content consumption 3. Contextual: Content genre, mood matching 4. Geographic: National, DMA, zip code 5. First-Party Data: CRM matching, lookalikes

New 2025 CTV Ad Formats

Measurement & Attribution

Key CTV Metrics

Cross-Device Attribution

CTV's challenge: Viewers see ads on TV but convert on other devices.

Solutions:

• Device graphs connecting TV to household devices
• IP matching across devices
• QR codes for direct response tracking

Conclusion

2025 Trends Reshaping CTV Advertising

Your CTV Mastery Roadmap

90-Day Launch Framework:

Month 1 - Foundation: Define audience and targeting strategy, produce 15/30-second TV-quality creative, and select DSP or managed service based on budget

Month 2 - Launch: Start with $10K-15K test budget, implement household-level attribution, and set frequency caps (3-5/week per household)

Month 3 - Optimize: Analyze site lift and conversion impact, test premium vs. programmatic inventory, and connect CTV to cross-channel attribution

Ongoing - Scale: Expand audience segments based on performance, integrate with retail media CTV inventory, and build always-on brand presence

The Attention Premium: "The average CTV viewer watches 97% of the ad—compared to 2 seconds on social before they scroll. You're not paying for impressions; you're paying for attention. That's worth the CPM premium."

CTV advertisers achieve 2-3x brand lift with household-level targeting and measurement. Launch your CTV campaigns with AdsMAA's cross-channel platform. Unified measurement across CTV, social, and display.