Connected TV places digital video advertising inside streaming content viewed on televisions connected to the internet. Think smart TVs or TV sets paired with devices like Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV, gaming consoles, or set-top boxes. While OTT describes the method of delivering streaming content across any device, CTV is specifically the television screen where viewers experience that content.

• Buying mechanics: Most CTV inventory is purchased programmatically through DSPs, private marketplaces, or direct programmatic deals with publishers and vMVPDs. Marketers can control pacing, budgets, audience definitions, and frequency across multiple supply sources.
• Targeting precision: Advertisers combine first-party data with privacy-safe third-party segments to build household-level audiences, then refine by context, genre, geo, or device. This is a step beyond the broad demos of linear TV.
• Screen experience: CTV ads run full-screen, non-scrollable, and typically non-skippable within premium long-form content. This lean-back environment drives high video completion rates compared with mobile or desktop video.
• Why it's different from OTT: OTT is the distribution of streaming video over the internet across phones, tablets, laptops, and TVs. CTV refers to the TV device itself. All CTV is OTT, but not all OTT is CTV. This distinction matters for measurement and creative formatting.

Reference alignment: Industry definitions consistently draw the OTT vs CTV distinction and highlight capabilities like audience targeting, frequency control, and outcome measurement.

Approach CTV like performance-minded television. Start with clear outcomes and map targeting and formats to the funnel, then measure both delivery quality and business impact.

• Targeting and data: Use consented first-party data to seed household audiences. Enhance with privacy-first third-party data for scale. Layer in contextual signals (genre, ratings, daypart, live vs on-demand) to match intent and mood.
• Ad formats: :15 and :30 video remain standard. :06 bumpers can reinforce reach efficiently. Interactive overlays or QR codes help drive response. Companion units on second screens can extend engagement.
• Key delivery metrics: Reach, deduplicated reach across publishers, frequency at the household level, impressions served, and Video Completion Rate (VCR). These show if you are getting quality exposure in front of the right audience.
• Cost and efficiency: CPM is common. For action-oriented buying, CPCV (cost per completed view) or CPA models can align spend with outcomes.
• Outcome measurement: Attribute exposures to downstream actions like site visits, app activity, sign-ups, or sales using privacy-safe cross-device methods. Track incremental reach versus linear TV and other digital channels. Use brand lift studies to quantify shifts in awareness, consideration, or intent.
• Optimization loop: Shift budgets toward supply with higher completion, lower cost per outcome, and better incremental reach. Cap frequency at the household level to reduce waste and fatigue.

Translate strategy into execution that respects the TV environment while using digital control.

• Creative fundamentals: Front-load branding in the first 3 seconds. Keep visuals large and legible on a 10-foot screen. Use clear VO and subtitles for quiet environments. Show product or value prop early and often.
• Drive action without clutter: Add a simple, persistent call to action. QR codes should be scannable from a couch distance with a short URL as backup. Align the landing experience with the promise in the ad.
• Frequency control: Set household caps across all supply paths, then monitor overlap between major publishers. Use creative rotation to reduce wear-out for heavier viewers.
• Brand safety and quality: Buy from premium, transparent supply. Apply content category controls and ratings filters. Use fraud prevention and viewability verification tailored to CTV. Favor direct or curated deals to minimize spoofing and made-for-arbitrage inventory.
• Testing framework: Pilot small creative variants (:15 vs :30, opening hook, CTA phrasing), compare QR vs vanity URL response, and run geo-split tests for causal lift tied to site or store outcomes.

Done well, CTV combines the impact of television with the accountability of digital, giving marketers a controllable path to incremental reach and measurable results.