CTV’s indirect influence on other marketing channels
Most executives focus on direct conversions when measuring advertising impact. That’s a mistake. Connected TV (CTV) amplifies results across your entire marketing strategy. You won’t always see an instant spike in sales, but you will see increased brand awareness, engagement, and a stronger presence where it matters. When done right, CTV makes every other channel perform better.
Take paid search. When a viewer sees your CTV ad, they are more likely to search for your brand, increasing overall search volume. The same applies to social media. People recognize your brand, engage more with content, and interaction rates go up. Even SEO benefits as branded search queries increase. None of these signals appear on a typical CTV attribution report, but they drive real business results.
Executives making budget decisions must recognize this. If you focus only on direct conversions, you’ll underestimate CTV’s value. Instead, track how it lifts your entire digital and offline presence. When CTV integrates with an overall marketing strategy, it creates sustained brand influence that compounds over time. That’s what makes it a powerful tool for growth.
Geo holdout testing is a robust method for measuring CTV’s effectiveness
If you’re serious about understanding CTV’s impact, you need a structured way to measure it. Geo holdout testing is one of the most effective approaches. It involves splitting your audience into test and control groups based on geographic regions. The test group sees CTV ads, while the control group does not. By comparing key performance metrics between these two groups, you get a clear picture of how CTV influences search volume, website traffic, social engagement, and even offline sales.
Precision is critical. The selected regions must be similar in terms of demographics, consumer behavior, and market conditions. External factors, such as local events or seasonal trends, must also be considered since they can distort results. For example, running a test during a major shopping holiday in one area but not in another will skew the data. This is why thorough pre-test analysis is essential.
Budget and time allocation also play a role in generating meaningful insights. Running a test for only a week with a small spend won’t produce statistically significant results. A well-executed geo holdout test, with sufficient duration and investment, provides the data needed to make informed decisions regarding CTV’s contribution to overall marketing performance. For executives evaluating CTV’s role in media strategy, this method ensures investment decisions are backed by real, measurable impact.
CTV drives digital marketing performance
A well-executed CTV campaign strengthens the effectiveness of your entire digital marketing strategy. The increased visibility from CTV advertising leads to higher engagement across paid search, SEO, and social media platforms. When people see a brand consistently, they are more likely to search for it, visit its website, and interact with its social content. This creates a compound effect on digital performance.
For paid search and SEO, key performance indicators (KPIs) such as branded search volume, direct traffic, and conversion rates improve when CTV campaigns run in parallel. When brand awareness increases, more users actively seek out products or services, decreasing acquisition costs on other digital channels. The same principle applies to social media. Platforms like Meta and TikTok benefit from CTV exposure because audiences who have seen an ad are more likely to engage with targeted content later. Tracking metrics like brand lift and engagement rates helps quantify this impact.
Business leaders must take a cross-channel approach to performance measurement. Evaluating CTV in isolation underestimates its total effect on marketing outcomes. By aligning CTV efforts with digital platforms and tracking the right indicators, companies can maximize the full value of their advertising investment. The key is understanding how each element of the strategy works together to build long-term brand equity and better performance across all channels.
CTV is capable of boosting offline and brick-and-mortar sales with proper tracking mechanisms
CTV’s influence drives measurable results in physical locations. Whether it’s retail stores, service centers, or franchise locations, exposure to CTV campaigns increases in-store visits, service inquiries, and sales. However, accurately measuring this impact requires dedicated tracking methods. Businesses relying solely on standard attribution models will miss the full effect of CTV on their offline operations.
To bridge this gap, companies should implement unique tracking elements such as CTV-specific URLs, dedicated phone numbers, and QR codes embedded within ads. These tools generate direct attributions between ad exposure and consumer action. While useful, they should not be the only metrics used. Establishing a clear baseline for in-store traffic, call volumes, and sales ahead of a campaign allows for more accurate measurement. Comparing these pre- and post-advertising data points provides a clearer picture of CTV’s role in driving offline conversions.
Effective measurement also requires proper campaign scale and duration. A small test with minimal reach won’t yield enough data to produce actionable insights. Business leaders should commit to structured measurement frameworks that allow enough time for results to materialize. When properly executed, CTV delivers digital impact and measurable lift in real-world sales and engagement, making it a critical component of any omnichannel advertising strategy.
Missteps in CTV testing, such as short-term and low-budget experiments
Many brands misjudge CTV’s effectiveness because they approach testing with unrealistic expectations. Short trial periods and inadequate budgets lead to incomplete data, making it easy to dismiss CTV as ineffective. Running a campaign for just a few weeks with minimal investment will not produce statistically significant results. Measuring impact takes time, and underfunded tests fail to capture the full effect of CTV across multiple channels.
Another common mistake is evaluating CTV in isolation, expecting an immediate surge in direct response metrics like website visits or sales. While CTV does contribute to these outcomes, its influence extends beyond direct conversions. It builds brand awareness, strengthens customer recall, and increases interaction across search, social, and offline channels. If decision-makers only assess immediate traffic spikes, they will underestimate the broader value CTV provides.
Consistency across customer touchpoints also plays a key role in measurement accuracy. If a CTV ad markets a premium experience, but the in-store or online interaction fails to match those expectations, customer retention and conversion rates will suffer. Ensuring brand messaging remains aligned across ads, digital platforms, and physical locations prevents this disconnect. Companies that invest properly, track the right metrics, and align campaigns across channels will see the real value CTV brings to overall business performance.
Budget reallocations
Some advertisers are shifting budgets away from CTV, prioritizing performance-driven channels due to economic uncertainty. Cost pressures, including potential tariffs, are influencing media spend, forcing brands to reassess their investments. However, reducing CTV budgets without a clear understanding of its long-term impact can weaken overall marketing performance. CTV enhances multiple channels, and cutting spend in this area may create inefficiencies elsewhere, driving up customer acquisition costs in search, social, and even offline operations.
According to a recent IAB report, 12% of advertisers plan to reduce CTV budgets in response to economic concerns, though larger cuts are expected in traditional channels like linear TV and programmatic media. While reallocating marketing dollars is sometimes necessary, undervaluing CTV’s role in a high-performing media mix is a strategic mistake. When measured correctly, CTV consistently provides incremental lift and supports the effectiveness of other digital and offline campaigns.
Executives making budget decisions should consider long-term brand impact alongside short-term performance metrics. Maintaining CTV investment ensures sustained customer engagement, brand awareness, and cross-channel efficiency. Companies that optimize rather than eliminate CTV from their strategy will be better positioned to drive scalable growth while maintaining stable advertising performance across uncertain market conditions.
Key executive takeaways
- CTV enhances broader marketing performance: CTV’s primary value lies in its ability to amplify paid search, social, SEO, and offline sales rather than driving immediate direct conversions. Leaders should evaluate its long-term influence rather than relying solely on direct attribution metrics.
- Geo holdout testing provides reliable measurement: By comparing CTV-exposed regions with control groups, businesses can isolate its impact on key performance indicators. Executives should ensure proper budget allocation and avoid external market influences that could skew results.
- CTV improves search, SEO, and social performance: Increased brand awareness from CTV leads to higher search volume, stronger SEO signals, and more engagement on social platforms. Leaders should track conversion rates, brand lift, and direct traffic to capture its full effect.
- Offline sales and foot traffic benefit from CTV exposure: CTV drives in-person visits, service inquiries, and purchases, but proper tracking mechanisms like unique URLs, QR codes, and dedicated phone numbers are essential. Businesses must establish baseline metrics to objectively measure its impact.
- Short-term tests and low budgets lead to inaccurate conclusions: Many brands misinterpret CTV’s effectiveness due to unrealistic, short-term trials. Executives should ensure campaigns run for a sufficient duration with a meaningful investment to produce statistically valid insights.
- Cutting CTV budgets can weaken overall marketing efficiency: Some advertisers are shifting spend away from CTV due to external pressures, but this can disrupt cross-channel performance. Decision-makers should evaluate long-term brand impact before reallocating budgets elsewhere.
