by Katrin Ulbrich (Director Sales Steering - esome)

CTV goes performance: The big screen becomes more measurable

Many still treat connected TV (CTV) like traditional linear television, thereby wasting potential in their streaming advertising. This is not wrong per se, but some relevant levers are not being used properly. CTV advertising can move much closer to performance marketing than most setups currently allow. Those who set up CTV campaigns properly can demonstrate their impact, optimize them, and think through performance step by step. Not in terms of traditional clicks, but in terms of measurable reactions after the TV commercial.

Status quo: What can already be measured on CTV today?

CTV provides solid basic metrics such as reach, frequency, and view-through rates. These KPIs answer the questions of how many users were reached and how intensively the commercial was viewed on the big screen.
Performance begins when advertisers measure what happens after contact with CTV advertising. In practice, this mainly involves website visits, app openings, and conversions, which increase shortly after the commercial. Since many reactions do not occur on the TV screen, second-screen behavior becomes relevant. People watch the commercial on connected TV and later take action on their smartphone or laptop.
For advertisers with stores, the factor of store visits, i.e., the actual store frequency, is also relevant. This allows the contribution of CTV campaigns to brick-and-mortar demand to be tracked, especially in industries such as retail, automotive, gastronomy, or local offerings.
It is important to note that several KPIs are needed to holistically map the measurability of CTV. A good measurement logic combines campaign KPIs, user reactions, and, if possible, tests (on/off, split tests, etc.) to better understand the incremental effect of connected TV advertising.

How advertisers can turn CTV into a real performance channel

• Plan CTV like a learning channel. Don't start with a perfect master plan, but with clear hypotheses. Which target group, environment, time of day, and motif work best in the connected TV environment?
• Define success before you start. A primary KPI, for example, qualified visits or leads. Add a few downstream KPIs such as completion rate, frequency corridor, and search uplift. This makes CTV advertising controllable.
• Think second screen. Creativity must lead the way. Landing pages must be fast. And the message must be clear in a few seconds. Connected TV rewards clarity.
• Use fragmentation to your advantage. CTV offers many environments, target groups, and contexts. Curate and measure accurately. Then you'll quickly find the combinations that really drive performance effects.

Bonus tip: If possible, test CTV as a standalone campaign component without advertising on other channels at the same time. This allows you to clearly assign the performance of CTV campaigns and accurately evaluate the influence of other advertising measures.

What esome can do for you

We help you turn connected TV into a measurable and optimizable performance channel.

Setup and strategy: We translate your goal into a clear KPI model, define test logic, and ensure measurement and tracking for CTV campaigns are in place before the campaign launch. We ration your investments and collect results, which we compare transparently.

Impact measurement: To measure the impact of CTV advertising, we use specialized measurement approaches to make the performance effects of connected TV transparent. The focus is on analyzing user reactions immediately after the commercial via second-screen behavior. On this basis, motifs, environments, and time slots can be systematically compared and evaluated using real reaction data.

Optimization during the campaign: Our CTV optimization runs continuously throughout the campaign, not just afterward. We identify top performers, test variants, and allocate budgets specifically to the formats with the best results.

Translation into decisions: Ultimately, what counts is that your marketing team receives clear learnings. What really drove results, what was pure reach, and what will we do differently in the next CTV flight?

In short

CTV becomes performance-oriented when you plan it with performance in mind. With clear goals, clean measurement logic, and a setup that takes second screen, measurability, and outcomes seriously. If you already use connected TV or are just getting started, now is the right time to consider performance as an integral part of CTV advertising.
If you would like to learn more or discuss your ideas with us, please contact us at clientservice@esome.com.