CTV Strategy: 2026 Wins with Sarah Jenkins

Connected TV (CTV) advertising has become an undeniable force in the digital marketing ecosystem, offering unparalleled reach and engagement potential. But how do you truly maximize your return on investment in this dynamic space? I recently sat down with Sarah Jenkins, a veteran CTV strategy consultant with over a decade in the ad tech trenches, to dissect the intricacies of building a winning CTV strategy. Her insights into precision targeting and attribution are nothing short of revelatory, promising to transform how brands approach their video campaigns.

1. Define Your Audience with Granular Precision

The first step, and honestly, the most critical, is understanding exactly who you’re trying to reach. “Vague audience definitions are the death knell of any CTV campaign,” Sarah declared. “You can’t just say ‘people who watch TV.’ That’s not a strategy; that’s a wish.” We need to go much deeper.

Start with your first-party data. This includes your CRM lists, website visitor data, and app user segments. Upload these securely to your chosen Demand-Side Platform (DSP), like The Trade Desk or Magnite. Most DSPs have robust data onboarding tools. For instance, in The Trade Desk’s platform, you’d navigate to “Audiences” then “Data Management Platform” to upload hashed email lists or device IDs. This allows you to target existing customers for retention campaigns or create lookalike audiences based on your most valuable users.

Next, layer in third-party data segments. These can be demographic, psychographic, or behavioral. Are you targeting affluent homeowners in suburban Atlanta? Or perhaps individuals interested in eco-friendly products who frequently stream documentaries? Platforms like Experian Marketing Services or Neustar offer extensive data sets that integrate directly with major DSPs. I had a client last year, a luxury car brand, who initially targeted broad “high-income” segments. We refined it to “individuals owning competing luxury vehicles, aged 35-55, with a demonstrated interest in automotive technology,” using a combination of their CRM data and Experian’s automotive enthusiast segments. The engagement rates skyrocketed by 40%.

Pro Tip: Don’t just rely on pre-built segments. Work with your DSP account representative to create custom segments tailored to your specific brand and campaign goals. These bespoke segments often outperform generic ones.

Common Mistakes: Over-segmenting to the point of audience dilution (too small to scale) or under-segmenting, leading to wasted impressions on irrelevant viewers.

2. Select the Right Inventory and Ad Formats

Once your audience is locked in, it’s time to think about where your ads will appear. CTV advertising offers a vast landscape of inventory, from major streaming services to niche apps. “Not all impressions are created equal,” Sarah emphasized. “You need to be strategic about where your ad lands and what kind of content it’s alongside.”

We typically break this down into three categories: premium publishers, programmatic guaranteed deals, and open exchange inventory. Premium publishers include well-known streaming services like Hulu, Peacock, or Max. These offer high-quality content and often higher viewability, but come at a premium price. You can access these through direct deals or through private marketplaces (PMPs) on your DSP.

Programmatic guaranteed deals are a personal favorite of mine. This is where you pre-negotiate a fixed price and impression volume with a publisher, but the buying and selling still happen programmatically. This guarantees your access to prime inventory at a predictable cost. For a recent campaign for a regional health system in Georgia targeting individuals near the Emory University Hospital Midtown campus, we secured programmatic guaranteed deals with local news apps and health-focused streaming channels. This ensured their message reached the right audience within a relevant context, leading to a significant uplift in appointment bookings.

Open exchange inventory, while generally cheaper, can be a mixed bag. You’ll find a wider range of content, some excellent, some less so. This is where vigilant brand safety controls become paramount. Most DSPs offer robust brand safety filters from vendors like Integral Ad Science (IAS) or DoubleVerify. Make sure these are activated to prevent your ads from appearing next to inappropriate content. In The Trade Desk, for example, you can set “Brand Safety & Suitability” preferences at the campaign level, selecting various content categories to exclude.

Regarding ad formats, the standard is a 15 or 30-second video spot. Vertical video is gaining traction, especially for mobile-first CTV consumption, but traditional horizontal still dominates. Interactive CTV ads, where viewers can click or scan a QR code, are also emerging. While they offer exciting possibilities, ensure your creative team is equipped to produce them and that your measurement strategy can track interactions accurately.

3. Implement Robust Measurement and Attribution Models

This is where many marketers falter. They run a CTV campaign, see some impressions, and then struggle to connect it to actual business outcomes. “If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it,” Sarah stated emphatically. “Attribution in CTV is complex, but it’s not impossible.”

The biggest challenge is that CTV is often a top-of-funnel driver. People see an ad on their smart TV, then later search on their phone or desktop. This makes last-click attribution completely inadequate. We need to think about incrementality.

My preferred approach is to run geo-lift studies. This involves selecting geographically distinct test markets where your CTV campaign will run, and comparing their performance against control markets where it won’t. Ensure your test and control markets are demographically similar. For a national retail chain, we might select Atlanta and Charlotte as test markets, and Nashville and Raleigh as controls. We then track key metrics like website visits, store traffic (if applicable), and online sales in all markets. The difference in performance between test and control gives you a clear indication of CTV’s incremental impact. This isn’t theoretical; it’s how we’ve proven CTV’s value time and again.

Another powerful method is using holdout groups. Within your target audience, a small percentage (e.g., 5-10%) is intentionally excluded from seeing your CTV ads. You then compare the behavior of the exposed group versus the holdout group. This requires a sophisticated DSP and careful planning, but it provides a direct measure of causality.

Furthermore, integrate your CTV data with your broader marketing analytics platform. Use a Nielsen Media Impact or a mParticle customer data platform to unify your data. This allows you to see the full customer journey, understanding how CTV impressions contribute to later conversions on other channels. It’s not about CTV acting alone; it’s about its role in the orchestra.

Pro Tip: Don’t chase vanity metrics. Focus on business-centric KPIs: incremental sales, qualified leads, store visits, or app downloads. Impressions and video completion rates are important, but they aren’t the whole story.

4. Optimize Creatives for the CTV Environment

Your creative is arguably 50% of your campaign’s success. Even the best targeting and placement won’t save a bad ad. “Too many brands just repurpose their linear TV spots or, worse, their social media videos,” Sarah lamented. “CTV is a unique beast, and your creative needs to respect that.”

Here’s the deal: CTV is often consumed in a lean-back, immersive environment. Viewers are engaged with the content. Your ad needs to fit that experience, not disrupt it jarringly. Think high-quality production, clear messaging, and a strong call to action (CTA). Since direct clicks are less common, your CTA might be a memorable brand name, a specific website to visit, or a QR code. For a recent campaign promoting a new streaming service, we experimented with dynamic QR codes that linked directly to a free trial sign-up page. We saw a 1.5% scan rate, which was phenomenal for a non-skippable ad.

Consider the “sound-on” nature of CTV. Unlike social media, where many videos are consumed silently, CTV ads are almost always heard. Invest in professional voice-overs and compelling sound design. Your ad should be able to convey its message effectively even if the visuals are momentarily ignored.

Also, embrace storytelling. People are watching long-form content; your ad has an opportunity to tell a mini-story that resonates. We advised a home improvement client to create a series of 15-second ads, each focusing on a different homeowner problem and how their product solved it, rather than one generic 30-second spot. This sequential storytelling approach significantly boosted brand recall.

Common Mistakes: Using low-resolution videos, having a weak or non-existent call to action, or failing to optimize for sound-on viewing.

5. Continuously Test and Iterate

The CTV landscape is constantly evolving. What worked last quarter might not be as effective this quarter. “Stagnation is the enemy of progress in ad tech,” Sarah observed. “You have to be in a constant state of learning and adaptation.”

Set up A/B tests for every element of your campaign. Test different ad creatives, varying your messaging, visuals, and CTAs. Test different audience segments to see which performs best. Test different inventory sources. Are you getting better results from news apps or entertainment platforms? Are PMPs outperforming open exchange buys for your specific goals?

Most DSPs have built-in A/B testing functionalities. In Google Ads (for YouTube CTV inventory), you can set up “Experiment” campaigns to compare different ad groups or strategies. Analyze the data regularly, not just at the end of the campaign. Look for trends. What’s driving conversions? What’s falling flat? Don’t be afraid to kill underperforming elements quickly.

We ran into this exact issue at my previous firm with a financial services client. Their initial CTV campaign was performing okay, but not great. We hypothesized that their formal, corporate-style creatives weren’t resonating with the younger streaming audience they were trying to reach. We launched an A/B test with more casual, relatable creatives featuring real people talking about their financial goals. The new creatives drove a 25% increase in lead generation within three weeks. It was a clear win and proved the importance of ongoing iteration.

Remember, the goal is not just to run a campaign, but to run a campaign that gets progressively better. This iterative approach, fueled by data and a willingness to experiment, is what separates truly successful CTV advertisers from those just throwing money at the screen.

The future of advertising is undeniably connected, and mastering CTV strategy is no longer optional. By meticulously defining your audience, strategically selecting inventory, implementing robust attribution, optimizing your creatives, and embracing continuous testing, you can unlock unparalleled reach and drive tangible business growth. It’s a complex puzzle, but with the right approach, the pieces fit perfectly.