Connected TV (CTV) blends the premium environment of traditional TV with the precision of digital advertising. It offers an enticing promise: enabling brands to activate their hard-earned first-party data and access vast addressable audiences held by media owners.

Brands are empowered to engage high-value audiences, unlock new insights, and accurately measure campaign performance, and media owners are empowered to monetize their audiences. But is this potential being fully realized? Delivering on this promise requires more than ambition — it demands a shift in approach.

The practicalities of making CTV work for everyone are very different from what the industry is used to. For media owners specifically, seizing CTV’s full potential means rethinking traditional methods and embracing collaboration to drive success for both sides.

The current state of play

Most traditional advertisers and media owners see CTV as a way to reach viewers who have decamped to streaming rather than as its own unique medium with premium targeting capabilities. No wonder there’s currently so much pressure on CPMs.

The distribution ecosystem isn’t helping, either. AVOD and FAST TV are driving growth in the U.S. streaming market now. But when we watch a show or live sports on a FAST TV provider (like Samsung TV Plus, Roku, or Pluto TV) or vMVPD (like YouTube TV or Hulu with Live TV), only 15% of the ads are truly streaming ads, according to Simulmedia. The rest comes straight from the linear feed.

And a good portion of the industry continues to insist that CTV platforms should act and feel like the TV of old. That’s perfectly understandable. Viewers are more likely to embrace it if they’re familiar with it. And TV advertisers are more likely to invest in it if they don’t have to change how they buy advertising and can measure it the same way. “TV isn’t going anywhere,” says Nielsen, “it’s going everywhere.” How can media companies keep pace? Let’s dive in. 

Taking the first step

What is the crux of the problem? Not all media companies are able to quantify and articulate the unique value of their audience. In addition, some aren’t even all that familiar with selling audiences — and if they are, they’re not yet entirely comfortable with it. 

They’re used to selling programs or dayparts. But programs and dayparts are just surrogates for the real thing. While certain programs may naturally align with particular audience segments more than others, consider the waste. Even when a show indexes well for a target group, many viewers often fall outside that group—and, at the same time, large portions of the desired audience may never tune in. Contrast that with a digital campaign where the whole priority is to reach people, not content, in hopes of reaching people.

So, the first step has to be for media owners, big and small, to recognize the value of their audiences. Find out who exactly is watching content on their platforms and why they might be a great match for certain types of advertisers. Then work with those advertisers to help them finetune their media plans and activate their target audiences as efficiently as possible.

It’s a two-way street

Advertisers want to work with partners that allow them to leverage their first-party customer data and can help them manage complex marketing activities — like analyzing viewership and shopping patterns, running match tests, identifying promising audiences, and building winning campaigns. They want partners with a vested interest in their success.

To meet those expectations, media owners need to stand up modern ad tech capabilities (like audience profiling, campaign planning, and activation, or measurement) and embrace a data collaboration culture where the end game is to create value for their clients. They need to be proactive much earlier in the process: understand their advertisers’ needs, help them define their targets, and provide an environment where they can measure and optimize their campaigns — not just expect them to purchase cookie-cutter audiences through a DSP. 

Furthermore, media owners should be able to get to a point where they can easily prove the value of their inventory and audience instead of waiting for advertisers to determine whether they’re a good fit.

The real opportunity lies in value-based collaboration

What I’m talking about here is value-based collaboration. It’s about creating a more meaningful relationship between all parties — advertiser, agency, and media owner. A close symbiotic relationship between these different parties means each participant can clearly see the benefit of participating in a collaboration. 

For example, as a media owner, once you have your offering stood up, the next step is the ability to showcase to advertisers and agencies the opportunity a collaboration unlocks. What insights should they seek? Why are these valuable? What if they don’t have the resources? Who’s doing what? What’s the timeline? 

If you’re not already here or you’re not aiming for this level of relationship, the reality is that you’ll be lapped by those who are. If you’re resistant to moving forward, you’ll be left behind, as value-based collaboration is what separates the pack. It’s the new way of working and where success lies. 

Getting ahead with InfoSum

After several years in the space, I know one thing for certain: there’s a big difference between saying you’re ready and being ready. The process may seem daunting, but I can assure you a good technology partner, like InfoSum, can make this seamless. We’re here to provide you with all the tools to make the most of CTV’s potential, and we’ll guide you through the entire process. With InfoSum at your side, you’ll be winning — and repeating and scaling your successes — in no time.

Top advertisers are already using our platform to find their customers on leading CTV providers like Netflix, DirecTV, and Samsung Ads, and those providers can start to monetize their audiences for what they’re truly worth. Furthermore, advertisers can enrich their own customer data through reliable third-party data companies like Circana, Experian, or NCSolutions. 

Together, advertisers and media providers can quickly build relevant audience segments, find lookalikes, and test campaigns on the fly without risking data exposure, leakage, or misuse. All at the push of a button and within hours of signing up for the service.

Let’s get to work.