CTV is rapidly growing in media portfolios (in fact, it’s projected as 2025’s fastest-growing channel).
B2C and D2C brands have already started drawing budget into CTV campaigns to leverage its combination of big-screen storytelling and precise digital targeting. But can it work for B2B? You’ll probably be able to guess what the CEO of a CTV partner will say, but there are a lot of layers to this answer.
My goal with this post is to help brands avoid what I see as the worst-case scenario (which I’m very familiar with having worked in the programmatic space for the better part of two decades): running a faulty test of CTV campaigns and giving up on it as a lost channel without understanding its true impact – then coming back to it well after all of your competitors are using it to their advantage.
With that in mind, here’s what you need to know before testing CTV in 2025:
The Right Expectations
No matter your vertical, a successful CTV strategy hinges on executive buy-in, which means setting the right expectations:
It’s not a bottom-funnel channel – While lower-funnel KPIs like conversions can be tracked, direct revenue impact is difficult to attribute.
It’s best for brand awareness – CTV shines in upper-funnel metrics like brand lift, audience reach, and website visits.
It boosts other channels – Expect improved performance in search and social as a secondary effect.
Without a clear alignment on what CTV can do for your business, you risk getting budget yanked before you can build up any statistically significant insights. I always recommend giving campaigns at least 90 days to accrue data. While costs are obviously variable, you’ll need to plan to budget no less than $25K to get enough insights for clear next steps.
The Holy Grail: Incrementality
Given macroeconomic pressures and the continuous rise of competitive costs, 2025 may be the year of marketing incrementality.
To understand the true value of CTV campaigns, you need to measure beyond view-through conversions and assess brand lift and impact on other channels in your media mix. The best approach? Geo-lift tests, comparing two similar markets with and without CTV. Meta’s GeoLift tool is a great (free) option, but it requires programming expertise.
Resources You’ll Need
Time & Budget – As mentioned above, a 90-day test is essential. Expect to spend at least $25K for geo-specific insights, and make sure your management is aligned from the outset on the KPIs you’ll be measuring.
Expertise – You don’t need a dedicated CTV team, but curiosity and technical fluency are crucial. You cannot expect CTV to behave like any other, more established digital channels, which means simply tacking it on to the rest of your media mix with the same hands at the wheel is a recipe for ambiguity.
Creative – CTV demands a steady flow of video content. Repurpose existing assets but invest in storytelling that leverages humor or emotional appeal over high-budget production. Even in B2B, users are showing an affinity for more authentic, relatable content, so balance your corporate branding with creative that forms connections.
Choosing the Right CTV Partner
While YouTube TV offers a straightforward entry point, optimizing CTV without prior experience is tricky. Consider partners like MNTN, Tatari, Vibe.co, tvScientific, or (obviously) SpotlightIQ, which all offer different pricing models, value propositions, and levels of hand-holding in optimizing campaigns.
One option, of course, is to bring on an agency with experience running CTV campaigns. If you go this route, make extra-sure that the agency is giving you pass-through costs and not levying a platform surcharge on top of any media management fees, and ask questions to assess the agency’s level of fluency with CTV as a channel. Without dedicated experts and/or a history of accurately measuring CTV’s impact on other channels, an agency won’t add much value to what an in-house resource could provide.
No matter who your management resource is, remember: transparency in pricing is key. It’s vital to have someone who can ask the right questions of your chosen CTV platform to ensure your budget is being optimally used across placements and audiences.
Targeting B2B Audiences
Historically a challenge, B2B CTV targeting is improving thanks to:
Google’s IP-based targeting, linking business and home device IDs.
LinkedIn’s recent CTV integration, allowing professional data-driven targeting.
ABM-based CTV, which, though costly, enables programmatic targeting of key accounts.
I don’t recommend testing all of these options at once; one of the benefits of a quality CTV partner or agency is helping brands prioritize which B2B targeting option is best for them.
Is It Time to Invest in CTV?
Before diving in, assess whether you’ve maximized demand capture via search and social. If those channels are maxed out (which you’ll see with stubbornly high CPAs, an inability to scale, and/or flat or decreasing marginal return), start preparing: develop an incrementality strategy, strengthen your creative pipeline, and refine GA4 measurement.
The CTV landscape is evolving, and even as more streaming options are introduced to expand available inventory, you can expect competitive costs to increase over time. Getting a jump on the channel’s ins and outs now will position your brand for future success.