Common Pitfalls in CTV Advertising (And How to Avoid Them)

The Connected TV advertising revolution isn't coming—it's here and accelerating rapidly. As cord-cutting reaches a tipping point and viewers abandon traditional linear TV for streaming platforms, Connected TV (CTV) advertising has emerged as the fastest-growing segment in digital marketing, combining television's visual storytelling power with digital advertising's precision targeting.

The opportunity is massive and time-sensitive. According to the Interactive Advertising Bureau's (IAB) "2025 Digital Video Ad Spend & Strategy Report," CTV advertising spending reached $23.6 billion in 2024—a 16% year-over-year increase—and is projected to grow to $26.6 billion in 2025. Digital video advertising is expected to capture nearly 60% of all TV/video ad spend in 2025, representing a fundamental shift in how brands reach audiences. Unlike traditional TV advertising that relies on broad demographic assumptions, CTV offers the targeting capabilities and measurability that modern marketers demand. But like any rapidly evolving advertising platform, the path to CTV success is littered with expensive mistakes.

Here's the reality: Most CTV campaigns underperform not because the platform doesn't work, but because marketers fall into predictable traps.

If you're considering CTV advertising or looking to improve existing campaigns, avoiding these common pitfalls can make the difference between breakthrough results and budget drain. Let's dive into the most frequent CTV mistakes and the proven strategies to avoid them.

The Cheap Inventory Trap

The Mistake: Chasing the lowest-cost ad slots to maximize budget efficiency.

In the fast-paced world of CTV, cost efficiency feels urgent—especially when managing tight budgets. The allure of cheaper ad inventory is strong, particularly when spreadsheets show you can buy twice as many impressions for the same cost.

But here's what cheap inventory often means: poor placement timing, low-engagement content, or audiences that don't match your ideal customer profile. As media strategist Alison Monk notes, "TV is not about a moment of education over a moment in time." One-off exposure to the wrong audience is worthless, regardless of cost.

The Solution: Think quality, relevance, and frequency over volume. Premium inventory gets your message in front of the right audience at optimal viewing moments, creating the repeated exposure necessary to influence purchase decisions. Better to reach 1,000 highly qualified viewers three times than 3,000 unqualified viewers once.

The Household Targeting Limitation

The Mistake: Assuming household-level targeting equals precision targeting.

CTV's household targeting capability is a major selling point, but it's also a potential blind spot. In multi-person households, you might target someone completely unrelated to your product simply because the algorithm has broad household data suggesting someone in that home fits your demographic.

Think about it: a household might include a 25-year-old graduate student, their 55-year-old parents, and a visiting 16-year-old sibling. Household targeting could serve your B2B software ad to any of them based on aggregate data.

The Solution: Layer household targeting with behavioral and interest-based data. Study actual viewing patterns and content preferences across streaming services. The most effective CTV campaigns combine household data with individual viewing behaviors, content affinity, and demonstrated interests to create more precise audience segments.

The Single-Channel Obsession

The Mistake: Treating CTV as a standalone solution instead of part of an integrated strategy.

CTV feels like the future—and it is. But it's one piece of a fragmented media landscape, not a complete replacement for other channels. Audiences consume content across linear TV, social media, digital video, and streaming platforms. Focusing exclusively on CTV means missing touchpoints where your audience actually spends time.

Research from VDX.TV demonstrates the power of cross-platform strategies: a direct-to-consumer mattress retailer found that combining CTV with desktop and mobile ads created powerful synergy, boosting unaided ad recall to 47.2% for the combined approach, compared to 34.7% for CTV alone.

The Solution: Design integrated campaigns that combine CTV with complementary channels. Use linear TV for broad awareness, CTV for targeted messaging, and digital video for retargeting. This multichannel approach maximizes reach and creates multiple conversion opportunities throughout the customer journey.

The Creative Afterthought Problem

The Mistake: Assuming any video content will work for CTV.

Too many marketers approach CTV with a "set it and forget it" mentality—grab an existing video asset, ensure it meets technical specifications, and launch. But CTV viewers have different expectations and viewing contexts than traditional TV or digital video audiences.

CTV content is often watched on larger screens in living room settings with higher attention levels. Your creative needs to match that premium environment and viewing experience.

The Solution: Develop CTV-specific creative that considers the viewing environment and audience mindset. Focus on strong storytelling, premium production value, and pacing appropriate for engaged viewing. Test different creative versions to identify what resonates with your CTV audience specifically.

The Data Blindness Issue

The Mistake: Launching CTV campaigns without proper measurement frameworks.

Many brands dive into CTV without establishing clear success metrics or tracking mechanisms. They run campaigns for weeks or months, then struggle to determine what worked, what didn't, and how to optimize performance.

Unlike traditional TV, CTV offers digital-level measurement capabilities. According to Comscore's "State of Programmatic 2025" report, CTV boasts 89% of impressions with known IDs, making it a strong contender for performance-oriented campaigns. Ignoring this advantage wastes both money and optimization opportunities.

The Solution: Establish comprehensive measurement from day one. Track everything from completion rates and frequency to brand lift and conversion attribution. Use these insights to optimize campaigns in real-time—adjusting targeting, creative, or budget allocation based on performance data.

The Budget Planning Oversight

The Mistake: Treating CTV as a one-time media buy rather than an ongoing optimization process.

CTV success requires more than just purchasing ad inventory. Effective campaigns need ongoing creative refinement, audience optimization, measurement analysis, and strategic adjustments based on performance learnings.

The Solution: Budget for the complete CTV process, not just media spend. Allocate resources for creative development, measurement tools, optimization activities, and performance analysis. Plan for iterative improvements rather than expecting perfect performance from launch.

The Customer Lifecycle Neglect

The Mistake: Using CTV only for customer acquisition while ignoring retention and expansion opportunities.

CTV's targeting capabilities make it powerful for nurturing existing customers, not just acquiring new ones. If your CTV strategy focuses solely on top-of-funnel activities, you're leaving money on the table.

The Solution: Develop CTV campaigns for the entire customer lifecycle. Create acquisition campaigns for new prospects, engagement campaigns for existing customers, and upsell campaigns for expansion opportunities. Use customer data to deliver personalized messages that move people through your sales funnel.

The Post-Campaign Engagement Gap

The Mistake: Ending engagement when the CTV ad stops running.

CTV campaigns create awareness and interest, but the conversation shouldn't end when the ad flight concludes. Many brands miss opportunities to continue engaging viewers who showed interest during the campaign.

The Solution: Plan post-campaign engagement strategies before launch. Use retargeting campaigns, email marketing, and social media to maintain momentum with engaged viewers. CTV should be the beginning of the conversation, not the entire conversation.

The Product-Will-Sell-Itself Assumption

The Mistake: Believing great products don't need great marketing.

Even the most innovative products require effective marketing to reach potential customers. CTV gives you the platform to showcase your product's value, but you still need compelling messaging that resonates with your target audience.

The Solution: Use CTV to tell your product's story, demonstrate its value, and create emotional connections with viewers. Focus on benefits and outcomes rather than just features. Show how your product solves real problems or improves customers' lives.

Building Your CTV Success Framework

Avoiding these pitfalls requires a strategic approach to CTV advertising:

Before You Launch:

• Define clear success metrics and measurement frameworks
• Develop CTV-specific creative assets
• Plan integrated campaigns across multiple channels
• Establish realistic budgets for the complete process

During Campaign Execution:

• Monitor performance data daily
• Test different creative and targeting approaches
• Optimize based on real-time learnings
• Maintain consistent cross-channel messaging

After Campaign Completion:

• Analyze comprehensive performance data
• Plan post-campaign engagement activities
• Document learnings for future campaigns
• Develop long-term customer relationship strategies

The Market Reality: Growth Continues Despite Challenges

The CTV advertising market shows no signs of slowing down. MNTN Research projects that CTV ad spend will reach $33.35 billion in 2025 and grow to $46.89 billion by 2028—surpassing traditional TV advertising for the first time. eMarketer forecasts that combined US TV and CTV ad spend will reach nearly $100 billion by 2027, with CTV accounting for all of the growth.

This growth is driven by several factors identified in recent industry research:

• Programmatic accessibility: According to IAB data, the expansion of self-serve and programmatic ad tools has made CTV accessible to small and mid-size businesses, not just large enterprise brands
• Sports and live events: The resurgence of live programming on streaming platforms continues to fuel CTV growth
• Cross-channel budget reallocation: Most CTV dollars are coming from reallocations—primarily from linear TV (36%), social media (36%), and other digital channels

Conclusion: CTV Success Requires Strategy, Not Just Spending

Connected TV advertising offers unprecedented opportunities to combine television's storytelling power with digital marketing's precision and measurability. But success requires more than just buying ad inventory and hoping for results.

The brands winning with CTV treat it as part of a comprehensive marketing strategy, not a standalone solution. They invest in quality creative, implement robust measurement, and optimize continuously based on data insights.

Remember: In CTV advertising, strategic thinking beats big spending every time.

The platform's capabilities are powerful, but they're only as effective as the strategy behind them. Avoid these common pitfalls, focus on integrated campaigns, and use data to drive decisions. That's how you turn CTV advertising from an experimental budget line item into a growth driver for your business.

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Ready to build a CTV advertising strategy that avoids these pitfalls and drives real results?
Schedule a consultation with our team to explore how we can help you navigate the CTV landscape and create campaigns that combine reach, precision, and measurable business impact.

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Sources and Further Reading

• Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB). "2025 Digital Video Ad Spend & Strategy Report: Part One." April 2025.
• eMarketer. "US TV and Connected TV Ad Spending Forecasts H1 2025." May 2025.
• MNTN Research. "CTV Ad Spend Will Grow to $46.89 Billion by 2028." 2025.
• Comscore. "State of Programmatic 2025 Survey." 2025.
• VDX.TV. "Cross-Platform Video Advertising Research Study." 2024.