If you’ve been following the latest industry conversations, you already know that CTV advertising isn’t just a pilot episode, but a season marathon with an award-winning ad opportunity.
The first TV commercial was a 10-second ad for Bulova watches that aired on WNBT in New York City, on July 1, 1941. It was shown before a baseball game between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Philadelphia Phillies. The ad featured a static graphic of a watch hand and a live voiceover that said “America runs on Bulova Time.” It cost Bulova $9 to air the ad. This moment in time marked the beginning of a new era in marketing and the multi-billion dollar TV advertising market.
Fast forward to 2025 and beyond, brands can reach internet-connected households with relevant targeted ads, serving the right ad to the right household in nano-seconds through Connected TV (CTV). The numbers are substantial. According to Emarketer, CTV ad spend is projected to hit USD $33.35 billion in 2025; by 2028 it will be at $46.89 billion. Advertisers are tuning in to this massive opportunity and tapping into this thriving channel.
But like all kinds of advertising, not all CTV ads can deliver results. With more brands flooding the space, standing out requires more than fulfilling a CTV bid request. Sure, you can target widely across a country, but if your campaigns don’t provide ROI, you’ll need to change the channel on your approach.
In the first part of this series, we discussed the importance of CTV advertising. In the second part, we reviewed the varied CTV ad formats you can choose from and how they best serve particular verticals. This is the third installment, and here we’ll be breaking down the process of making CTV ads that are built for balance, and designed to perform.
Your brand needs to fit right alongside keepsakes on the living room mantelpiece, and will have people humming your jingle all the way to the kitchen. Successful CTV ads need to grab attention, encourage action, and leave a lasting impression. In this CTV advertising guide, we’ll break down how to create them from start to finish.
Making CTV Ads Captivate and Convert
CTV ads can elicit different responses from viewers. Some get skipped (when possible), others are allowed to play out but remain ignored, and then there are those rare, high-performing CTV ads—the ones that intrigue viewers instantly, hold their attention, become memorable, and encourage them to search for your brand and discover more. The Video Advertising Bureau (VAB) found that CTV advertising generated a 20% lift in brand awareness, followed by a 15% lift in consideration, and a 10% increase in intent to purchase.
Want your ads to be in this category? Here’s what it takes for your CTV ads to turn heads and get conversions:
1. Compelling Storytelling
Years ago, the internet was ablaze with a story that humans’ average attention span was less than that of a goldfish. That has been debunked, and if you are part of the 73% of Netflix viewers who have ever binged a series, then you would know that if you’re enthralled in a story, you’ll keep watching. Luckily for advertisers, you don’t need five hours of material, you can make your precious seconds count.
You might think storytelling takes ages, but the most successful ads start with a fast hook that packs a punch. No matter how amazing your CTV ad is, it still interrupts viewers’ desire to be entertained, seek information, or sink into a relaxing space. Strong hooks pull people in immediately and make your audience invested. Great ads push them to disregard the disruptions of their favorite show.
To raise the stakes, emphasize a conflict or problem that your audience can relate to. Television has long been an emotive medium, and CTV ads should take advantage of this as well. Not all brands will want to spend their marketing spend on celebrity cameos, is a spoof an answer? Creative, out-of-the-box, and resolution based ads should be your North Star.
Pro tip: Stick to one clear message per ad. Cluttered narratives either confuse or overwhelm viewers, so they lose engagement fast. Instead, highlight the main benefit of your offer and make it crystal clear why it matters.
2. Eye-Catching Visuals, Sound, and Motion
The great thing about CTV ads is that you’re not showing them on over-saturated platforms where people can simply scroll by in-feed ads, and not even notice an advertisement unless it jumps at them. Your ad isn’t competing with social media posts or reels—your ad takes pride of place in the room, on the big screen with high resolution. If the ad is impactful enough, the user might remember as they walk around the house and associate the offering with their quotidian needs.
Bring your storytelling efforts to life in high-definition. A good story with dull or unappealing images won’t make a difference. Think of a novel storyline that provides cut through and memory; you might even use humor! Images that leave an impression, dynamic motion graphics, unique and catchy sounds, and vibrant colors, can all capture and keep attention.
Pro tip: As the common advice goes: show, don’t just tell. CTV’s immersive format allows for visually driven storytelling, so use it to showcase your offer in action.
3. Clear and Concise Messaging
Runtime is limited for a CTV ad, so keep it short, sharp, and straightforward. As reiterated by AppsFlyer, 30-second CTV ads perform 24% better for conversions than other lengths.
To maximize this half-minute duration despite constraints, open with your strongest message and prioritize the most important details first. If you wait too long, you also risk losing the viewer’s interest. You want to get your point across before they can skip the ad or click on the exit icon.
Pro tip: The best CTV ads are easy to understand at a glance. Write your script in simple, engaging language, and focus on your core value proposition.
4. Strong Call-to-Action (CTA)
You’re running an ad for a purpose. Every CTV ad you make should guide your audience toward the next step. Whether it’s visiting a website, scanning a QR code, or making a purchase, your CTA should be visible, clear, and persuasive. Reinforce it both visually and with a voice-over so viewers know what to do. Since users might not have time to scan a QR code in time, make sure the audio in the ad mentions the name of your app or brand so it’s easily searchable.
Pro tip: Place your brand logo where it can always be seen, so even if viewers don’t take action right away, they’ll still remember your company and may even look you up when they need what you offer. If your logo is an icon without letters, find a way to pronounce your brand’s name, thus facilitating search queries later on. Or if it’s a wonky spelling, make that characteristic part of the script, e.g. Moovies, an app for showtimes, tickets and in-theater extras, “Entire cinema experiences without additional fees. Saves you moolah.”
5. Accurate and Innovative Personalization
A CTV ad can be amazing in all aspects, but if it’s only showing up on the screens of indifferent viewers or if your theme doesn’t hit the mark for your market, your ad won’t get the engagement it deserves.
Get to know your prospects and customers before you even begin crafting your eye-catching CTV ad. This allows you to align your story, visuals, messaging, and call-to-action with the preferences of the people who are interested in your products or services.
Pro tip: Leverage demographic and behavioral targeting to deliver your ad to the right audience and tap into personalization. Look to integrate emerging tech into the ad experience; for example, 62% of CTV users would use their voice to add products to their shopping cart.
Step-by-Step CTV Ad Creation: The Complete Process
Creating effective CTV ads is a strategic process that blends storytelling, data, and design to keep viewers entertained and push them along the user journey. Here’s your step-by-step CTV ad creation blueprint to craft ads that people won’t skip even if they could:
Step 1: Define Your Objective
Before getting into production or thinking about visuals or scripting, clarify what you want your ad to achieve. Are you building brand awareness? Driving lead generation? Pushing for a direct response? Your intention will guide the rest of the process, so you must nail it down early–although don’t let that stop you from experimenting and pivoting to best serve the feedback you receive.
- Brand Awareness: Introduce your brand to new viewers/users with a strong visual identity and a memorable message.
- Lead Generation: Gather people who are already interested in your offer or business and collect their information through a QR code or a landing page.
- Direct Response: Urge immediate action whether it’s a purchase, sign-up, or download.
When you’ve made up your mind on what you want your CTV ads to accomplish, set measurable goals like CTR (click-through rate), view-through rate (VTR), or conversions to track success and fine-tune your campaign.
Step 2: Identify Your Target Audience
You know what you want from the ad, now who do you want to watch it? It’s easy to say “everyone”, but being intentional about this step will provide more realistic expectations and results, as well as lead your targeting strategy.
CTV advertising’s biggest strength is its ability to target specific viewers. Your ad must speak to them so they’ll consider taking you up on your offer. The more precise your targeting, the more effective your ad will become.
Define your ideal viewers by looking at:
- Demographics (age, gender, location)
- Interests (content preferences, shopping inclinations)
- Behaviors (past actions and purchases, website visits, streaming habits)
Aside from the common demographic settings, you also have the option to use behavioral targeting. You can reach users based on previous interactions; narrow down your audience to those who are likely to interact with your CTV ad.
Step 3: Optimize for CTV Ad Format and Length
When creating a CTV ad, your purpose dictates which format and length you should go for. Your ads can run for a few seconds or last a full minute. They can interrupt a TV show or float in a corner, waiting to be clicked. You have the final say, but you must also consider which would work well for the outcome you’re expecting and the budget you’re planning.
CTV ads are typically short, choose from these lengths:
- 15 seconds – Great for brand awareness and quick impressions
- 30 seconds – The sweet spot for driving conversions
- 60 seconds – Best for storytelling-driven campaigns
For the formats, your options:
- In-stream ads – These suddenly crop up before, during, or after the content that the viewer is watching.
- Pause ads – They appear on-screen when a viewer pauses the content.
- Interactive ads – They have features that allow viewers to engage with them.
- Overlay ads – These can be found at the sides of the screen while the content is playing.
If you want to learn more about CTV ad formats and see which would suit your offer, our previous article covered them in detail.
Bear in mind that the length and format will likely affect the complexity and cost of production, as well as the ad spend.
Step 4: Craft a Persuasive Script and Concept
Here’s the hard truth for CTV advertisers: No one wants to watch ads. What they are receptive to is entertainment, and in some cases, distraction. Your CTV ad must be entertaining or catchy in some way, shape, or form. A CTV ad may be short, but it doesn’t have to be boring.
Come up with an irresistible hook that reins people in and then write a fascinating script that goes with it. Your concept must appeal to your viewers’ emotions, so plan something surprising, thrilling, funny, nostalgic, touching, or different. According to a survey done on UK advertising-based video on demand (AVOD) viewers, 74% would prefer to watch ads that are relevant to the content they are watching. Can you match your brand to popular streaming content storylines?
Whatever you decide on, CTV ads should linger in the minds of viewers.
Step 5: Design Visually Engaging Content
The first few seconds determine whether your ad gets watched or ignored, this is the time to make them count. The moment your CTV ad plays, make it striking enough to keep viewers’ eyes glued to the screen and telling others about it.
We’ve established that CTV advertising thrives on bold, high-quality visuals. Here’s how you can create them:
1. If you need real footage, you can capture it yourself with quality equipment or hire a skilled videographer, models, and actors to shoot specific scenes. If you don’t have the resources, you can select high-definition graphics from stock websites like Pexels, Pixabay, and Freepik. Or AI may be the route you choose, with Midjourney, DALL-E 2 from OpenAI, or Leonardo AI.
2. Once you have the media files you need, you must polish and stitch them together using apps such as Adobe Premier Pro, Adobe Express, CapCut, Filmora, Clipchamp, and Canva. The software you choose would depend on the complexity of the edits you want to make and the features that make those edits possible.
3. When processing your video, use smooth transitions and clean typography for clarity. The text must be visible over the media, and there should be no glitches or artifacts that distort the scenes.
4. Insert a compelling narration for your ad. You can use your own voice, have voice actors read your script, or let an AI generator like ElevenLabs do it for you. The audio must be crisp and clear, so viewers can still listen to your ad even if they’re occupied with something else.
5. Place some background music in your media to evoke the emotions you want from your audience. Somber music can be used for serious scenes while upbeat sounds are best for lively ads; always without overpowering your narration. You can get such soundtracks from sites such as Bensound and Epidemic Sound.
6. If you want interactive elements, you can hire a developer to include those features in your ad or use software that can automatically add polls, quizzes, and clickable components.
Tip: RevX offers an in-house service for creating Playable ads that could give you a boost in this process.
Step 6: Test, Measure, and Refine
You can’t just set and forget your CTV ads. You’ll only know if they’re effective when you’re constantly tracking their performance. Even the best ones need adjusting once in a while. Almost all partners when working with a DSP like RevX have a Mobile Measurement Partner (MMP) in place to properly track attribution.
Here are the key metrics you must keep an eye on:
- View-through rate (VTR) – Measures percentage of viewers who watch your ad until the end
- Engagement rate – Counts interactions like QR code scans or website visits
- Conversion rate – Ties ad exposure to sales, sign-ups, or other actions
You can also use A/B testing to experiment with different hooks, CTAs, visual styles, lengths, and formats. Only keep the versions that are performing well or tweak your existing ads to become even better based on your audience’s reactions. A/B goes beyond two-choice variations, many app marketers are instilling AI into their processes to create and optimize most efficiently. The more you test, and the more you analyze the data, the better your results.
In Summary
We’ve reviewed that creative excellence is the backbone of Connected TV ad campaign success. Unlike traditional TV ads, CTV offers new ways to reach large audiences, as well at the household level. With precision targeting, interactive elements, and various CTV ad formats and placements, you have more options and opportunities to connect with audiences in meaningful ways.
However, there are a lot of things that go into creating–and running–a CTV ad: making it catchy enough to attract attention, placing it in front of the right people, and monitoring how it’s perceived by viewers.
Being intentional with ad-crafting, ensures viewers won’t pick up the remote, close your ad, and get back to what they were watching.
Building successful CTV ads requires thoughtful preparation and effort. Winning ads take a variety of tried and true experiences and the fearlessness of pushing boundaries, to create a high-quality, visually magnetic ad with a solid script and story that matches the preferences of your target audience.
What now? It’s time to take action. Use the insights from this CTV advertising guide to reform your strategy, try different approaches, and continuously improve your campaigns. You can also tap our team to do it all for you. Because when done right, CTV advertising doesn’t just get seen, it gets remembered. And more importantly, it gets results.
Mranlee Cala
