What Is Connected TV Advertising? A Complete Guide for B2B Marketers

TL;DR

• Connected TV (CTV) advertising serves non-skippable video ads on smart TVs and streaming platforms, reaching decision-makers when they are not at work desks

• CTV and OTT are not the same: CTV is the screen (the television), OTT is the delivery method (internet streaming). CTV is one part of OTT, focused on the television screen. B2B advertisers can also buy OTT on mobile and desktop, though the attention environment differs

• Completion rates on CTV regularly exceed 85 to 95%: a high-attention, non-skippable format that differs from click-based web channels

• B2B CTV targeting links professional identity data to home streaming devices via identity graph matching. Match rates vary widely by data quality and provider; B2B lists often match at the lower end of industry ranges

• CTV works as a layer: it builds executive-level visibility between sales cycles, not a replacement for LinkedIn or programmatic display

Related reading: Programmatic Advertising for B2B: Complete Guide 2026 | B2B Display Advertising: Channels, Targeting & ROI Guide | B2B Advertising: Channels, Strategy & What Works 2026

B2B marketers have spent the last decade mastering LinkedIn Ads, programmatic display, and search. Connected TV advertising sits outside that comfort zone, which is exactly why it deserves attention now.

Your buyers are not glued to their work computers all day. A VP of Operations at a 150-person industrial technology company might check LinkedIn during work hours. But they also watch streaming content at home. CTV puts your brand in front of them there: a non-skippable format on the largest screen in the house, during a high-attention viewing session.

This guide covers what connected TV advertising is, how it differs from OTT, how B2B targeting works on streaming platforms, and how to build a campaign worth the investment. For mid-sized B2B companies with complex sales cycles and lean marketing teams, CTV is not a replacement for your existing channels. It is an additional layer of executive-level visibility that no other format currently reaches.

What Is Connected TV Advertising?

Connected TV advertising serves video ads on internet-connected television screens. This includes smart TVs, Roku devices, Amazon Fire TV sticks, Apple TV, and gaming consoles used to stream content.

Ads appear inside streaming content on platforms such as Hulu, Peacock, Paramount+, Pluto TV, Tubi, and thousands of ad-supported streaming channels. They run as pre-roll or mid-roll placements. Most CTV inventory is non-skippable, which means completion rates regularly reach 85 to 95%.

The buying mechanism: advertisers purchase CTV inventory through programmatic demand-side platforms (DSPs) that connect to streaming publishers via supply-side platforms. Unlike web display, where open real-time bidding dominates, a significant share of CTV inventory is transacted through programmatic guaranteed or direct deals rather than open auctions. The result is a more controlled inventory environment, with the attention advantage of a home television.

The majority of CTV ad spend is now transacted programmatically, with industry estimates ranging from 70 to 85% depending on market and definition, according to MNTN Research. Total CTV ad spend is projected to reach $46.89 billion globally by 2028. For B2B marketers already running programmatic display, the infrastructure to add CTV is largely already in place.

CTV vs OTT: What Is the Difference?

The two terms are used interchangeably in most conversations, but they describe different things.

OTT (Over-the-Top) refers to video content delivered over the internet, bypassing traditional cable or satellite. Netflix, Disney+, and YouTube are OTT services. OTT content reaches viewers on any internet-connected device: phone, tablet, laptop, or TV.

CTV (Connected TV) refers specifically to the television screen. A smart TV, or a television with a connected streaming stick attached, is a connected TV. CTV is a subset of OTT: it is OTT content consumed on a television.

For B2B advertisers, this distinction matters for two reasons:

• CTV ads appear on the largest screen in the room, where attention is highest and creative has the most impact

• B2B CTV targeting links professional identity to home TV devices through a combination of methods: identity graph matching, device graphs, ACR (automatic content recognition) data, and probabilistic identity resolution. IP-based approaches are one part of this stack, not the only mechanism

The practical shorthand: when you want to reach decision-makers watching streaming content on their television at home, you are running CTV advertising. OTT on mobile or laptop is a different environment with different attention levels and different targeting mechanics.

Why Connected TV Advertising Matters for B2B in 2026

B2B buying committees at mid-market and enterprise accounts typically include 6 or more decision-makers. Most of them are reachable through standard B2B channels during work hours. CTV reaches them during a different window: evenings, weekends, and moments away from the office.

The attention environment differs from every other B2B ad channel:

• No scroll-past: CTV ads play inside content, with no option to skip in most formats

• Large screen: creative has room to communicate a complex value proposition with motion and sound

• High completion: non-skippable CTV placements regularly achieve 85 to 95% completion rates

For B2B companies with 12 to 36-month sales cycles, reaching buyers across multiple environments compounds familiarity over time. A decision-maker who has seen your brand on LinkedIn during work hours, on display sites throughout the day, and on their streaming service at home is genuinely more familiar with you than someone exposed through a single channel.

That compounding familiarity is what compresses pipeline velocity. It shortens the gap between 'we have not heard of them' and 'let's put them on the shortlist.'

For more on multi-channel B2B strategy: B2B Advertising: Channels, Strategy & What Works 2026

How B2B CTV Targeting Works

CTV targeting is more complex than web display targeting. There are no cookies on a television screen. The primary method is household identity matching, which works in three steps:

• You upload a list of target contacts (names, professional emails, LinkedIn profiles) or a target account list to a CTV platform

• The platform maps those individuals to home IP addresses using third-party identity graphs that connect professional data to residential networks

• Ads are served to households where a matched individual is likely to be present

Match rates vary widely depending on data quality, geography, and the identity provider used. B2B lists often match at lower rates than consumer lists, given the complexity of linking professional records to residential identities. Executives with stable home addresses tend to match more reliably than frequent travellers or remote workers without fixed locations.

Three targeting approaches for B2B CTV:

Account-based CTV: Upload a list of target company names or domains. The platform matches them to households of likely employees. Lower precision than person-level, but broader reach per account. The Trade Desk and 6sense support this approach.

Person-based CTV: Upload a contact list. The platform matches specific individuals to household IP addresses. Higher precision, lower match rate. Best for high-value accounts where reaching named buying committee members justifies the narrower reach.

Intent-based CTV: Target accounts showing active purchase research signals: content consumption, competitor visits, category search behavior. 6sense's B2B CTV combines its intent data layer with CTV inventory to serve ads to accounts actively evaluating your category, across 20+ premium streaming services.

For the mid-sized B2B companies that make up most of Hey Sid's ICP, 20 to 100 employees in industrial or engineering-driven sectors with small marketing teams, account-based CTV is the most practical entry point. Your total addressable market is tight enough that broad consumer CTV targeting would waste budget, but account-based matching keeps spending concentrated on the accounts that matter.

More on B2B targeting layers: IP Targeting for B2B: How It Works and When to Use It

How to Run a B2B CTV Campaign: Step by Step

Step 1: Define Your Account List and Buying Committee

CTV is not a mass-awareness channel for B2B. Start with a defined list of your top 50 to 200 target accounts, with buying committee roles identified per account. The tighter the list, the better the match rate and the lower the wasted spend.

Pull this list from your CRM. If your CRM data is incomplete, enrich it using tools such as LinkedIn Sales Navigator, Clay, or Apollo before uploading to your CTV platform.

Step 2: Set a Budget and Timeline

B2B CTV CPMs run between $20 and $50, higher than standard programmatic display ($3 to $15) but lower than LinkedIn Ads ($30 to $80+). A pilot targeting 50 to 100 accounts at $5,000 to $15,000 per month in ad spend can generate meaningful impression frequency within your target list over 60 to 90 days.

Do not budget CTV as a short-term lead generation investment. Plan for at least 90 days of consistent exposure. The same principle applies here as in all B2B awareness campaigns: frequency builds familiarity, and familiarity builds pipeline.

Step 3: Produce CTV-Specific Creative

CTV video ads run between 15 and 30 seconds. The format demands a different approach than a LinkedIn image or a display banner. Effective B2B CTV creative:

• Opens with the business problem, not the product name

• Names the audience specifically ("If your sales cycle runs longer than 12 months...")

• Uses motion and sound as primary message carriers, with on-screen text as reinforcement

• Closes with a clean brand frame and a clear URL or company name

Do not repurpose a product demo video or a LinkedIn video post as a CTV ad. The format, viewing context, and audience expectations are different.

Step 4: Select Your Platform and Upload Your List

The main platforms for B2B CTV advertising:

• MNTN: CTV-focused performance advertising platform with account matching, access to 150+ streaming networks, and built-in measurement. Ads serve on Peacock, HBO Max, CBS, Fox, and other premium providers.

• The Trade Desk: The largest independent DSP, with CTV inventory across 185+ million households. Supports account-based targeting via its B2B Data Alliance and recently partnered with LinkedIn for B2B CTV targeting.

• 6sense: B2B ABM platform with dedicated CTV capabilities, launched in Fall 2025. Combines intent data with CTV inventory across 20+ streaming services. Setup timelines depend on approval processes, inventory availability, and identity matching.

• Basis Technologies: Full-service DSP with CTV channel support alongside display, video, audio, and mobile. A managed service option for teams without in-house DSP expertise.

Upload your account list, set frequency caps (3 to 5 impressions per household per week is a reasonable starting point), and define your flight period.

Step 5: Measure Account-Level Lift, Not Clicks

CTV does not drive direct clicks. If you judge a CTV campaign by click-through rate, you will cancel it before it has a chance to work. The right measurement framework:

• Account-level web traffic lift: Are target accounts visiting your website more frequently after CTV exposure compared to a non-exposed control group?

• Pipeline influence: Are deals in the pipeline progressing faster among CTV-exposed accounts than non-exposed accounts?

• Self-reported attribution: When inbound leads report how they heard about you, are any mentioning seeing your brand on TV or streaming?

• Brand lift studies: MNTN and The Trade Desk both offer brand recall measurement tools that survey exposed versus unexposed households.

A 90-day lift test with a matched control group of non-exposed accounts gives you data to justify continued investment and scale what works.

CTV vs Other B2B Advertising Channels

CTV does not replace LinkedIn or programmatic display. It accesses a distinct environment, the home screen during leisure, that no other B2B advertising format reaches. The channel works best as a layer within a coordinated multi-channel program, not as a standalone investment.

See full channel comparison: B2B Display Advertising: Channels, Targeting & ROI Guide

Common CTV Advertising Mistakes B2B Teams Make

Measuring by last-click attribution. CTV does not drive clicks. A last-click model will show CTV performing at zero and lead you to cancel a campaign that is building real pipeline influence. Define a lift measurement framework before you launch.

Running campaigns under 60 days. Two weeks of CTV exposure reaches too few impressions per household to build meaningful brand familiarity. Commit to 60 to 90 days minimum before drawing any conclusions about performance.

Using a single creative for the full flight. CTV ad fatigue happens in an intimate viewing environment. Plan for at least two creative variations and refresh every 60 days.

Targeting too broadly. B2B CTV works when the account list is tight and defined. Running against a demographic-based audience (marketing professionals, ages 35 to 55) wastes budget on households outside your ICP. Start with named accounts only.

Running CTV without surrounding channels. A decision-maker who sees your CTV ad at home and your LinkedIn ad at work is exposed to your brand across their full attention landscape. CTV in isolation is expensive for B2B; CTV coordinated with programmatic display and LinkedIn is the formula that generates compounding familiarity across a buying cycle.

How Hey Sid Supports Multi-Channel B2B Advertising

Hey Sid runs person-level advertising through Always On, serving ads to named individuals on your target list across LinkedIn, Meta, and programmatic display. The underlying principle mirrors what makes B2B CTV valuable: reach the right people consistently across multiple environments, not just during office hours.

The Influence Loop coordinates three components targeting the same named individuals across an extended sales cycle: Always On (person-level ads), Authority Builder (done-for-you thought leadership), and Precision Connect (automated LinkedIn outreach).

This model is designed for the ICP that benefits most from extended, multi-touchpoint influence: mid-sized B2B companies with 12 to 36-month sales cycles, lean marketing teams, and buying committees that require multiple exposures before entering a conversation.

For companies adding CTV to a broader multi-channel program, Hey Sid provides the surrounding infrastructure: defined account lists, individual-level targeting, and pipeline attribution that CTV campaigns integrate into.

Explore Hey Sid: Hey Sid, How It Works

Conclusion

Connected TV advertising gives B2B marketers access to an attention environment no other channel provides: decision-makers on their home TV screens, during high-engagement streaming sessions, in a non-skippable format with 90%+ completion rates.

The channel works as part of a coordinated multi-channel strategy, not as a standalone investment. At $20 to $50 CPM with consistently high completion, CTV is a credible brand-building layer for companies with long sales cycles and defined account lists. The key is pairing it with the right measurement framework, account-level lift rather than click attribution, and committing to a minimum of 90 days.

Related reading: Programmatic Advertising for B2B: Complete Guide 2026 | IP Targeting for B2B: How It Works and When to Use It | B2B Advertising: Channels, Strategy & What Works 2026

Book a demo: Hey Sid, Book a demo

FAQ

What is connected TV advertising?

Connected TV advertising places video ads on internet-connected television screens: smart TVs, Roku devices, Amazon Fire TV sticks, and Apple TV. Ads appear inside streaming content on platforms such as Hulu, Peacock, Paramount+, and ad-supported streaming services, running as pre-roll or mid-roll placements. Most CTV formats are non-skippable and achieve 90%+ completion rates.

What is the difference between CTV and OTT?

OTT (Over-the-Top) refers to video content delivered over the internet, bypassing cable or satellite. CTV refers specifically to connected television screens. CTV is a subset of OTT: it is OTT content consumed on a TV. When B2B advertisers talk about reaching decision-makers on their home TV through streaming, they mean CTV specifically, not OTT on mobile or laptop.

How does B2B CTV targeting work?

B2B CTV targeting links professional identity data to home TV devices through a combination of methods: identity graph matching, device graphs, ACR (automatic content recognition) data, and probabilistic identity resolution. A contact or account list is uploaded to a CTV platform, which maps those individuals to residential households. Match rates vary widely based on data quality, geography, and the identity provider used; B2B lists typically match at lower rates than consumer lists. Executives with stable home addresses tend to match more reliably than remote workers or frequent travellers.

What does B2B CTV advertising cost?

B2B CTV CPMs typically run between $20 and $50, depending on the platform, targeting precision, and inventory source. This is lower than LinkedIn Ads ($30 to $80+ CPM) but higher than standard programmatic display ($3 to $15). The premium reflects the format's attention advantage: a non-skippable 30-second ad on a home television commands far more attention than a browser display banner.

How do you measure B2B CTV campaign ROI?

Do not use click-through rate: CTV does not generate clicks. Instead, measure account-level web traffic lift (are target accounts visiting your site more after CTV exposure?), pipeline velocity (are deals progressing faster among exposed accounts?), and self-reported attribution from inbound leads. Run a 90-day lift test against a control group of non-exposed accounts to generate defensible performance data.

Is CTV advertising worth it for mid-sized B2B companies?

CTV makes sense for B2B companies with defined account lists of 50 or more targets, sales cycles of 12 months or longer, and budget for at least 90 days of continuous exposure. For companies already running LinkedIn and programmatic display targeting the same named accounts, CTV adds an executive-level visibility layer during off-work hours that no other channel reaches.

Sources

• MNTN Research, "Over 90% of CTV Ad Spend Is Now Transacted Programmatically"

• MNTN Research, "CTV Ad Spend Will Grow to $46.89 Billion by 2028"

• 6sense, "CTV for B2B: A Critical Ingredient for Landing Deals"

• 6sense, "Fall 2025 Product Update"

• The Trade Desk, "Connected TV Advertising"

• MNTN, "B2B Connected TV Advertising"

• Basis Technologies, "DSP for Omnichannel Media"

• Hey Sid, "How It Works"

• Hey Sid, "Case Studies"

Related: Programmatic Advertising for B2B: Complete Guide 2026 | B2B Display Advertising: Channels, Targeting & ROI Guide | IP Targeting for B2B: How It Works and When to Use It