Connected TV and programmatic buying sized to mid-market budgets.
We plan and buy connected TV and programmatic media for brands and regional businesses that want TV-screen reach, or display and video beyond Google and Meta, without a national TV budget.
Step 1 of 2
How can we help you get found?
Next: name, email and budget. That’s it.
That means choosing the right buying path for your size: Amazon DSP when Amazon audiences and retail signals matter, self-serve streaming platforms and YouTube on the TV screen for simpler buys, and open-exchange programmatic for display, video and audio at scale. We do not hold our own seat on the large enterprise DSPs, and we say so up front; we buy through the platform that fits your budget and goals rather than one we are tied to. Every plan comes with a measurement design, because CTV and programmatic are easy to buy and easy to over-credit.
Questions this page answers
- Programmatic advertising agency for a mid-size brand
- How much do you need to spend on connected TV
- Amazon DSP vs self-serve streaming TV platforms
- How to measure whether CTV ads drive sales
- How to avoid ad fraud in programmatic buying
- Connected TV advertising for a regional or local business
- When is connected TV not worth it
Where CTV & Programmatic pays off, and where it stalls.
Connected TV means ads shown in streaming apps on a television screen, through smart TVs, streaming devices and game consoles. Programmatic means buying ad impressions through software, usually a demand-side platform, that bids across many publishers at once using audience and context data. For a mid-size advertiser there are a few realistic paths: Amazon DSP, which reaches Prime Video, Fire TV and third-party inventory with Amazon audience signals; self-serve streaming platforms that sell ads directly to smaller advertisers; YouTube on the TV screen through Google Ads; and open-exchange programmatic for display, online video and audio, bought through a self-serve or managed DSP.
The risks are real. Some inventory sold as CTV is lower quality than it looks, and open exchanges carry made-for-advertising sites, spoofed domains and invalid traffic that filters catch only in part. Managed service desks often require minimum spends that change by platform and over time. Frequency gets away from you across devices and apps, so the same household sees the ad far too often. And the attribution that DSPs report, especially view-through conversions from a TV ad the viewer could not click, will credit the campaign with sales that would have happened anyway unless you test for it.
We start by deciding whether you should buy CTV at all. If search, social and conversion tracking are not in order, or the budget is too small to reach enough households with enough frequency in your market, we say so. When it fits, we choose the path by goal and budget, set household frequency caps and geo-targeting by market or ZIP where the platform allows, use curated inventory and supply path checks, and add third-party verification where it earns its cost. Then we design the test before launch: matched markets or geo holdouts, a clean baseline for branded search and site visits, and a read on incremental leads or sales, not just impressions delivered.
Feeds it
- TV-ready video creative
- First-party customer lists
- Market and ZIP geography
- Amazon and contextual audiences
It feeds
- Streaming TV campaigns
- Programmatic display and video
- Placement and verification reports
- Geo lift test results
- Monthly reach and lift report
Every connection is built on your accounts and documented, so the data survives any change of vendor.
Connected TV and programmatic advertising, scoped to the result.
Buying path selection
A plain comparison of Amazon DSP, self-serve streaming platforms, YouTube on TV screens and open-exchange programmatic for your goals, audiences, minimum spends and reporting needs.
CTV and streaming TV campaigns
Household targeting, geo-targeting by market or ZIP where available, frequency caps, dayparting and creative specs for standard 15 and 30 second TV-screen spots.
Programmatic display, video and audio
Open-exchange and curated deals for display, online video and audio, with contextual and audience targeting, retargeting and site and app exclusion lists.
Brand safety and fraud control
Inclusion and exclusion lists, ads.txt and sellers.json checks, supply path review, made-for-advertising site filters and third-party verification where the budget justifies it.
Incrementality testing
Geo holdouts, matched market tests and baseline tracking for branded search, direct traffic and sales, so the report shows what the campaign added rather than what it touched.
Amazon DSP coordination
Where Amazon DSP is the right path, we coordinate the streaming TV buy with our Amazon DSP and Amazon Marketing Cloud work so audiences and measurement line up.
Where CTV & Programmatic setups break.
The problems we are most often hired to fix, in the order they tend to cost money.
Buying CTV too early
Streaming TV amplifies demand that search, social and your site then capture. Without working conversion tracking and a site that converts, the added reach has nowhere useful to go.
Cheap CPMs from weak inventory
Unusually low prices often mean poor supply: mobile apps sold as TV, made-for-advertising sites or invalid traffic. Check where ads actually ran before judging price.
Frequency with no ceiling
Across devices and apps, the same household can see an ad far too often while most of the market sees it once or never. Set household caps and watch reach, not just impressions.
Trusting view-through credit
TV-screen ads are rarely clicked, so DSPs credit conversions by exposure. Without a holdout or geo test, that credit includes sales that would have happened anyway.
CTV & Programmatic, wired into the rest of the business.
Amazon DSP
Streaming TV on Prime Video and Fire TV, plus third-party inventory with Amazon audiences.
Amazon Marketing Cloud
Clean room analysis of exposure and purchase paths for Amazon-connected buys.
Google Ads
YouTube on connected TV screens using Google audiences and conversion data.
Self-serve streaming platforms
Direct buys of streaming TV inventory suited to smaller budgets and local markets.
Verification vendors
Third-party checks for invalid traffic, viewability and brand safety where justified.
Google Analytics 4
Site visits and conversions by market for geo test readouts.
Looker Studio
Reach, frequency, spend and lift results beside search and social.
From audit to running it.
Audit.
We check readiness first: tracking, site conversion, search demand, budget and markets. If CTV or programmatic is not the right next dollar, we tell you what is.
Build.
We choose the buying path, prepare TV-ready creative specs, set audiences, geo, frequency and inventory controls, and write the test design before launch.
Connect.
Placement and verification reports, site analytics by market and CRM or sales data feed a monthly readout of reach, frequency and measured lift.
Run or hand off.
We run the buys and testing for you, working alongside your team or other agencies, or set up the program and hand it off with training.
A good fit
- Brands and regional businesses with search, social and tracking already working that need more people to know them.
- Advertisers with good video creative, or the budget to make it, in markets large enough to reach meaningful household frequency.
- Amazon sellers who want streaming TV tied to Amazon audiences and retail measurement.
- Teams willing to run a holdout or geo test and accept what it shows.
Probably not a fit
- Small budgets, early-stage offers and businesses without working conversion tracking should fix search and social first.
- If you need national upfront buys or a large managed TV plan, a specialist media agency with those relationships is the better fit.
- If you want an agency with its own DSP seat or partner status, we are not that; we are independent and buy through the platform that fits.
Pricing, plainly.
CTV and programmatic costs are media, usually priced per thousand impressions, and they vary widely by platform, audience and market. Managed service desks often set minimum spends, while self-serve platforms lower the entry point; both change over time, so we confirm current minimums before recommending a path rather than quoting them here. Third-party verification and creative production are separate costs. Our work begins with a fixed-scope readiness review and media plan, including the test design. Ongoing buying and reporting is a monthly fee scoped to spend and the number of platforms, month to month after an initial term. We do not mark up media.
CTV & Programmatic by business type.
- Franchise brandsFranchise marketing agency for franchisors and franchisees: development lead generation, local marketing at scale, multi-location websites and CRM systems.
- Car dealershipsCar dealership marketing agency for franchise and independent stores: vehicle listing ads, BDC-ready lead routing, service retention and compliant finance ads.
- CPG brandsA CPG marketing agency for consumer packaged goods brands: Amazon 1P and 3P, Walmart, Target Plus, Instacart and retail media tied to velocity at shelf.
- Senior living communitiesSenior living marketing agency: assisted living and memory care lead generation, occupancy-focused websites, tour follow-up systems and CRM integration.
- Personal injury firmsA personal injury marketing agency that measures signed cases, not leads: owned PI lead generation, intake qualification and Filevine or CASEpeer data.
- Home buildersMarketing agency and website studio for custom and luxury home builders: photo-first galleries, community launch campaigns, and Buildertrend CRM wiring.
Reading on CTV & Programmatic.
- E-commerce · Takeaway
Amazon Marketing Cloud is a clean room where an advertiser writes SQL against event-level Amazon ad and conversion data and gets back only aggregated results that pass privacy thresholds.
E-commerce · 11 min read
Amazon Marketing Cloud: What It Is and the Queries Worth Running.
Amazon Marketing Cloud lets a brand ask its own questions of event-level Amazon ad and purchase data. It is powerful and easy to misuse. Here is how it works, the queries that pay, and how to tell if you are ready.
Read - Marketing · Takeaway
Start from money, not likes: track leads to booked jobs to revenue, and ignore vanity metrics that never touch your bank account.
Marketing · 15 min read
How to Tell If Your Marketing Is Actually Working.
Most small businesses spend money on marketing and have no real idea what is working. Here is the simple measurement system that tells you the truth, built in an afternoon, not a quarter.
Read - Paid Media · Takeaway
Paid media reports show different conversion numbers than the CRM because each platform uses its own attribution windows, view-through credit, modeled conversions, and click-date reporting.
Paid Media · 11 min read
Paid Media Reporting: Why Ad Numbers Differ From Your CRM.
Your ad platforms and your CRM will never agree exactly. Here is why the conversion numbers differ, how to reconcile them, the four numbers a report should lead with, and the reporting and cadence to expect from a partner.
Read
Hiring help with CTV & Programmatic.
- What is the difference between CTV, OTT and programmatic?
- CTV is the screen: ads in streaming apps watched on a television. OTT describes streaming content delivered over the internet on any device, and the two terms are often used loosely together. Programmatic is the buying method: software bidding for impressions across many publishers. You can buy CTV programmatically or directly from a streaming platform.
- How is this different from your Amazon DSP work?
- Our Amazon DSP and Amazon Marketing Cloud page covers Amazon's own programmatic platform for brands selling on Amazon, including retail audiences and clean room analysis. This page covers CTV and programmatic more broadly, including self-serve streaming buys, YouTube on TV screens and open-exchange programmatic, and when Amazon DSP is or is not the right path.
- How much budget do we need for connected TV?
- Enough to reach a meaningful share of households in your market with enough frequency to be remembered, plus enough to run a test with a holdout. That depends on market size and platform, and minimums change, so we size it from your markets rather than quote a number. If the budget cannot support a readable test, we recommend waiting.
- Can connected TV be targeted locally?
- Yes. Most streaming platforms and DSPs allow targeting by market, city or ZIP code, with varying precision. That makes CTV usable for regional brands and service businesses, though small areas limit available inventory and can raise prices. We check available reach in your area before planning.
- How do you prevent ad fraud and bad placements?
- We use curated or inclusion-list inventory where possible, check ads.txt, app-ads.txt and sellers.json, review supply paths and placement reports, exclude made-for-advertising sites and add third-party verification when the budget justifies it. No setup removes fraud entirely, so we also watch for delivery patterns that look wrong.
- How do you prove CTV actually worked?
- We design the test before launch. Usually that is a geo holdout or matched market test, where comparable markets do not see the campaign, and we compare branded search, site visits, leads and sales between them. DSP view-through reports are useful context but not proof on their own.
Let’s get CTV & Programmatic working for you.
A short note on where the business is and where it needs to go. A senior partner replies within one business day.