Are You Ready for CTV? Here’s How to Know

Erica Peacock

June 4, 2025

Most brands are curious about CTV. But wanting to try it and being ready to leverage it effectively are two different things.

Here’s the truth: CTV isn’t magic. It won’t fix a broken funnel. It won’t save bad marketing. And it sure won’t work as well, if you’re missing the basics.

So what are some signs you are – or aren’t – ready for CTV? Keep reading.

Green-light signs that you’re ready to test CTV

If any of these sound familiar, it’s time to think about CTV:

You’re seeing diminishing returns from your performance channels. Facebook and Google aren’t able to scale at the same CPAs. New audiences are harder to find. Your go-to channels are delivering less marginal return.
Brand search is flat. People aren’t looking for you. Direct traffic isn’t growing. Nobody is talking about your brand.
The market isn’t aware of your product or service. It’s nearly impossible to generate leads or conversions without doing the work to build awareness in the first place.
You’re stuck in the performance marketing death spiral. You’re chasing cheaper clicks and better conversion rates (and failing to catch them), because you aren’t investing in branding.

All of these conditions are pointing to one conclusion: you need to activate the upper funnel.

Caution signs to consider before you test CTV

Before you launch into CTV preparation, consider whether any of these conditions apply to your brand:

Your website performs poorly. Your site needs to be fast, mobile-friendly, high-converting, and easy to use. CTV drives new people who don’t know you yet. If your site is slow or confusing, they’re more likely to leave.
Your homepage is confusing. Within three seconds, users who hit your homepage should know what you do, why they should care, and what to do next. If you can’t say that with confidence, address your site before you spend on CTV campaigns.
Your URL is clunky and hard to remember. If your URL is hard to spell, hard to remember, or confusing, CTV campaigns have unnecessary friction. If your URL sucks, you can buy a better one (e.g. TryProduct.com) or stand up LPs specific to your CTV campaigns. Then you’ve cleared one big obstacle to running CTV tests.
You have no lead-gathering or lead-nurturing mechanisms in place. CTV brings people who aren’t ready to buy yet into the funnel. You need a low-pressure way to get their contact info. Free guides, trials, or tools work well, as do subscriptions or “get on the mailing list” prompts. From there, of course, you need to actually follow up with those leads. If you’re not good at turning leads into customers, don’t waste money on CTV.
Your differentiators are still murky. Your messaging needs to be crystal-clear about why someone should pick you at all – and pick you over everyone else. (It’s always helpful to include a low-risk way, like a free trial or money-back guarantee, for users to accelerate their purchase decision.)

Timeline Reality Check

CTV is not always a quick fix; although it can result in short-term sales and leads, it’s great at building awareness over time. The bigger the price tag or bigger the buying committee, the longer the average time to purchase from the initial click.

Don’t rely on CTV if:

You have no creative foundation to leverage
You need immediate and predictable results
You haven’t maxed out your current channels

CTV makes sense if:

You’re thinking long-term
You or your agency can quickly stand up creative formatted for this specific channel
You want to build a real brand
You’re tired of fighting for scraps in the bottom of the funnel

The Support System

When you run CTV, people will search for your brand. Make sure you’re ready:

Lock in your paid brand keyword strategy (as well as any variations from CTV-specific LPs)
Have someone ready to manage and optimize campaigns
Verify that your lead nurturing flows are in place

Bottom Line

CTV works when you have your foundation right. It fails when you’re trying to use it as a Band-Aid.

TL; DR: Don’t pour gas on a fire that isn’t burning yet.

Need help determining if you should invest in CTV? You can reach out to our team here.

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About the Author

Erica Peacock

COO

Erica Peacock began her career in marketing in 2000 and has worked with hundreds of brands to both develop and execute high-performing growth strategies. After a 10+-year stint at leading performance marketing firm QuinStreet, Erica joined The DuMont Project as EVP. In 2018, she became Playbook Media’s first COO and has since spent her time developing her team and working hands-on with the agency’s clients to design, refine, and execute differentiated growth strategies.