You’re hearing a lot about CTV. It’s one of the fastest-growing channels in digital marketing. And not only are more advertisers starting to invest, more viewers are watching CTV content for more time every day.

So why are marketers still hesitant? Part of the reason is that CTV’s optimization levers are slightly different from the performance-focused mechanics they’re used to deploying.

If you’re still wearing your performance marketing hat, that’s the first adjustment to make in getting your mind around CTV as your next big channel. You can and should still measure the KPIs you’re accustomed to measuring, but you need to brush up on the options available to optimize those metrics in CTV campaigns.

At Playbook Media, we work to prepare ambitious digital marketers to fully harness CTV’s potential as an accountable, ROI-driven channel. Here’s how we do it.

The 5 Levers of CTV Optimization (That Many Brands Aren’t Pulling)

According to my work with our clients, the key to CTV performance is simple: treat it like the dynamic medium it is. That means ongoing optimization—not set-it-and-forget-it spending.

Every CTV campaign has levers you can control—audiences, networks, creative, dayparts, programming and investment. The key is knowing which to dial up or down every week. We never run only one creative and we never assume what worked last week will hold true next week. Every week, we test, shift spend, and analyze impact.

We call this approach the CTV Optimization Loop—a high-touch, high-performance model that adapts weekly to market signals and real-time campaign data. A dynamic framework for weekly CTV campaign performance that helps to continuously expand reach and response while driving efficiency.

Here are the 5 levers we optimize every week:

1. Audiences: We recommend uploading your 1st-party data for precision targeting and building different lookalike lists. We compare these against bundled targeting (like tvScientific’s pre-packaged segments) to stretch scale while staying relevant.
2. Networks & Programming: Initially we will spread spend across as many as 17-20 ad groups, consisting of networks, channels and programming . Each week, we scale up where we see performance and pull back on or trim others, resulting in immediate ROAS lift and freeing up dollars to test in new placements.
3. Creative Strategy: We never test just one ad. Every buy includes at least two creatives. If one underperforms, it is replaced with a new challenger. Control vs. challenger—it’s a continuous loop to combat creative fatigue.
4. Dayparting: Weekday vs. weekend. Day vs. night. These behaviors shift. We see differences in cost per reach and conversion depending on when the viewer watches streaming content—and we adjust accordingly.
5. Investment Shifts: This isn’t just about tracking results—it’s about moving money. Each week, we reroute spend based on where we see opportunity, inefficiency, or growth.

What Makes Our Approach Different

At Playbook, we don’t stop at optimization—we build transparency into the process. Every week, our team meets with the buying team and provides an executive summary. That recap outlines:

• What happened last week
• Where we diverted spend
• Opportunities spotted
• What we’re testing next
• High-level impacts across the business

This loop creates alignment, accountability, and a clear story your leadership team can get behind. You’re not just running ads. You’re driving strategic growth.

But Wait, There’s More

Before we wrap up, we need to remind you of something. This is all extremely important, but we shouldn’t forget one of CTV’s biggest attributes as a marketing channel: it’s branding clout.

CTV gives you 30 unskippable seconds to tell your brand story, which is significantly more than the one to two seconds you get by serving a conversion-based ad on Instagram or Facebook. Yet the CPM is very similar.

In other words, CTV gives you more time, more focus, and more narrative real estate for the same price—plus, a massive branding advantage over your competitors who are still over-investing in bottom-funnel channels.

CTV That Performs Isn’t a Dream—It’s a Decision

CTV is great for reach, but it drives results far beyond that – results you can optimize with smart levers, agile shifts, and a focus on proving value week after week.

Ready to launch high-performing CTV campaigns? Book a strategy session with us and let us show you why it’s one of our favorite channels of 2025.