CTV media planning for app-first brands in the US

I was recently asked to participate in the EMARKETER Summit: Ad Buyer Strategies 2026 in New York. The panel topic; ‘Creative, Measurement, and Planning in a Fragmented TV Landscape’, covered how brands and agencies are rethinking how they plan and allocate TV spend due to the fragmented nature of connected TV, streaming platforms, and social feeds. 

On the panel were Jennifer Glass, from The Hershey Company, Kelly Kavanagh, from Haleon, and Aulden Kaye Yi from Philo, moderated by Ross Benes from EMARKETER. We looked at how brands and agencies are revising their planning and allocation of spend in a fragmented TV landscape, balancing reach and performance, and adapting creative for different screens. 

CTA: Watch the panel in full here

Why CTV has become a performance channel for app-first brands

Connected TV (CTV) advertising in the U.S. has shifted from a pure awareness tactic to a measurable performance channel, especially for app-first brands, because it combines large-screen attention with deterministic data, cross-device identity, and outcome-based buying that can be optimized to installs, registrations, and revenue. In other words, you can now plan CTV with similar accountability you expect from mobile and paid social.

Several market forces sit behind this shift. US CTV ad spend is projected to exceed tens of billions of dollars annually as streaming becomes the default way people watch premium content. According to industry research from organizations such as the Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement and leading forecasters, advertisers are reallocating linear budgets into streaming, while also adding net new investment from digital performance budgets. For CMOs of app-first brands, that means the CTV line item is no longer optional; it is a core part of your growth engine.

The second driver is identity and measurement. Cross-device graphs, clean rooms, MMP integrations, and privacy-safe data collaboration have made it more feasible to connect CTV exposure to downstream app behaviors such as installs, registrations, or purchases. But the quality of that connection varies by partner and methodology, which is why incrementality testing and transparent measurement design are critical.

Creative has also matured. The old model of repurposing 30-second linear TV spots for CTV is giving way to assets built specifically for performance KPIs, i.e., short, clear value propositions, strong app-focused calls to action, and fit-for-platform variations that reflect whether the viewer is likely to respond via QR code, second-screen search, or remarketing. For example, a brand can feature a localized offer in the first 5 seconds, a prominent app store badge, and then retarget CTV-exposed households with mobile banners that repeat the same message to deliver consistency and performance.

In addition, supply and buying tools have advanced. Many partners now offer more performance-oriented ways to buy or evaluate CTV, including outcome-based optimization, custom audience deals, retail or publisher data overlays, and incrementality studies. In some cases, app-first brands may also be able to test cost-per-visit, cost-per-install, or other guaranteed outcome models, though buyers should evaluate the underlying inventory, attribution method, and effective CPMs carefully. For a Head of Marketing overseeing omnichannel performance, this unlocks the possibility of funding CTV from the same budget that fuels paid search, social, and in-app remarketing—because the channel can now prove its contribution to measurable app growth.

How to plan CTV in the U.S. as part of an omnichannel media mix

To plan U.S. CTV effectively for an app-first brand, start by defining the commercial outcome, quantifying the incremental audience you need to reach, mapping CTV’s role alongside other channels, and then building a testable framework for budgets, audiences, creative, and measurement before you brief partners or negotiate deals. Treat this like any other performance channel, not a side experiment.

Begin with the business case. Translate your commercial targets into CTV-specific objectives, such as incremental installs, cost per first order, or uplift in cohort revenue. So, if your mobile app currently acquires 50,000 new users per month through search and social, you might set a target for CTV to deliver an additional 10,000 incremental installs at a defined marginal cost per install. This anchors conversations with finance and creates the governance that senior stakeholders expect.

Then, size the audience and define CTV’s role in your omnichannel mix. Use reach and frequency planning tools, platform insights, or third-party research to understand where your target audience is currently underserved. Many U.S. app-first brands discover that heavy mobile and social buyers are missing light-linear viewers who spend most of their premium video time in ad-supported streaming environments. CTV is particularly powerful for reaching high-value segments such as existing mobile web users who have not yet converted to app, or lapsed app users you want to re-engage.

Next is the need to design your audience framework. In the U.S., this often means combining first-party signals (for example, CRM lists of high-value customers, app event data, or site visitors) with contextual, content-based, and retailer or publisher segments. For an e-commerce app, you might plan three audience groups, for instance, prospecting high-intent shoppers based on retail media data; re-engaging lapsed app buyers; and cross-selling to existing customers who have never used your app. Each audience should have a clear objective and KPI.

Creative planning should follow directly from that audience framework planning. Build a clear matrix: audiences on one axis, messages and offers on the other. Consider at least two creative concepts per audience that test different value propositions, and set minimum impression thresholds for each variation to draw meaningful conclusions. For example, a food delivery app might test a convenience-led message (“dinner in 30 minutes”) against a savings-led message (“save on every order”) among new prospects, while leaning into loyalty benefits for existing customers.

Finally, lock in your test-and-learn framework. Define which variables you will test in the first quarter, eg creative, frequency caps, publishers, or buying models, etc., and decide how you will benchmark performance. This might mean pre-agreeing a holdout methodology with your measurement partner or adopting an incrementality approach. The objective is to avoid a fragmented set of pilots and instead run a coherent series of experiments that ladder up to a scaled CTV investment plan.

Buying, measuring, and optimizing U.S. CTV for real business outcomes

To buy, measure, and optimize CTV in the U.S. for real business outcomes, align on supply strategy, choose outcome-based buying models where possible, implement privacy-safe cross-device attribution, and run continuous, structured optimization cycles tied to app-focused KPIs. This turns CTV into a predictable growth lever rather than a one-off test.

Start with supply and deal structure. Decide how you want to balance direct deals with key publishers, programmatic guaranteed, and open auction access via demand-side platforms. App-first brands often benefit from a hybrid approach: direct deals to secure premium placements in key streaming environments, complemented by programmatic access to expand reach and test diverse supply paths. Ensure that all deals support the level of targeting, frequency control, and measurement you require for performance.

Then, evaluate buying models. Many U.S. partners now support performance-oriented options such as cost-per-install, cost-per-visit, or outcome-based guarantees. While these can simplify budgeting, it is important to understand how optimization works behind the scenes and what data is being used. For example, a cost-per-install model tied to your mobile measurement partner’s postback data may be ideal for a gaming app, while a cost-per-qualified-lead arrangement could suit a finance app. In every case, maintain transparency around effective CPMs and scale so you can benchmark CTV against other channels.

Measurement is the foundation for trust and transparency. At a minimum, connect your CTV activity to your MMP or analytics solution that can ingest exposure data and attribute downstream app events. Many growth teams combine deterministic device-level signals, where available, with modeled reach and incrementality studies. Industry research from groups shows that advertisers who invest in consistent, cross-publisher measurement frameworks are better able to manage frequency, reduce waste, and prove incremental contribution to business metrics.

Once measurement is in place, build an optimization rhythm. Set a regular cadence, for example, daily, weekly or bi-weekly to review CTV performance against your core KPIs: installs, cost per action, retention, and revenue per user. Optimize at three levels: 

• Creative (pause underperforming variations and reinvest into winners)
• Audience (shift budget towards segments with higher lifetime value)
• Supply (reallocate impressions away from placements with low completion or weak post-install engagement). 

A travel app, for instance, might discover that a mid-funnel audience of website searchers delivers a lower cost per booking than pure prospecting, and then you can adjust media investment accordingly.

Finally, embed CTV into your broader growth model; for example, integrate CTV reporting into the dashboards your leadership already uses for mobile and web performance, and ensure your teams think in terms of journeys rather than channels. 

One practical step is to run coordinated experiments in which CTV exposure is followed by sequenced mobile and social messaging and then compare cohorts exposed to the full sequence with those who only see lower-funnel media. Over time, this approach allows marketers to justify sustained, and often increasing, CTV investment as a proven driver of app adoption, retention, and revenue in the US market.

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