How to Advertise on TV Using DV360: A Practical CTV Guide

Advertising on TV Has Changed — and DV360 Is Built for It

Television is no longer a single-screen, insertion-order-only channel. Viewers now stream premium content across smart TVs, streaming sticks, gaming consoles and connected devices — and that inventory is increasingly available programmatically. Display & Video 360 (DV360) gives media teams a single platform to plan, buy and measure this Connected TV (CTV) demand alongside the rest of their digital video.

This guide explains how to actually advertise on TV using DV360: where the inventory comes from, how to structure campaigns, what creative you need, and how to measure results.

What "TV" Means Inside DV360

When people say they want to "advertise on TV" through DV360, they usually mean one or more of the following:

• Connected TV (CTV): Ads served to streaming apps and channels on internet-connected television sets.
• YouTube on TV screens: YouTube and YouTube TV content viewed on the living-room screen, bought via DV360's YouTube integration.
• Broadcaster and streaming apps: Premium publisher and broadcaster inventory accessed via deals or open exchanges.

DV360 lets you combine these into coordinated video strategies rather than buying each in isolation.

How CTV inventory becomes available

CTV supply in DV360 typically flows through three routes:

Buying route	What it is	Best for
Open auction	Real-time bidding on available CTV impressions across exchanges	Scale and reach efficiency
Deals (PG & PMP)	Programmatic Guaranteed and Private Marketplace agreements with specific publishers	Premium inventory and guaranteed placements
YouTube inventory	YouTube and YouTube TV bought natively in DV360	High reach on the big screen with strong measurement

Programmatic Guaranteed deals in particular are how many advertisers replicate the certainty of traditional TV buys — fixed inventory, agreed pricing and priority delivery — while keeping the targeting and reporting advantages of programmatic.

Step 1: Define the Campaign Objective

CTV is predominantly an upper-funnel, brand-building channel, but it can support performance goals when paired with the right measurement. Before building anything, decide whether you are optimising for:

• Reach and awareness — maximising unique households and completed views.
• Consideration — driving brand lift, search interest or site visits.
• Full-funnel contribution — using CTV to prime audiences that convert later across other channels.

Your objective determines your bidding strategy, frequency caps and the KPIs you hold the campaign to.

Step 2: Build the Right Line Item Structure

In DV360, TV campaigns are typically built as video line items (for CTV/exchange inventory) or YouTube & partners line items (for YouTube on TV). A clean structure keeps optimisation manageable:

• Separate CTV from mobile and desktop video so device performance is isolated.
• Use dedicated line items per deal or supply source to control spend and reporting.
• Apply consistent frequency management at the campaign level to avoid over-serving households.

Because a single CTV impression often reaches multiple people in a room, frequency capping is critical — both for budget efficiency and viewer experience.

Step 3: Target the Right Audiences

CTV targeting is less granular than display but still powerful. Common approaches include:

• Demographics and household characteristics where available from the supply source.
• First-party data activated through DV360, such as CRM segments matched to logged-in environments.
• Content and genre targeting, aligning ads to relevant programming categories.
• Geographic targeting down to region or DMA-equivalent level for local relevance.

Strong first-party data strategy is what separates efficient CTV from spray-and-pray TV. If you're building out audience infrastructure, our team can help — see our DV360 managed services for hands-on support.

Step 4: Get the Creative Right

TV creative has higher expectations than standard digital video. A few practical rules:

• Duration: 15s and 30s spots are standard; some inventory supports 6s bumpers on the big screen.
• Non-skippable formats: Much CTV inventory is non-skippable, so your message should land in the first few seconds regardless.
• Resolution and quality: Deliver high-resolution assets suited to large screens; poor-quality video is far more noticeable on a 55-inch TV than on a phone.
• No click dependency: Most CTV impressions can't be clicked, so build for brand recall, verbal calls to action and memorable audio.
• Audio matters: Unlike much social video, CTV is watched with sound on — use it.

Always confirm the exact technical specs required by each publisher or deal, as accepted file formats, bitrates and aspect ratios vary.

Step 5: Set Bidding, Budgets and Pacing

For reach-focused CTV, advertisers commonly use fixed CPM pricing through deals or target-CPM style bidding on auction inventory. Keep these principles in mind:

• Pace evenly so you don't exhaust budget early in premium dayparts.
• Guaranteed deals give predictable delivery; auction supply gives flexibility and scale.
• Blend both to balance certainty with efficiency.

If you're weighing self-serve control against outsourced execution, our co-managed services let your team keep the strategy while we handle the heavy lifting.

Step 6: Measure What Actually Matters

Measuring TV has always been harder than measuring search or display, but DV360 offers meaningful signals:

• Completion rate (VCR): The share of ads watched to completion — a core CTV health metric.
• Unique reach and frequency: How many households you reached and how often.
• Brand lift studies: Available for eligible campaigns to gauge awareness and consideration shifts.
• Cross-device and site-visit signals: Understanding downstream behaviour after exposure.

Because CTV rarely drives an immediate click, resist judging it on last-click conversions alone. Instead, evaluate its contribution within a broader attribution framework. For deeper thinking on this, browse our blog for measurement guidance.

A realistic view of CTV attribution

CTV influences behaviour on other screens. A household exposed on the living-room TV may later search, visit your site on mobile, or convert on desktop. Set expectations with stakeholders early: CTV is an investment in reach and recall that supports the full funnel, not a direct-response click machine.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Treating CTV like display: Different creative, different KPIs, different mindset.
• Ignoring frequency: Household-level over-exposure wastes budget and annoys viewers.
• Relying only on open auction: For premium environments, deals give better control and quality.
• Skipping brand safety controls: Apply inventory and content controls so your ads run in appropriate environments.
• Under-investing in creative: Weak assets undermine even the best inventory strategy.

Do It Yourself or Bring in a Partner?

Running CTV in DV360 well requires deal negotiation, audience strategy, creative discipline and measurement rigour. Some teams have the resources to run this in-house through a self-serve account; others prefer expert execution. Whichever route fits, the platform capability is the same — the difference is how efficiently you use it.

If you're just getting started or scaling up, an experienced partner can shorten the learning curve, secure better inventory access and keep your campaigns optimised as the CTV landscape evolves.

Ready to Put Your Brand on the Big Screen?

Advertising on TV through DV360 gives you the reach of television with the precision and accountability of programmatic. Whether you want a fully managed CTV programme or hands-on support for your own team, we can help you plan, launch and measure it. Talk to a DV360 expert to map out your Connected TV strategy.