Guides
September 16, 2025
TV Advertising for E-commerce: The DTC Brand's Guide to CTV
How DTC brands are using CTV to escape rising social ad costs
Table of Contents
If your e-commerce brand has watched Meta CPMs climb while ROAS declines, you're not imagining things. The performance marketing playbook that built countless DTC brands is getting harder and more expensive every quarter.
But here's what's interesting: while digital marketers scramble for alternatives, e-commerce TV advertising is quietly becoming one of the most effective channels for online brands looking to diversify. Connected TV (CTV) combines the reach and credibility of television with the targeting and measurement capabilities that performance marketers demand.
This guide covers everything DTC brands need to know about TV advertising, from targeting online shoppers to measuring real ROAS from television campaigns.
The E-commerce TV Opportunity
Let's address the elephant in the room: TV advertising has historically been for big brands with big budgets. That's no longer true.
CTV has fundamentally changed the economics of television advertising:
Lower entry points. You can launch a CTV campaign for as little as $50. That's less than what many brands spend on a single day of Meta testing.
Precise targeting. Forget the spray-and-pray approach of traditional TV. CTV lets you target by demographics, interests, behaviors, and even purchase intent, much like your digital channels.
Measurable performance. Modern CTV platforms provide impression data, completion rates, and attribution capabilities that connect TV exposure to website visits and purchases.
Credibility boost. There's a reason brands historically paid premium prices for TV: seeing a brand on television signals legitimacy. For DTC brands competing against established players, that credibility matters.
The shift to streaming means your customers are increasingly watching ad-supported content on platforms like Hulu, Peacock, Tubi, and Pluto TV. That's your opportunity to reach them.
Targeting Online Shoppers on CTV
This is where CTV gets interesting for e-commerce marketers. Unlike traditional TV's broad demographic targeting, connected TV offers data-driven audience capabilities.
Behavioral targeting. Reach viewers based on their online behaviors, including shopping habits, browsing patterns, and content consumption.
Purchase intent data. Target audiences who have demonstrated interest in your product category. If someone has been researching skincare products online, you can reach them on their TV screen.
Lookalike audiences. Use your customer data to find similar prospects across CTV inventory.
Geographic precision. For brands with regional fulfillment or those testing new markets, you can target specific zip codes, cities, or regions.
Daypart targeting. Reach viewers during specific times when they're more likely to convert, whether that's evening primetime or weekend afternoons.
The key difference from Meta? These viewers aren't scrolling past your ad in 0.3 seconds. CTV completion rates average 95%+, meaning your full 30-second message actually gets watched.
Creative That Drives Online Sales
E-commerce CTV creative requires a different approach than your social ads. You have 30 seconds on the biggest screen in the house. Here's how to use them.
Lead with the product. Show what you're selling within the first five seconds. TV viewers need immediate visual context.
Tell the story, briefly. You have time to communicate "what problem you solve" and "why you're different" in a way that a six-second bumper ad never could.
Include a clear call-to-action. Whether it's "Visit [brand].com" or a QR code, give viewers a path to purchase. QR codes in particular have seen massive adoption since 2020.
Don't just repurpose social creative. Your Instagram Reels work great on mobile. On a 65-inch screen, they often don't. CTV creative needs to be designed for lean-back viewing.
Emphasize credibility. Press logos, customer count ("Join 50,000+ happy customers"), awards, or founder story elements work well on TV where trust-building is part of the medium's strength.
Attribution for E-commerce TV
Here's where performance marketers get nervous. How do you actually measure whether TV drove sales?
The good news: TV attribution has come a long way. Here's how to approach it for your e-commerce brand.
Direct response tracking:
QR codes: Track scans and subsequent purchases
Unique URLs: Use vanity URLs (brand.com/tv) in your creative
Promo codes: TV-specific discount codes for direct attribution
Multi-touch attribution:
Pixel-based tracking: Some CTV platforms can match ad exposure to website visits
Lift studies: Compare sales in markets where you ran TV vs. control markets
Incrementality testing: Measure sales lift during and after campaign flights
Brand metrics:
Direct traffic increases during campaigns
Branded search volume growth
Social mention increases
Customer survey data ("How did you hear about us?")
The reality is that CTV measurement isn't as precise as clicking from a Facebook ad to purchase. But for brands running at scale, the pattern becomes clear: TV exposure correlates with sales growth in ways that show up in your overall business metrics.
Budget Allocation: TV in the E-commerce Media Mix
So you're convinced TV might work. How much should you actually spend?
Start small, measure, scale. Most DTC brands start allocating 5-10% of their paid media budget to CTV testing. This is enough to gather meaningful data without betting the company.
Test duration matters. TV is a reach and frequency medium. A one-week test won't tell you much. Plan for 4-8 week initial campaigns to see patterns emerge.
Geographic testing. Start with one or two markets where you can clearly isolate the TV variable, then expand based on results.
The $50 entry point. With platforms like Adwave, you can literally start with $50 to create and run an ad. That's low enough to test without committee approval.
Realistic expectations. TV is primarily a brand-building channel that makes your other channels work better. Don't expect immediate 2x ROAS. Expect your overall CAC to improve over time as brand awareness compounds.
Combining CTV with Retargeting
Here's where e-commerce brands get tactical: using CTV to fill the top of funnel, then capturing demand with retargeting.
The strategy:
Run CTV campaigns to build awareness and drive initial site visits
Retarget those visitors with Meta/Google ads to close the sale
Measure the full-funnel impact, not just last-click attribution
Why this works:
CTV introduces your brand to new audiences at scale
Social retargeting captures the demand you created
Combined CAC is often lower than trying to do cold acquisition on social alone
CTV retargeting can also work in the other direction: serving TV ads to people who visited your site but didn't purchase. Seeing your brand on their TV screen can be the credibility boost that converts fence-sitters.
Case Examples: DTC Brands Succeeding on TV
While specific results vary, patterns emerge from DTC brands using TV effectively:
The skincare brand that allocated 15% of budget to CTV saw a 23% increase in branded search volume and a 12% decrease in Meta CAC over six months. TV didn't replace digital; it made digital work better.
The home goods DTC used geographic testing to prove TV lift. Markets with TV exposure showed 18% higher sales compared to control markets with identical digital spending.
The subscription box company found that TV-exposed customers had 34% higher LTV than customers acquired through social ads alone. The credibility factor meant customers were more committed from the start.
These aren't instant results. They're what happens when brands commit to TV as a channel and measure it properly over time.
Getting Started with E-commerce TV Advertising
Ready to test TV for your online store? Here's the practical path forward:
Step 1: Get your creative together. You can use existing video assets or let AI tools generate TV-ready creative from your product images and brand assets.
Step 2: Define your targeting. Who are you trying to reach? What markets? What demographics? Start focused, then expand.
Step 3: Set realistic budgets and timelines. Plan for at least a month of consistent spend to gather meaningful data.
Step 4: Establish measurement framework. Decide upfront how you'll measure success, whether that's direct response (QR codes, promo codes), brand lift (search volume, direct traffic), or full-funnel attribution.
Step 5: Launch and iterate. Like any channel, TV advertising improves with testing and optimization.
Ready to Diversify Beyond Digital?
If rising social ad costs have you searching for alternatives, TV advertising offers e-commerce brands something digital channels increasingly can't: attention, credibility, and a path to sustainable growth.
Adwave makes it easy to create professional TV commercials and launch targeted CTV campaigns, starting at just $50. No production budgets, no media buyers, no complexity.
Create your first e-commerce TV ad and see what your brand looks like on the biggest screen in the house.