Connected TV and streaming audio are the B2B channels most marketing teams know they should understand and fewest have tested meaningfully. That gap is closing quickly. As LinkedIn costs rise, Google CPCs in B2B categories increase, and buyers fragment across streaming platforms, CTV and audio are moving from experimental to core for B2B teams with sufficient scale and the right use cases. This guide explains when they work, how to set them up, and how to measure them honestly.
What is CTV advertising for B2B?
Connected TV advertising refers to video ads delivered to viewers via internet-connected televisions — smart TVs, streaming sticks (Roku, Amazon Fire), games consoles, and TV-connected devices. The key distinction from traditional TV advertising is the addressability: CTV allows you to target specific household or device attributes, including — increasingly — B2B firmographic data through data partnerships.
What it includes
Ads on streaming platforms viewed on televisions — Netflix (ad tier), Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, ITV X, Channel 4 streaming, Sky Go, NOW TV, Peacock, Hulu, and programmatic CTV inventory across thousands of apps and channels.
Targeting capability
Household-level targeting using IP address, device graph, and third-party data partnerships. B2B targeting typically uses company IP matching or LiveRamp-style identity resolution to reach business professionals at home.
Over-the-top (OTT)
Content delivered via the internet rather than cable or satellite. OTT includes both CTV (viewed on TV screens) and mobile/desktop streaming. For B2B targeting, CTV is generally preferred — the lean-back TV viewing context is more receptive to brand messages.
Why not linear TV?
Traditional linear TV (broadcast and cable) lacks addressability at the account or firmographic level. CTV provides the brand-building impact of TV with the targeting precision of digital. For most B2B programmes, linear TV is not an appropriate channel.
Why CTV and audio are growing in B2B
Three structural trends are making CTV and audio increasingly relevant for B2B marketers who have historically ignored them.
Senior B2B buyers — C-suite, VP, and Director-level professionals — over-index on streaming platforms relative to the general population. They watch less linear TV and more subscription streaming. They listen to more podcasts. They are reachable via these channels in their personal time in a way that LinkedIn and email cannot access.
Research from LinkedIn and multiple independent studies shows that B2B vendor consideration and shortlisting activity happens outside of core business hours — on evenings and weekends when decision-makers are researching independently. CTV and audio reach these buyers in those moments. LinkedIn and work email do not.
Google Search CPCs in B2B software categories have increased 25-40% over the past three years as more companies compete for the same in-market buyers. LinkedIn CPMs have risen similarly. CTV and podcast advertising remain relatively underpriced for B2B audiences because B2B marketers have been slow to adopt — creating a first-mover efficiency window that is closing.
CTV targeting for B2B account-based programmes
The targeting approach for B2B CTV is fundamentally different from B2C. You are not targeting demographics — you are targeting specific companies and job functions, using data partnerships that match professional identity to household and device data.
Match a list of target company IP addresses (available from tools like Clearbit, 6sense, or DemandBase) to CTV inventory. Ads are served to devices on those IP networks — primarily office environments, but increasingly captured for home IP addresses through device graph extensions. Works well for large enterprise accounts with fixed IP infrastructure.
Identity resolution providers like LiveRamp match professional identity data (LinkedIn profile, work email, company) to household and device profiles using probabilistic and deterministic matching. This allows you to serve CTV ads to "Chief Marketing Officers at companies with 500-5,000 employees" on their home televisions. Match rates are typically 30-50% of a target list.
LinkedIn's audience network extends to some CTV inventory and can be targeted using LinkedIn's first-party B2B data. Coverage is growing but still limited compared to dedicated CTV DSPs. Best used as an extension of an existing LinkedIn campaign rather than a standalone CTV strategy.
Target CTV inventory by content category — business news, finance, leadership content — rather than by individual profile. Lower precision than account-based targeting but broader reach and no data privacy concerns. Appropriate for category awareness campaigns where ICP definition is broad.
Effective B2B CTV requires enough impressions to drive brand recall in a target account list. For a target list of 500 accounts with a 40% match rate (200 matched households) and a frequency goal of 10 impressions per household per month, you need approximately 2,000 impressions monthly. At a £20-35 CPM for premium B2B CTV inventory, that is £40-70/month — but DSP minimums typically require £5,000-£10,000 per campaign. CTV is most cost-effective at scale: 1,000+ target accounts.
Podcast and streaming audio advertising for B2B
B2B podcast advertising has a different value proposition from CTV. Where CTV builds brand awareness through visual storytelling, podcast advertising builds authority and trust through association with expert content that your buyers are actively choosing to consume.
Creative requirements for CTV and audio
CTV and audio creative requirements differ significantly from display and social. Getting this wrong is the most common reason CTV and podcast campaigns underperform.
- CTV ads must work in a lean-back context: Viewers are not looking at their phones. They cannot click. Text overlays must be large. The brand name and value proposition must be clearly stated within the first 5 seconds — viewers cannot be expected to read fine print or engage with complex visuals.
- Audio ads must convey the message without visuals: Write audio scripts assuming zero visual context. State the company name, the specific problem you solve, and the one action you want the listener to take — typically a URL that is easy to remember and type. Vanity URLs (yourcompany.com/podcast) with specific landing pages enable attribution.
- Frequency is brand-building, not annoyance — at the right cap: Brand recall from CTV and audio requires repeated exposure. 3-5 impressions per viewer over a 30-day period builds recognition. Above 7-8, it becomes irritating without improving recall. Set frequency caps deliberately and monitor them.
- 15-second CTV pre-rolls need a single message: If your ad runs as a 15-second non-skippable pre-roll, you have one job: state who you are, what you do, and where to find out more. Anything more complex than that will be forgotten by the time the content starts.
Measurement and attribution
CTV and audio attribution is genuinely difficult — and anyone who tells you otherwise is either oversimplifying or selling you something. The channels work, but the measurement requires a different framework than digital performance channels.
CTV DSPs can measure view-through visits (people who saw your CTV ad and subsequently visited your website) using IP matching and device graph. Brand lift studies measure aided recall, unaided recall, and consideration shift among exposed vs unexposed audiences. These are imperfect but directionally reliable.
CTV and audio will never appear in last-touch attribution reports. A buyer who saw your CTV ad, searched Google two weeks later, and completed a demo request will be attributed to Google Search. Accept this before running the campaign — or you will defund a working channel based on attribution model limitations.
Add a "How did you first hear about us?" field to every demo request form and discovery call script. A meaningful percentage of buyers who saw your CTV or podcast ad will self-report it — especially podcast listeners who have high recall for host-read ads. This is the most reliable signal you have for audio attribution.
Run CTV campaigns in specific geographies or against specific account lists and compare pipeline generation rates in exposed vs unexposed cohorts. This is a blunt instrument but provides directional evidence of impact at the market level — particularly useful for companies with sufficient deal volume to run meaningful tests.
Our paid media programmes are built specifically for B2B sales cycles - audience targeting, bidding strategy, and creative that optimises for pipeline quality, not click volume.