Where are you getting your CTV creative? Is its development a cross-functional effort imbued with strategic thinking and meticulous research…or is it an afterthought?
Bad CTV creative will do more harm than good. Since CTV is a channel that excels at establishing brand recall, the imagery you provide is what will cement itself in customers’ minds and be permanently associated with your brand.
People see hundreds of similar ads a day. One of the biggest differentiators between one ad and the next is creative.
In a study comparing reach, context, recency, creative, and targeting, creative quality is the most important factor in inspiring viewer action. Unfortunately, many teams treat creative like an afterthought even though it’s one of the biggest drivers of KPIs.
We spoke with Chad Rogers, CRO and co-founder of our video production partner Lemonlight, about how they work with clients to create standout CTV creative — take note.
A discrete guide to creative is counterproductive since creative is tailored to a brand. However, these are the general recommendations Lemonlight gives for polished results:
Every element of an advertising campaign needs a goal, even the creative piece.
At Lemonlight, they prioritize the objectives of creative before production: “Before initiating any creative work, it's crucial to establish specific campaign objectives and understand the target audience. This alignment ensures that the content resonates with viewers and meets the desired outcomes.”
It’s hard to measure the impact of one ad element. However, for creative, there are some metrics that can point to its effectiveness:
Video Completion Rate (VCR): This measures how many viewers completed an ad. Low VCR can suggest weak creative.
Engagement metrics (CTR, interactions): In interactive or shoppable CTV experiences (like QR codes or remote clicks), a higher CTR indicates stronger creative engagement.
Brand lift metrics: If you have access to a third-party study, a brand lift study will compare metrics like brand recall, awareness, and favorability between a group who has seen your ad and a group who hasn’t.
A/B test performance: As with other ad channels, A/B tests can also work to isolate creative differences.
Completion rate: Similar to VTR, this signals whether the content holds attention, especially in a non-skippable CTV environment.
Testing variants is an essential aspect of ad maintenance. Savvy advertisers segment for their audience, so it’s important to have creative that speaks directly to them.
Lemonlight recommends tweaking the essentials: “Test different hooks, CTAs, or formats. Continuous testing allows you to identify what resonates best with a specific audience segment and allows for better optimization across campaigns.”
For instance, Lemonlight worked on these baby registry ads for Amazon. Notice how the two serve different purposes?:
You remember the wild west days of video ads — you could see the same commercial 20 times a day. Thankfully, we curb that with frequency capping.
“To maintain viewer interest and avoid overexposure, it's important to set frequency caps on ad delivery,” says Lemonlight. “This strategy helps in sustaining audience engagement over time.”
Adding interactive features, such as QR codes, can bridge the gap between the TV screen and digital platforms. These elements encourage viewers to take immediate action, driving higher engagement and conversion rates.
One of the most powerful advantages of CTV is the ability to run a series of connected ads that unfold over time. We often design campaigns as multi-part narratives that build familiarity and deepen emotional connection with each touchpoint. This approach encourages repeat engagement and helps audiences grow more invested in the brand story — especially across longer campaigns or product rollouts.
CTV is a full-funnel play that stretches far beyond the top of the funnel.
“CTV content should work hand-in-hand with ads running across other digital platforms. When integrated into full-funnel campaigns, CTV ads reinforce messaging and provide consistent brand exposure throughout the buyer journey.”
In video marketing, you usually have 3 seconds to hook your audience. It’s typically advantageous to explain who you are and what you do clearly in that time.
Lemonlight recommends grabbing attention with “a striking visual, a bold statement, or unexpected movement. Our goal is to stop the scroll — even if there’s no scroll. We tailor the hook to match the tone and tempo of the surrounding programming while staying true to the brand.”
What’s your brand about? CTV ads give you space to play with how you communicate this, outside of vision statements and value props.
Lemonlight encourages storytelling: “CTV gives us room to build narrative, so we lean into storytelling that flows logically and emotionally. That might mean building characters across multiple ad variations or crafting a punchy product demo with a clear ‘problem-solution’ arc.”
Remember how we recommended motion graphics templates? Lemonlight reminds us, “From color palette to logo usage and motion graphics, consistency is key. These visual cues help reinforce brand recall across touchpoints and build long-term affinity.”
What do you want the ad to make viewers do? The most actionable ads, particularly for brands just dipping their toes into CTV, have clear calls to action.
Thankfully, as Lemonlight mentions, CTV has diverse CTA options: “Even if the ad doesn’t link directly to a conversion point, we always include a clear next step—whether that’s visiting a site, scanning a QR code, or ‘learning more.’ Calls-to-action should be visually integrated and timed to match audience intent.”
Unattractive creative harms your reputation. Ensure that you have the tools you need to create high-quality video, whether it’s in-house or through a creative partner.
A significant problem with many CTV advertising platforms is their lack of analytics.
With AdRoll, however, you can view real-time analytics and performance insights from an easy-to-digest reporting dashboard. Our CTV identity graph maps personal devices to households, allowing you to attribute CTV ads to website or mobile app conversions.
We also partner with Cint for brand lift insights. This helps advertisers understand metrics that are more difficult to measure, like brand awareness.
It’s important to have your logo present on a CTV ad so shoppers can quickly associate it with your brand. You also need consistent motion graphics to use across ads.
Lemonlight puts it like this: “Visuals need to be not only polished but also immediately brand-recognizable. Whether we’re highlighting a logo, animating product features, or reinforcing calls-to-action, templates help us scale design elements across campaigns without sacrificing quality or speed.”
Context matters; ads that are relevant to the content viewers consume improves conversation. That’s why AdRoll provides contextual targeting.
Contextual insights inform creative production: “Knowing when and where an ad will run — whether it’s during a cooking show, financial news, or kids’ programming — lets us tailor messaging, visuals, and pacing to the mindset of the viewer. These contextual insights help our creative feel more relevant and increase the chances of meaningful engagement.”
Of course, your team will need state-of-the art video production equipment to match the quality standards expected of CTV.
Limelight uses Hero: “Hero automates and simplifies key pre-production tasks like call sheets, talent casting, and location booking—cutting timelines in half.
“That time savings allows our team to reinvest those hours into what matters most: refining creative concepts and maximizing on-set execution. The result is a faster, more agile production process that doesn’t compromise on creativity or quality — perfect for fast-turn CTV campaigns.”
CTV ain’t your average advertising channel. And it requires tailor-made creative.
Lemonlight makes CTV-specific considerations when producing for CTV: “We favor wider compositions, larger typography, and bolder visual cues that read clearly from a distance. We also make sure sound design is richer, knowing many viewers are watching with sound on in a living room setting.”
How do they know these effects are paying off?
“We work closely with clients to enable iterative testing,” says Lemonlight. “That starts on our end by delivering multiple creative variants—different hooks, CTAs, or visual treatments—so there’s flexibility to A/B test once content is live. We also encourage clients to share performance feedback so we can incorporate learnings into future videos. On a strategic level, we plan for modular storytelling where scenes or sequences can be swapped, shortened, or extended depending on what performs best—giving brands the agility to respond to real-time insights without starting from scratch.”
Creative is one of the biggest barriers to advertisers entering the CTV market. It’s hard to know where to start, even with all these tips.
Looking for somebody to take the responsibility of CTV creative production off your hands? Lemonlight partners with AdRoll to deliver high-performing CTV ads. Here’s a snapshot of what your collaboration with them would look like:
“Before production begins, it’s important that our creative team has a clear understanding of the target audience—including key demographics, psychographics, viewing behaviors, and any first-party data the brand can share. We also gather context on the campaign’s primary goal, the media plan, and any existing brand assets or messaging frameworks we should work within.
We also recommend clients provide details like:
Preferred tone or emotional cues (should it be funny, inspirational, serious?)
Known behavioral insights or purchase triggers
Performance data from previous campaigns (if available)”
These are pieces all advertisers should have, even those without an in-house video production team to execute.
If you’re ready to put your brand’s name on the big screen, consider AdRoll CTV and know we can help every step of the way.
Last updated on May 16th, 2025.
