TV advertising has historically been reserved for large brands with bigger budgets and dedicated media teams. Self-serve CTV platforms are changing that by giving businesses the ability to launch, target, and measure TV campaigns just like their paid social campaigns but on the big screen.
Why TV advertising matters right now:
- TV outperforms paid social ads for trust and recall. A full-screen, non-skippable ad next to a show someone chose to watch does something a scrollable ad can't.
- Self-serve platforms make TV accessible to brands of all sizes. You don't need an agency or a six-figure minimum to get on premium TV.
- You can reach your audience the way you do on paid social, with the scale TV is known for.
Five questions to ask any CTV platform
- Where does your ad actually run? Some platforms are streaming only. Others include linear TV too.
- Who supplies the inventory, and how do you buy it? Programmatic exchanges, direct publisher relationships, or a curated network all behave differently on reach, quality and cost.
- Are there spend minimums? A five-figure monthly minimum is a hard way to start. Self-serve options let you test first.
- How much setup does it take? Some platforms need an onboarding process. Others put a self-serve account live in minutes.
- What does the price include? Platform fees, markups and ad-serving charges can add up on top of what you think you're paying.
How Universal Ads Compare to the main types of CTV Platforms
Universal Ads at a Glance
Universal Ads is a self-serve marketplace for premium TV advertising. You can buy from a network of premium publishers across streaming and linear, rather than from a single owner's catalog.
- Publishers: Universal Ads gives businesses of all sizes direct access to the same inventory as the world's biggest brands. Advertise across 20+ of the biggest names in TV including A+E, AMC Networks, Cox Communications, DIRECTV, Estrella, Fox, Fuse Media, LG Ad Solutions, NBCUniversal, Paramount, Philo, Roku, Samsung, Scripps, Spectrum, TelevisaUnivision, Telly, Vevo, Vizio, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Xumo.
- Fees: 100% of your media spend goes toward media. No platform fees or markups.
- Contracts: Start, stop or pause whenever you like.
- Creative: No commercial yet? Creative support helps you build a TV-ready ad at no additional media cost.
- Set-up: The self-serve ads manager is about as easy as launching on paid social.
Want to see it in practice? Read how independent pizzerias used TV advertising.
Start Your First TV Campaign with Universal Ads
Universal Ads combines premium publisher inventory with a self-serve platform built for brands of any size. In-platform reporting and integrations make it easy for brands to build, launch and scale campaigns with no added platform fees. If you’ve been buying social and search and want to know what TV advertising can do for your business, start your first campaign with Universal Ads.
Keep learning about TV Advertising
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