Reimagining the In-House Agency

For years, in-house agencies (IHAs) have been the holy grail of marketing efficiency. They were faster, cheaper, and closer to the brand than relying on external agencies and partners. But today, as budgets tighten and speed-to-market is measured in days, not months, strategy can feel outdated even before launch. And many companies are rethinking the equation: What belongs in-house? What should be outsourced, or automated? And where does AI fit in? 

Market forces from cost-cutting pressures to evolving talent needs are influencing in-house agency structures. At the same time, external factors such as a changing political climate and rapid technological advances mean campaigns must evolve in real time. Generative AI has also transformed how strategy and storytelling come together. And the rise of “vibe marketing,” where campaigns are built around mood, movement, and cultural resonance rather than hard data or demographics, reflects a new creative instinct powered by AI tools. 

Even high-profile internal shops aren’t immune to the shift. Liquid Sunshine, the award-winning in-house agency behind Keurig Dr Pepper, was recently dismantled as they chose to move away from their in-house creative model. And while Mark Zuckerberg predicted that AI will eventually take over agency work, the reality today is far from apocalyptic. Instead, it is ushering in an era of nimble decision-making that blends human creativity with AI-driven insight.

From Consolidated to Connected: How AI Is Rewriting the IHA Playbook 

For many IHAs, capabilities can lag behind ambition: A 2025 Gartner survey found more than a quarter of CMOs have limited or no AI adoption in their marketing campaigns. That gap is forcing teams to make critical choices about how to build, buy, or borrow the technology they need to stay competitive.

Some brands are building proprietary AI systems: A massive technical and financial lift that demands new governance frameworks and training programs. For example, Adobe leverages the tools created for external partners for in-house work. Second Wave, the IHA for Aimbridge Hospitality, created closed-source, proprietary AI platforms that allow new hotels and projects to autonomously jumpstart brand-building. 

Other IHAs are partnering with external agencies that have their own AI infrastructure, a choice that can unlock efficiency but sometimes means ceding a bit of control. U.S. Bank, for example, has developed a hybrid approach, using agency Supergood for heavier lifts, while using their own in-house systems for everyday marketing efforts.  

Either way, workflows are being rewritten. The once-clear boundaries between internal and external teams are blurring, requiring tighter communication, shared platforms, and co-created content pipelines. Unilever’s Beauty AI Studio is a perfect example. “We used to send briefs off and get content back. Now it’s this agile, iterative approach,” Selina Sykes, Global VP and Head of Marketing Transformation for Beauty and Wellbeing, told Digiday about how the beauty brand is shifting.  

Turning Pressure into Possibility 

In-house agencies are at an inflection point. The pressure to do more with less can feel relentless. But it’s also sparking innovation. Constraints are forcing teams to rethink legacy structures, pilot new workflows, and uncover efficiencies that create both creative and budgetary flex. 

The first move is clarity. Map how work actually gets done … not how it’s supposed to get done. Identify bottlenecks, overlapping roles, and where technology is underused or skills are lagging. A fresh set of eyes can help: many brands are bringing in consultancies or external auditors to benchmark performance and uncover hidden inefficiencies. 

From there, experiment in controlled environments. Pilot hybrid workflows that combine AI-assisted production with human oversight. Start with lower-stakes campaigns to test new processes, clarify ownership, and measure output. The goal isn’t to do everything internally, but to decide what belongs in-house, what can be automated, and what’s best handled by trusted partners.

Upskilling is critical. As creative, marketing, and tech roles continue to converge, AI fluency and cross-functional collaboration are becoming baseline expectations. Teams that invest in training now will be better positioned to lead, not follow, as tools and platforms evolve. Just as important is finding the right partners who complement internal strengths, bring specialized expertise, and can flex as priorities shift. 

If projects stall in approvals, campaigns feel repetitive, or AI tools sit idle, those are signs it’s time for your IHA to recalibrate, not rebuild. The strongest IHAs see transformation as a continuous cycle of testing, learning, and scaling what works. Because at this turning point, the real advantage isn’t size or spend. It’s the ability to stay flexible, adapt fast, and turn every constraint into a catalyst for better work. 

The Future of IHAs is Human 

The next era of in-house work isn’t defined by automation. It’s defined by alignment: between people and platforms, insight and execution, creativity and technology. Because while AI may be able to execute campaigns, it’s people who decide which campaigns matter. Teams are the connective tissue that allow brands to pivot, sense cultural shifts, and build authentic identity in ways only humans can. 

Creative Circle helps brands build flexible, future-ready teams that blend human expertise with emerging technology. Whether you’re reimagining your IHA or exploring AI-enhanced workflows, we can help you find the right mix of people, partners, and potential.  

About the Author: Anna Davies is a Creative Circle freelancer who specializes in personal finance, investing, fintech, and startups. She has worked with WeWork, Happy Money, and Haven Life —plus Fortune 500 companies such as Goldman Sachs, American Express, Citi, and Chase. Davies has also collaborated and ghostwritten for multiple New York Times bestsellers. 

HubSpot’s INBOUND conference is one of the busiest and most influential marketing gatherings in North America every year. This year, Creative Circle sent two of our best and brightest operations leaders, Devin Daniel and Ben Dabdoub, to rub shoulders and gather insights firsthand. 

Here are Devin and Ben’s three key takeaways from three full days of presentations and conversations with top marketing leaders. 

1. AI is everywhere, and it’s here to stay. 

The message was loud and clear: AI isn’t coming, it’s already here, and it’s transforming every corner of marketing, sales, and the customer experience. And — sigh of relief — it’s not eliminating marketers; it’s being fully integrated into workflows to enhance their impact.

“AI is more than just a tool in your toolbox; it’s getting so much deeper than that,” says Ben.

For marketers, this means moving beyond experimenting with ChatGPT or automating email subject lines. It’s time to operationalize AI — embedding it into content creation, audience segmentation, and performance analysis. 

Here’s a few ways to start building that partnership: 

  • Content at scale: AI can help draft outlines, repurpose longform content into bite-sized assets, and personalize messaging for different audience segments. 
  • Predictive insights: Use AI-powered analytics to forecast campaign performance, identify emerging trends, and make data-backed decisions faster. 
  • Customer journey mapping: AI can help visualize and optimize the customer journey by analyzing behavioral data across touchpoints. 

Developing a clear AI strategy should be at the forefront of every leadership discussion. Neither team leader nor individual contributor should be ignoring the technology, and everyone should be armed with the training to deploy it.  

2. Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) is the new SEO, and it’s changing how customers find you.


AEO is the practice of optimizing content to be discoverable by AI-driven answer engines, such as Google’s featured snippets, voice assistants (like Alexa and Siri) and ChatGPT.  

At INBOUND, one stat kept surfacing: Nearly 60% of Google searches now result in zero clicks. HubSpot Senior Director of Global Growth Aja Frost said, “It’s kind of bonkers. For a long time, Google has been the most predictable way to drive traffic and demand to your business.”  

Today, users are getting answers directly from AI-powered overviews, without ever landing on your website. Traditional SEO, built around keywords and rankings, is no longer enough.

“Instead of chasing clicks, focus on building trust with content that directly answers your customers’ questions,” is the advice Devin said she’ll be sharing with her clients. “And it should live in the places where those questions are being asked,” Devin adds.   

To position your brand for AI-conversion, you must: 

  • Create clear authoritative content that AI can easily extract and summarize. 
    • Can ChatGPT clearly articulate what your company does, who it serves, and why it’s better than your competition?  
  • Focus on natural language (the way people actually speak) and long-tail keywords that reflect how people are using voice search or AI tools. 
  • Publish on people-driven platforms like YouTube, podcasts, and social media platforms where users ask and answer questions, such as TikTok, LinkedIn, and Reddit. AI tools prioritize this type of content!  

3. The marketing funnel is not linear.   

Marketing leaders have been saying this for a while, and at INBOUND, they drove the concept home.  

Traditionally, marketers imagined the customer journey as a straight path. But today, especially in an AI-influenced world, buyers don’t move through a linear funnel — they jump between stages, circle back to earlier steps, and discover through unexpected channels. 

Enter HubSpot’s new coined concept: Loop Marketing. 

It’s a customer-centric strategy that replaces the traditional marketing funnel with a continuous cycle of engagement, where marketing, sales, and service teams collaborate to attract and engage customers in an ongoing loop. 

The four-step framework has AI weaved in at every stage: 

  • Express: Define your brand voice and core message before turning to AI to output.
  • Tailor: Make your message feel truly personal, not just personalized.
  • Amplify: Ensure you’re discoverable across the channels your buyers trust.
  • Evolve: Use real-time insights to optimize and adapt continuously.

Ben describes Loop as, “Humans working with AI to be faster, more prescriptive, and more predictive.”  Devin says, “Unlike the funnel, which ends at conversion, Loop Marketing keeps the conversation going.”   This cyclical pattern is crucial because it mirrors how modern consumers interact with brands. 

Final Thoughts
INBOUND 2025 made one thing clear: the future of marketing is human-AI collaboration. 

At Creative Circle, we’re in the business of connecting forward-thinking brands with future-ready talent. Whether you’re hiring or freelancing, we’re here to help you navigate the shifts and embrace what’s next. 

Sources: HubSpot’s Spotlight with Yamini Rangan and Karen Ng, AI Broke Your Marketing 

There was a time when working with an agency meant stepping into a world of slick pitches, three-martini lunches, and a whole lot of overhead. But today’s marketing leaders are navigating a much different reality … and losing the bar cart is the least of it. Today, leaders are simultaneously handling rapid shifts in technology, AI disruption, leaner teams, and pressure to do more with less. Add in economic uncertainty, and decision makers are looking for agency solutions that aren’t one-size-fits-all, and that understand that a dynamic environment needs a team who can partner (and pivot) with them.

That’s why some brands are increasingly turning to creative partners who offer something different: flexibility, transparency, and teams that feel like an extension of their own. Here’s what to look for in an agency model that can meet the moment, and scale with you through whatever comes next.

Talent You Know And Trust

We’ve all been there: The pitch dazzles and emails are answered seconds after you’ve sent them. But once the kickoff is set up, your day-to-day contacts can be a rotating set of staffers, while the senior leaders who won your business are nowhere to be found. Rather than diving into work, the first few weeks of a project are spent trying to figure out who’s responsible for what, while trying to effectively communicate your needs. Several months into the project, you’ve barely seen any deliverables.

A modern agency should give you access to the actual team that’s executing the work: Specialists you know by name, with deep expertise who understand your space and your goals, and who can take the brief or project and immediately understand what’s expected. This team includes the mix of people who assure that communications and creative are effectively covered, including dedicated points of contact, specialized skill sets, and fresh voices who aren’t afraid to share what they’re seeing in the marketplace and how your brand can cut through the noise.

Custom Teams Built Around You

A team that covers all bases doesn’t mean an inflated team. The right partner will build your team based on your goals, challenges, and existing internal resources. Whether you need a full content production engine, a UX sprint team, or just one whip-smart copywriter to plug into your brand studio, you should be able to scale up or down without renegotiating your entire contract. It’s about hand-selecting the right mix of talent for the jobs in your queue and having the flexibility to pivot — with the resources ready for whatever you may need.

Flexibility and Transparency

AI is transforming how we create, market, and measure. Economic headwinds are shifting where and how budgets get spent. In this environment, agility is essential. Your agency partner should be able to scale teams based on project flow, as well as provide niche expertise needed, such as AI content integration. And even as they integrate tech into deliverables, the best agency partners bring a human element and clear POV to the project, offering opinions, learnings, and unique perspectives while serving as collaborative support for your internal team.

This collaboration means anchoring the partnership in transparency and accountability. With increased scrutiny on budgets, CMOs and marketing leaders need clear, measurable ROI on every dollar spent. This includes real time reporting to show time and resource utilization, strategic visibility into where talent is being deployed and who is driving results, as well as a pricing system where you’re only paying for the time you’re actually using, rather than being locked into an opaque retainer.

A Team That Works Together To Drive Results

The best creative partners don’t just deliver assets, they build momentum. They integrate into your systems, learn your voice, and get to know your stakeholders. And when it makes sense to convert a contractor into a full-time employee, the right model should make that easy. Because sometimes the best person for your team is already part of your team. An agency that can provide top-tier talent and celebrate when it’s a match for full-time conversion is one who has your best interest in mind, rather than a separate agenda that creates a moat between you and the talent that understands your business best.

At Creative Circle, This Is the Model

We’ve built our agency services with today’s marketing realities in mind:

– Top-tier talent with specialty skill sets and proven experience

– Custom-built teams designed around your exact needs

– Flexible models that scale with you, and evolve as your strategy shifts

– A people-first approach that blends seamlessly into your internal team

– Transparent pricing and reporting to help you stay in control

About Creative Circle

💡 At Creative Circle, our human recruiters identify the right candidates and teams, for your marketing and creative projects. We ensure your pain points are solved with top tier talent, backed by deep industry experience. Whether it’s building creative teams, expanding your capacity with the right contractors, or filling that one critical role, we make sure you exceed your goals and drive meaningful results.

About the Author: Anna Davies is a Creative Circle freelancer who specializes in personal finance, investing, fintech, and startups. She has worked with WeWork, Happy Money, and Haven Life —plus Fortune 500 companies such as Goldman Sachs, American Express, Citi, and Chase. Davies has also collaborated and ghostwritten for multiple New York Times bestsellers.

In today’s fast-paced business environment, hiring managers are constantly seeking ways to streamline their recruitment and hiring processes while still ensuring they find the best candidate for the job. One tool that is becoming more prevalent in the hiring process is the Applicant Tracking System (ATS). 

Optimizing Efficiencies with an ATS

Did you know the average job posting receives 250 resumes? But less than 25% are seen by human eyes, and hiring managers spend less than 60 seconds reviewing each one.  

An Applicant Tracking System (ATS) is a software tool used by businesses to manage and streamline the recruitment process to find the best possible matches more quickly and enhance the client and candidate’s experiences. When used correctly, it can streamline the recruitment process by efficiently managing large volumes of resumes, ensuring that no potential candidate is overlooked. 

Despite its efficiency advantages, hiring managers still need to ensure they’re looking at the big picture of hiring and leverage a combination of an ATS, other recruitment tools, and human relationships to maximize their hiring success. Here are some tips to help you optimize your hiring process. 

Tips for Hiring Managers

Connect with Candidates Personally

As you work with your trusted recruiting partner who is helping you get candidates past the ATS stage, make time to connect with that candidate on the phone or through a video chat. Even a quick 15–20-minute call can make all the difference. 

“It’s really hard to value people’s personalities and work ethic straight from a resume. So really do what you can to take the time to speak with that individual. If they’re checking off, you know, seven of the 10 check boxes, we encourage you to have that conversation.”  – Cameron Little, tenured Creative Circle Recruiter. 

 

Take the time to speak to a candidate and get to know them as a person.

Enter the Search with an Open Mind 

When going into your search for a candidate, keep an open mind and consider transferable skills, or candidates who have experience in adjacent industries.  

“There’s a lot of candidates who can bring value to your company versus really trying to focus on finding the perfect candidate. So, I think obviously the skills and the experience need to be relevant, but I think with the when you’re prioritizing those transferable skills, you can find a lot of great people out there.” – Cody Pickett, tenured Creative Circle Recruiter. 

 

Enter your search with an open mind and consider transferrable skills to expand your talent pool.

Find the Balance 

Relying solely on technology can result in missing the nuanced insights that human interactions provide. By integrating ATS alongside human relationships with industry professionals, recruitment partners, and the candidates themselves, managers can cast a wider net to better inform their decisions.  

This holistic approach ensures that hiring managers not only identify the most qualified candidates but also those who will thrive and contribute positively to the organization.

We Can Help

We’re your trusted partner during the hiring process. Creative Circle’s employees come from the creative industry themselves, so they understand your unique challenges and needs. Here are all the roles we place across freelance, full-time and managed service’s needs, including: 

Let’s get started.  

About Creative Circle 

💡 At Creative Circle, our human recruiters identify the right candidates and teams, for your marketing and creative projects. We ensure your pain points are solved with top tier talent, backed by deep industry experience. Whether it’s building creative teams, expanding your capacity with the right contractors, or filling that one critical role, we make sure you exceed your goals and drive meaningful results.   

In the past two years, AI innovation has swept through all facets of the marketing world, from hiring to deployment. While AI has always run in the background, now it’s become front and center, raising potential for efficiency and innovation — alongside concerns and frustrations. Employers who prioritize the intersection of human potential and technology will not only keep pace—they’ll lead.

Integrating a Human Touch in Talent Recruitment

Tech tools were supposed to make it easier and more efficient to hire best-in-class talent. And yet, both talent and employers still face frustrations over applicant tracking systems (ATS) which are used by nearly all Fortune 500 companies. LinkedIn and Reddit boards are full of stories from talent and recruiters alike, frustrated that the best talent can sometimes be overlooked, including a viral story of a manager whose own resume was rejected by the ATS, leading him to realize a code error was auto-rejecting all applicants.

Relying on applicant tracking systems alone can also open employers to vulnerabilities: AI platforms can raise bias, fairness, and equity concerns, with one hiring platform even facing a lawsuit alleging the platform’s AI-based hiring tools are discriminatory. And candidates too, can use AI tools to enhance and tailor their resumes for positions they might not be qualified for: According to one 2023 survey conducted by resume services company Standout CV, nearly three-quarters of job candidates would consider using AI tools to “embellish their resumes.”

To address these challenges, organizations should invest in hybrid recruitment models that blend AI efficiency with human oversight. This helps to ensure fairness, reduce errors, and align hiring practices with organizational values.

Having a Strong Tech POV for Maximum Results

Generative AI has significantly disrupted and impacted creative work, from ideation to execution, and the results have hit mainstream conversation. For example, an AI-made update of a classic holiday Coca-Cola commercial generated controversy, and AI integration into the popular Spotify Wrapped has also drawn mixed reactions. Ultimately, the outcome still matters, and the most successful teams in the future will likely be the ones that can integrate AI tools to boost efficiency and innovation, while using a human touch to ensure projects align with core values.

There’s also the concern over “non-authorized AI use;” Creatives who are bringing AI tools into the office without disclosure or approval, raising concerns over privacy, copyright, and more. One 2024 report published by LinkedIn and Microsoft found that 78% of workers — especially those at small and mid-size companies — are bringing their own AI tools into work, and more than half of them are reluctant to admit to using it, due to concerns that doing so might make them seem replaceable.

Employers can mitigate these risks by developing clear guidelines on how and when AI tools should be used. This not only fosters transparency but also empowers employees to leverage AI responsibly for better results.

Building a Holistic Tech-Integrated Strategy for Everyday Tasks

Tech tools can be invaluable — but it’s key that all parties feel confident using them to enhance the KPIs and goals of the department. While AI potential has only increased, new data from Slack’s Workforce Index Study has found that there has been stagnation in AI adoption, partially due to lack of training.

Marketing departments also face the problem of too much tech, not enough talent. One 2023 study found that marketers only use about one-third of their stack, partially due to a skills gap within their teams.

To bridge this divide, organizations can continue to prioritize ongoing training and bring in outside experts to maximize the stack.

Looking forward, thoughtful tech adoption can parallel alongside robust talent development. By fostering a culture of innovation and integration, employers can transform AI and tech tools into catalysts for creativity, efficiency, and growth.

hand pointing forward towards 2025 graphic

Talent and Tech: The Path Forward in 2025

Our new report, Finding the Human Edge: Where Talent Meets Technology, explores key trends at the intersection of talent and technology. With more tech advancements on the horizon, it’s clear that AI and human talent are complementary. The companies who are poised to succeed will be prepared to integrate AI efficiencies alongside human innovation.

At Creative Circle, our human recruiters identify the right candidates and teams for your marketing and creative projects. By forging transformative relationships, we ensure your pain points are solved with top-tier talent, backed by deep industry expertise. From building creative teams to evolving marketing strategies and maximizing tech stacks, we help you exceed your goals and drive meaningful results.

Marketing has gone through a full tech revolution, transforming departments from creative islands into data-driven, digitally powered machines. This reliance on tech, when executed well, is a powerful force—fueling decisions, streamlining workflows, enabling precise measurement of campaign impact, and all while delivering a seamless customer experience. But in reality, even top-performing companies face challenges: duplicated efforts, inefficiencies from knowledge gaps, and ongoing frustration over how to optimize and truly streamline their tech stack so it works in concert with human teams.

The martech landscape has exploded, with over 14,000 solutions now available—representing a 27.9% growth year-over-year. According to a study by LXAHub, CMOs report an average of 56 tools in their tech stack, yet more isn’t always better. Another survey, run by Protean Studios, found that many CMOs are prioritizing simplification as they move forward, aiming to trim down and refine their stacks.  

Here’s how marketing leaders can optimize their tech, empower their teams, and continue to maximize the transformative potential of AI and automation in the years ahead. 

Smaller Stack, Larger Results

As martech options multiply, the paradox is clear: simplification has never been more critical. This means integrating specialized, long-tail apps into larger, core solutions like customer relationship management (CRM) and marketing automation platform (MAP) systems. Often, marketing teams inherit a mishmash of niche programs, some outdated or overlapping, making it hard to streamline. Conducting a thorough audit can help CMOs and marketing leaders alike identify the essential tools and ensure best-in-class solutions are deployed effectively across the marketing funnel. 

Inherited programs can also make migrations a logistical nightmare, with data transfer, integration compatibility, and team training all posing significant hurdles. A phased migration approach, backed by a clear roadmap, can ease the transition. Leveraging third-party experts can also provide valuable support, ensuring a smoother handover and minimizing disruptions to the core team’s workflow and productivity. 

Making Smart Decisions to Maximize AI Potential: Building the Right Team to Handle Platform Integration

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Large Language Model (LLM) technology has changed the martech landscape, rapidly evolving how sentiment analysis, predictive analytics, and demographic segmentation, for example, operate at peak efficacy. Relying on old programs is likely ineffective, or potentially damaging to your brand. However, it can be challenging to select the right tools for your goals and leverage the power of AI to stand out from the pack.  

Statistics from Salesforce show that 43% of marketers “don’t know” how to get the most value from AI, and, according to the same dataset, less than a quarter of firms have AI education and training for the marketing team. Still, nearly 50% of CMOs are piloting, or looking to pilot, initiatives surrounding AI and machine learning within the next 24 months, according to LXA Hub data. 

How can marketing departments quickly and effectively deploy the best AI solutions?

One approach for successful platform integration is to look for external consultants who can fill in the knowledge gaps within your team to quickly and effectively move AI and LLM solutions from pilot to scale. 

By partnering with external specialists, marketing departments can better deploy AI strategies, without waiting for headcount to open up. This flexibility allows teams to focus their budget on the most pressing concerns, ensuring resources are most effectively allocated.  

Additionally, tapping into subject matter experts in this area can provide the flexibility to pivot and adapt as opportunities and needs arise, keeping your team nimble, with the capability to comfortably execute campaigns with new technology.

Building the Right Team to Maximize the Stack from Head to Tail

With AI and machine learning taking center stage in marketing strategy, tech budgets are soaring: according to LXA Hub, technology now consumes 30% of marketing spend, a jump from 24% in 2022. Yet, as marketing leaders focus on talent and acquisition, many face a skills gap in their teams.  

One common issue: Often, marketing operates in isolation from IT, even though today’s tools demand a solid tech foundation and a sophisticated mastery of tech implementation. Finding talent that aligns with both the stack’s demands and the team’s overarching goals isn’t easy. A G2 survey highlights this friction, with over half of marketers citing integration issues as a roadblock to adopting new technologies. 

The path forward is complex: Marketers need tech-savvy talent to fully leverage their stack’s potential, while also ensuring that their team has a balanced mix of creatives and strategists to drive innovation and effectively execute the campaigns derived from the data extrapolated by today’s next-gen tech.  

Bringing in the right people can bridge this gap: from auditing current tools and training team members to crafting workflows and roadmaps, expert talent in these areas can help ensure every solution is fully utilized and aligned with long-term strategy. 

A Stack Built for Evolution, Created by Top-Tier Talent

Investing in your martech stack is one of the most impactful choices marketing leaders today can make. But even the best technology can fall short without the right team to fully harness its potential. 

How can you keep both your tech and team performing at peak capacity?

Finding the right balance between internal teams and outside expertise when needed is imperative to ensure that your tech investments are being effectively utilized not just for the campaigns of today, but for the campaigns of tomorrow. Additionally, having access to a broader talent pool gives your team the flexibility to efficiently allocate resources, rather than waiting for internal capacity to catch up. Moreover, outside expertise can foster an overall environment of learning and development, empowering your core team to confidently adapt and leverage solutions within your stack. 

At Creative Circle, we bring the talent and expertise to not only optimize your martech stack today but also prepare it for future market shifts. Our custom, talent-driven solutions enhance your team’s potential, helping them leverage current resources for ongoing success. From consulting support to audit and enhance your stack, to building tech-savvy teams that seamlessly integrate with your current roster, we ensure your martech is precisely where it needs to be—so you can stay focused on results. 

The contours of the media landscape are ever-changing. What was once ubiquitous is now far less so. By the end of 2022, 39.3 million US households cut the cord on traditional cable, a number expected to hit nearly 47 million households by the end of 2024.

Perhaps it’s no surprise that so many are saying bye (or never saying hello) to traditional cable with a plethora of streaming services like Netflix, Prime TV, Hulu, Apple TV+, Disney+, and more, which allow viewers to watch what they want, when they want, for less than the cost of a traditional cable subscription.

What is CTV?

In this rapidly shifting landscape, digital marketing is experiencing major change, with Connected TV—or CTV—emerging as a pivotal player, transforming how audiences engage with content. CTV is any television set that connects to the internet and streams digital video content through built-in smart TV functionality or external devices like streaming sticks like Roku, set-top boxes, or gaming consoles.

With this technology, viewers can access a wide range of content that goes far beyond traditional broadcast channels, like streaming services, on-demand video, and internet applications. All of this is causing major shifts in how brands advertise to their audiences, with CTV advertising in ascendancy and changing the TV advertising game. Let’s dig in.

The What and the Why of CTV Advertising

CTV advertising refers to video ads delivered through a streaming service while a viewer watches a TV show, movie, or other video content on an actual TV set via a connected device like Firestick or Roku or directly from a smart TV. For most streaming services, CTV represents over 80% of all viewing, the remainder occurring on other internet-connected devices like laptops, smartphones, and tablets.

Unlike traditional television advertising, CTV advertising leverages viewer data like demographics, viewing habits, and interests, allowing for a more targeted and personalized ad experience. Advertisers gain improved measurement and tracking abilities, allowing for smarter and more efficient ad spending — and the ability to reach more niche audiences with greater precisions.

Evolution of TV Advertising

Traditional or linear TV advertising lets advertisers reach millions of viewers all at the same time. Linear TV advertising is what you see when you watch broadcast or cable TV — the traditional, old-school TV advertising that’s been around for decades. Linear TV ads reach everyone watching a particular program rather than just their intended audience. And measuring the success of a linear TV ad campaign is more nebulous — it’s hard to know if anyone went to go buy something after watching the ad.

With changing viewer behavior as cable and satellite TV use continue to drop, advertisers are instead following their viewers over to CTV, lured by more measurable ad performance metrics and better-optimized campaign management overall. As linear advertising spend declines, CTV ad spend is fast on the rise.

Ad spending for CTV is expected to reach $21.45 billion in 2024, an increase of 16.2% from 2023. In 2025, it is forecast to hit $24.4 billion, growing year over year by 13.9%.

CTV Advertising vs OTT Advertising

OTT means “Over-the-Top,” referring to content that goes “over” your cable box, providing access to TV content via an internet connection instead of with a cable cord or satellite. While OTT and CTV are often used interchangeably, and can refer to the same thing, it’s important to note that OTT is how video content is delivered to viewers — it can stream content across all devices, like mobile and desktop. CTV only streams content onto smart TV screens, which is why it is often referred to as streaming TV advertising.

OTT ad inventory tends to differ from CTV, which typically has premium network content similar to what you would find on traditional TV. In contrast, OTT offers a much wider range of inventory.

So, Why Use CTV ads?

If you want your ads to help you find users who actually want your products or services, CTV ads are the way to go. As streaming services like Hulu and Netflix adjust their pricing models to an ad-supported tiered system that displays more ads to folks on less expensive plans and fewer or no ads to those on higher plans, marketers can now zero in on their demographic with far more precision.

Here are a few other perks that come with CTV ads:

  1. Multiple precision targeting methods

With linear TV, targeting is limited to finding shows that best index against ratings — the system network television uses to make programming decisions and to price advertisements. But Nielsens’ typically can only offer broad age and gender demographic metrics, like women 25 – 54 and men 18 – 49. But CTV advertisers can leverage similar digital targeting to Google and Facebook, which means audience segments can be based on everything from income or education level to personal interests and more.

Some of the top CTV targeting options to get familiar with include:

  • Geolocation targeting
  • Contextual targeting
  • Retargeting
  • Time-of-day targeting
  • Lookalike targeting

  1. Hyper-local targeting

With CTV ads, it’s far easier to pinpoint consumers based on their IP address, which means ads can be hyper-localized and served to viewers in far smaller geographic areas than with linear ads. Messaging can be highly customized based on where the viewer is located. For example, a spa with four locations can send the right commercial to the right viewers closest to each location.

  1. High Video completion rates

Superior targeting means that CTV ads are far more likely to be truly relevant to those viewing them—which means they are more likely to be interested in the ad and engage with it until completion. Using automatic content recognition technology, or ACR, CTV providers can provide real-time, second-by-second completion rate data, which helps advertisers hone the effectiveness of their marketing campaigns.

  1. Detailed attribution measurement and accuracy

CTV ads allow advertisers to measure the effectiveness of their brand campaigns more accurately via conversions — they can see who came to the brand’s website and completed a purchase after viewing an ad. With time and increased data, advertisers can learn what creative worked best and which publishers, dates, times, and other factors had the greatest impact on conversions.

 

BOTTOM LINE
Marketers, if you want to lead your company’s CTV marketing innovation charge but need help figuring out where to start, Creative Circle can provide the talent and build the teams to help you perfectly craft and precisely target your brand to shine on the TV screen. The media landscape is fast evolving — to succeed, it’s important to prime your business to be in step with the times.