CTV for SMEs | The Opportunity Gap

For the last few years, we’ve been told that TV viewing habits are changing. And yet, recent headlines relating to Connected TV (CTV) audience growth seem to have caught SME marketers off guard.

More people watch Netflix than Channel Four* now, 2/3 of UK households subscribe to at least one subscription channel (ie. Amazon Prime/Disney+)**, and people under 35 turn to Youtube, Netflix and Disney+ before switching over to linear TV channels***.

As we switch over to CTV channels, marketing budgets have followed suit. In 2023, UK marketers invested £1.5bn in CTV, that’s predicted to more than double by the end of 2028.

So more people than ever are watching CTV, and larger advertisers and their budgets are following suit. 50% of large advertisers always include CTV in their media mix, a mere 7% of SME marketers maintain their investment in the channel.^

In theory, CTV offers an entry-point for SME marketers who in decades gone couldn’t have afforded TV advertising. Yet there’s still trepidation from SME advertisers about how best to navigate this often complex medium.

Is CTV the under invested channel smaller advertisers have been looking for to generate awareness, fame and ultimately business outcomes?

When Division-D opened their London office in July 2024, we saw a gap in the market for a CTV solution that was built specifically for SMEs and independent media agencies. The existing solutions offered SME advertisers low quality inventory, premium inventory at eye watering rates, or inventory bought in silos (leading to challenges frequency). Targeting solutions were either far too broad, specific, or expensive, and measurement solutions weren’t designed to quantify SMEs desired business outcomes or accommodate their budget.

So we set ourselves the big, hairy, audacious goal of building the best CTV solution for UK SMEs and independent agencies.

Our USA colleagues had built a similar, successful playbook six years ago. Market specific partners were table stakes, and yet, there were nagging questions that UK SMEs kept asking us on a near daily basis that fuelled a lot of our conversations with partners.

- Do real people watch this inventory? If so, how do we know?

- What type of targeting works best for smaller budgets?

- Can we get show level reporting?

- Do I need a TV ad to activate CTV campaigns?

- Will this drive sales? If not, what can I use as measures of success?

The result of this audit gave us a clear playbook of how to operate successfully with UK SMEs and independent media agencies. The solution we’ve built enables our partners to navigate the highly complex, ever changing CTV landscape. This includes accessing premium, quality inventory, best

in class targeting, activation through premium DSPs and smart, effective measurement solutions. It’s a consultative, bespoke approach to every brief that ensures SME’s and indies are able to access the best possible CTV solution for their desired business outcomes and budget.

Case study

We evangelise and sell CTV solutions to advertisers and agencies every day. We’re also an SME advertiser ourselves as we invest marketing budgets through paid digital media to drive new business. Last year we decided to put our money where our mouth is and start running CTV ads, Here's what we've learnt... We paired CTV ads with our ongoing paid search efforts, with ROAS as our KPI.

We tested two inventory packages - Audience-First (data lead targeting) & Premiere Streaming.

We built our audience first audiences using the following data;

CRM-based targeting: Engaged prospects in active or past conversations with our sales team through CRM email matching.

Firmographic targeting: Leveraged B2B data providers to build an audience aligned with our Ideal Customer Profile.

- 90% growth in average proposal size for marketing-related deals

- 170% increase in lead-to-proposal conversion rates

- 35% higher ROAS compared to 2023

- Qualitative – Client-facing teams report great feedback from clients who’ve seen our ads including one client who spotted Division-D’s ad at the Grammy’s!

The results were better than expected, and CTV now forms a core part of our marketing strategy in 2025.

So what’s next for CTV in the UK…

Live-sports CTV gives brands the chance to connect with fans at their most engaged, emotionally invested, highly attentive, and gathered in premium, brand-safe environments.

That’s why premium streaming platforms in the UK such as Amazon Prime and Netflix have recently bet big on live sport. UEFA Champions League, tennis, rugby, UFC, cricket, boxing, live WWE shows, and NFL Gamedays can all now be watched live on these streaming platforms.

Research also shows that ads shown during live events have a 25% higher recall rate than ads in pre-recorded programming (Comcast, 2024).

Yet Live sports CTV is one of the most complex tactics for digital teams to execute. Inventory is scarce, rights are fragmented, delivery spikes around big games, and cost of entry can be higher than many expect.

That’s why we’re excited for our next CTV project…enabling SMEs to access the amazing audiences engage with live sport, through a powerful yet simple CTV solution.

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