How CTV Campaigns Are Accelerating Car Sales in a Shifting Auto Market
Author: Jason Jones, Director, Local Sales, Premion.
The auto industry is undergoing a transformation fueled by improving interest rates, stabilized supply chains, and increased vehicle inventory. After years of limited availability, dealerships are now better equipped to meet rising consumer demand. This shift has sparked competitive pricing strategies, with many dealers offering incentives to attract buyers and clear expanding inventories.
As lots fill with new models, dealerships are turning to innovative marketing strategies to move inventory and appeal to price-conscious shoppers.
The Power of CTV Advertising in Automotive
In 2024, CTV/OTT ad spending in the automotive sector hit $354 million across eight subvertical BIA platforms. This investment is projected to grow to $379.3 million in 2025 and $412.8 million in 2026, reflecting a 7.9% CAGR from 2024 to 2026, according to the BIA U.S. Local Advertising Forecast 2025.
Why the shift? According to the MRI-Simmons November 2024 Cord Evolution study, 89% of people who own or lease a vehicle are ad-supported CTV/OTT viewers. Moreover, 90% of those planning to purchase a car in the next 12 months are ad-supported CTV/OTT viewers, and 19% of ad-supported CTV/OTT viewers like to get a new car every 2-3 years.
The availability of advanced targeting combined with full-funnel measurement and attribution capabilities make CTV a game-changer for auto advertisers. These tools allow dealerships to precisely measure campaign effectiveness and directly connect CTV viewership to vehicle sales.
Here’s just a couple of examples of how Premion helped local dealerships reach in-market auto intenders and drive results with targeted CTV campaigns:
Reaching New Buyers in a Top 5 Market
An auto dealership in a top 5 market sought to reach potential car and truck buyers who hadn’t previously considered them. We developed a comprehensive end-to-end streaming campaign, leveraging Polk audiences for precision automotive targeting while also measuring new car sales through our strategic attribution integration. We measured 10.8K website visits and 114 new vehicle sales, estimated to generate a minimum profit of $456,000 from new cars sold.
Driving SUV Sales for a Local Dealership
To move a growing SUV inventory, a local dealership partnered with Premion to develop a data-driven CTV campaign. We targeted auto intenders by body style (SUV, sedan, minivan) and focused on competitive conquesting of specific brands. Using Polk Attribution, we measured the campaign’s influence on new car sales while analyzing sales lost to competitors, delivering actionable insights for future strategies. By analyzing performance insights, we identified the most effective creative for driving website responses. Strategic targeting of SUV audiences and creative optimizations elevated the dealership’s sales rank from 6th to 2nd in one month.
The Premion campaign drove 17 new car sales—a 112% lift in sales compared to non-Premion audiences. The dealership ranked #1 in the specific vehicle sales among those exposed to the campaign and #2 in overall sales, regardless of make. The campaign generated 969 website visits at a $7.61 cost per visit, with 62% of visitors exploring specific vehicle pages.
With the continued growth in streaming audiences, CTV advertising has earned its place as one of the most effective channels for dealerships to drive measurable outcomes by reaching highly targeted audiences with precision and impact.
Download our free report, “STREAMING TV TRENDS & OUTLOOK: The Streaming TV Playbook: Winning Strategies for Marketers in a Shifting Advertising Marketplace,” for more insights on developing and implementing an effective CTV advertising strategy.
Read more on MediaPost here.
