Leveling the CTV Playing Field for Local and SMB Advertisers

Author: Maggie Drake, Head of National Sales, Premion.

Connected TV (CTV) was once the domain of national advertisers with big budgets. But that’s changing—fast. Today, local and regional small-to-medium businesses (SMBs) are demanding the same quality, targeting, and transparency as national brands—and the CTV industry is finally delivering.

This shift isn’t just about the rise in streaming viewership. It’s about broader access to the premium inventory, data-driven targeting, and measurement tools that were once out of reach for smaller advertisers. As a result, SMBs of all sizes are seizing the opportunity to show up on the biggest screen in the home—with the same confidence and capabilities previously reserved for national players.

Our recent CTV/OTT Advertiser Study found that 61% of advertisers plan to increase their CTV/OTT spending, with an average growth of 21%—driven by key advantages like achieving full-funnel objectives (41%), reaching highly engaged opt-in audiences (40%), and leveraging precision audience targeting (38%). The takeaway? CTV has become an essential, scalable channel—not just for awareness, but for driving full-funnel impact across all types of businesses.

Local advertisers now have the choice, convenience, and control to run CTV campaigns that are affordable, effective, and tailored to their goals—seamlessly integrating into their existing workflows and tech stacks.

With advanced targeting, attribution, and measurement, SMBs gain actionable insights to optimize performance across specific tactics and drive real results. And because local advertisers often operate with leaner budgets, they’re laser-focused on efficiency—making tools like closed-loop attribution and sales conversion tracking top priorities.

Today, those tools are no longer out of reach. CTV makes it possible to connect ad exposure to outcomes—from website visits to in-store purchases—giving local advertisers a clearer view of ROI than ever before.

Here’s how we’re helping three local SMB advertisers use CTV to drive both brand awareness and sales:

Casual Dining Restaurant: Driving $12M in Sales with CTV

For a popular casual dining chain aiming to boost visibility and in-store visits, Premion executed a high-impact CTV campaign designed to drive reach, brand lift, and sales conversion. The strategy delivered impressive and measurable results: aided awareness rose by 8%, ad recall jumped 34%, and brand favorability increased by 15%.

What’s more, 73% of viewers reached had not been exposed to traditional TV—highlighting the incremental power of CTV. The campaign drove 213,000 unique customers to complete 322,000 transactions, resulting in $12.2 million in tracked credit and debit card sales. With an average purchase of $38, the campaign achieved a standout 21:1 return on investment—turning awareness into real, bottom-line impact.

Adams County Fair: Driving Record Ticket Sales with a Total TV Strategy

Summer is packed with entertainment options—and for the Adams County Fair, standing out meant getting smart with media. To boost visibility and ticket sales, a Total TV strategy combined CTV and local broadcast to reach local audiences with precision and consistency.

The campaign generated more than 1,100 attributed website visits—85% of which were direct—and OTT retargeting drove an additional 747 clicks. The CTV campaign delivered more than 4,000 hours of viewed ads, driving sustained awareness and engagement. With transparent reporting and hands-on campaign optimization, we helped the fair achieve its highest-ever ticket sales in 2024.

Tier 3 Auto Dealership: Reclaiming Market Share with CTV Precision

In a competitive suburban market, a Tier 3 foreign auto dealership was losing ground to a local rival and needed to turn things around fast. To drive results, a Total TV campaign seamlessly integrated streaming with the dealership’s existing broadcast spend.

By leveraging both Polk and Website Attribution, Premion drove 83 new car sales and 49% purchase lift for households exposed to the campaign within 60 days of ad exposure, and the Total TV campaign delivered 12.6K website visits at $12 cost per visit within 7 days of exposure. By integrating streaming with their existing broadcast spend and leveraging our trusted partnership with the dealership’s GM, Premion became the single-source CTV solution that helped them rebound with confidence.

SMBs need a trusted, cost-effective streaming TV advertising partner—one that can execute locally while delivering attribution, measurement, and curation tools that bring national-level capabilities to local businesses.

Premion is a proven partner that understands unique local characteristics, viewer trends, and the power of local relevance that drives outcomes — and we’ve successfully executed a multitude of campaigns for hundreds of SMBs nationwide.

For more CTV advertising insights for local SMBs, let’s have a conversion.