Roku CTV Advertising

Reach TV audiences through Roku's Connected TV platform. ILLIXIS makes TV advertising accessible to small and medium businesses with a $500 minimum budget (compared to $10K+ for traditional TV).

What is Roku CTV?

Roku CTV (Connected TV) advertising puts your video ads on streaming TV. Your ads appear on Roku devices connected to actual televisions in people's homes.

Why it matters: Traditional TV advertising requires media buying agencies and minimum budgets of $10,000+. Roku's self-serve platform starts at $500, making TV ads accessible to businesses of any size.

Finding Roku CTV

Access Roku CTV through Advertising:

1. Go to Advertising in main navigation
2. Connect your Roku Ads account in Settings > Integrations > Roku
3. Create audiences and sync them to Roku
4. Set up campaigns in your Roku Ads Manager

Connecting Roku Ads

Initial Setup

1. Go to Settings > Integrations
2. Find Roku in the Video tab
3. Click Connect
4. Enter your Roku Ads API credentials:

• Client ID
• Client Secret

5. Click Authorize

Getting Roku Ads Credentials

If you don't have a Roku Ads account:

1. Visit Roku Ads Manager (https://advertising.roku.com)
2. Create a business account
3. Complete business verification
4. Enable API access in account settings
5. Generate OAuth credentials (Client ID + Secret)
6. Link payment method (minimum $500)

Once connected, ILLIXIS syncs audiences to your Roku account automatically.

Audience Sync

Syncing from ILLIXIS

ILLIXIS audiences can be synced to Roku for CTV retargeting:

1. Create or open an audience in Advertising
2. Click Sync to Roku
3. ILLIXIS uploads hashed email addresses to Roku
4. Roku matches emails to Roku households
5. Matched audience becomes available for targeting

Matching Process

How Roku matches users:

• ILLIXIS sends SHA256-hashed email addresses
• Roku matches emails to Roku account holders
• Only matched households appear in your audience
• Match rates typically 30-50%

Example: You have a 10,000-person audience from GA4. After syncing to Roku:

• 10,000 emails sent to Roku
• 4,200 matched to Roku households (42% match rate)
• 4,200 households available for targeting

Audience Status

Track sync status in Advertising:

Audiences auto-sync every 24 hours to include new members.

Automation Schedule

ILLIXIS automatically keeps your Roku data synchronized:

What this means for you:

• New audience members become targetable within 24 hours
• Campaign dashboards reflect performance within 6 hours
• Weekly recommendations help you discover high-performing segments

Manual sync: If you need data updated immediately, click Sync Now in the audience detail view. Manual syncs don't affect the automated schedule.

Targeting Options

Geographic Targeting

DMA (Designated Market Area): Target specific TV markets like "San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose" or "New York."

State-level: Target all households in specific states.

Zip code: Target individual zip codes or groups of zips.

Demographic Targeting

• Age ranges (18-24, 25-34, 35-44, 45-54, 55-64, 65+)
• Gender (male, female, all)
• Household income ranges
• Household size

Interest Categories

Target by viewing behavior and interests:

• Sports fans
• News viewers
• Entertainment preferences
• Shopping behaviors
• Technology adopters

Custom Audiences

Use your synced audiences from ILLIXIS for precise retargeting:

• Content readers (by topic)
• Lead magnet viewers
• Cart abandoners (via Shopify)
• Email subscribers

Creative Requirements

Video Specifications

Roku accepts video ads in these formats:

Using ILLIXIS Videos

Videos created in Video Production automatically meet Roku's specs:

1. Create video in Video Production
2. Export as 1920x1080 MP4
3. Upload to Roku Ads Manager
4. Use in your CTV campaign

Creative Best Practices

TV-optimized creative:

• Large, readable text (viewers sit 10 feet from screen)
• Clear branding in first 3 seconds
• Strong visual storytelling (sound may be off)
• Clear call-to-action
• Professional production value

What works on TV:

• Product demonstrations
• Customer testimonials
• Brand story videos
• Lifestyle content
• Event promotions

What doesn't work:

• Tiny text or fine print
• Mobile-first vertical video
• Rapid cuts or busy visuals
• Audio-dependent messaging

Campaign Setup

Creating a Campaign

Campaigns are created in Roku Ads Manager (not in ILLIXIS):

1. Open Roku Ads Manager
2. Click Create Campaign
3. Select campaign objective (awareness, consideration, conversions)
4. Set budget (minimum $500)
5. Choose targeting (use your synced audiences)
6. Upload creative
7. Review and launch

Budget Management

Minimum spend: $500 per campaign

Recommended budgets:

• Test campaign: $500-1,000
• Local campaign: $1,000-3,000/month
• Regional campaign: $5,000-10,000/month
• National campaign: $20,000+/month

Pacing: Roku paces spend evenly across your campaign duration to avoid burning budget too quickly.

Campaign Duration

Minimum: 7 days Recommended: 30 days for meaningful data

Shorter campaigns don't gather enough data for optimization. Plan 4-week campaigns minimum.

Performance Tracking

Metrics in ILLIXIS

View Roku performance in Advertising dashboard:

Audience Metrics:

• Total synced audiences
• Estimated matched households
• Sync status per audience

Note: Full campaign metrics (impressions, completions, spend) are tracked in Roku Ads Manager. ILLIXIS shows audience availability only.

Metrics in Roku Ads Manager

Delivery Metrics:

• Impressions: Total ad views
• Reach: Unique households reached
• Frequency: Average impressions per household

Engagement Metrics:

• Video Completions: Full video views
• Video Completion Rate (VCR): Completions / Impressions
• Click-throughs: If using interactive ads

Cost Metrics:

• Total Spend: Campaign spend to date
• CPM: Cost per thousand impressions
• CPCV: Cost per completed view

CTV-Specific Insights

Co-viewing lift: Roku tracks whether multiple people watched (households often view together on TV).

Cross-device attribution: Track whether TV viewers later visited your website on mobile/desktop.

Conversion tracking: Send conversion events from ILLIXIS to Roku to close the attribution loop.

Conversion Tracking

Tracking Conversions

Connect TV ad views to downstream actions:

1. User sees your Roku ad
2. User visits your website later (any device)
3. User completes goal (purchase, signup, etc.)
4. ILLIXIS sends conversion event to Roku
5. Roku attributes conversion to TV exposure

What You Can Track

• Purchase events (e-commerce)
• Form submissions (leads)
• Account signups
• Content downloads
• Any custom conversion goal

Implementation

Conversion tracking is automatic if:

• You have GA4 connected
• Conversion goals are defined in ILLIXIS
• User email matches across devices

No additional implementation required.

Best Practices

Start with Retargeting

Your first Roku campaign should retarget warm audiences:

• Content readers (synced from GA4)
• Email subscribers
• Lead magnet viewers
• Cart abandoners

Cold prospecting on TV is expensive. Warm audiences convert better.

Match Creative to Audience

Content readers: Reference the topic they read about in the ad.

Example: Audience of "marathon training" readers sees ad for marathon coaching program, not generic fitness offer.

Cart abandoners: Show the actual product they viewed.

Lead magnet viewers: Offer the next logical step in your funnel.

Test Video Variations

Run 2-3 creative variations per campaign:

• Different hooks in first 3 seconds
• Different CTAs
• Different product focus

Let Roku optimize toward the winner.

Optimize for Completion

Video Completion Rate (VCR) is the key metric. High VCR = relevant ad.

Target VCR: 70%+ is excellent. Below 50% means creative isn't resonating.

How to improve VCR:

• Stronger hook in first 3 seconds
• Clearer value proposition
• Better audience targeting
• Shorter video duration

Combine with Other Channels

CTV works best as part of a multi-channel strategy:

CTV + Social: TV builds awareness, social drives clicks.

CTV + Search: TV drives brand searches. Capture them with paid search.

CTV + Email: Email subscribers who also see TV ads convert 3x better.

Don't run TV in isolation. Coordinate with your other channels in Distribution Planner.

FAQ

Q: Do I need an existing Roku Ads account? Yes. ILLIXIS connects to your Roku Ads account but doesn't create one for you.

Q: What's the minimum budget? $500 per campaign. Roku recommends $1,000+ for meaningful results.

Q: Can I use ILLIXIS videos in Roku campaigns? Yes. Videos from Video Production export in Roku-compatible format (1920x1080 MP4).

Q: How long does audience sync take? 10-30 minutes for initial sync. Updates happen automatically every 24 hours.

Q: What's a good match rate? 30-50% is typical. Higher if your audience skews toward streaming TV viewers.

Q: Can I run Roku campaigns outside the US? Roku CTV is currently US-only.

Q: How does Roku track conversions? Roku uses hashed email matching and deterministic cross-device tracking. If someone sees your TV ad and later converts using the same email, Roku attributes it.

Q: Should I target broad or narrow? Start narrow (retargeting specific audiences). Expand to broader targeting once you have proof of concept.

Q: How is this different from YouTube ads? YouTube is online video (watched on phones, tablets, computers). Roku is TV (watched on actual television screens). Viewer mindset and engagement are different.

Q: Can I A/B test on Roku? Yes. Upload multiple creatives and Roku will optimize budget toward the best performer.

Related Features

• Video Production: Create TV-ready videos
• Advertising: Manage all advertising platforms
• GA4 Integration: Source of audience data
• Distribution Planner: Coordinate CTV with other channels