CTV ROI Reporting: How to Make Your CFO Happy | tvScientific

If there's one person who doesn’t care about buzzwords like “brand storytelling” or “premium inventory,” it’s your CFO. So, what do they care about? Tangible results. Revenue. Return on investment.

As streaming habits evolve and more media dollars shift to Connected TV (CTV), performance marketers are under pressure to prove that their CTV campaigns are financially sound. Thankfully, CTV is no longer just a brand-awareness channel. With the right measurement strategies in place, it can be a bottom-funnel powerhouse and a line item your CFO will love to see.

Here’s how to track, optimize, and report on CTV ROI with the rigor your finance team expects.

CTV is Mainstream (And So is Accountability)

CTV is now a core component of modern media plans. 83% of US households stream content via devices like smart TVs, streaming sticks, and gaming consoles. This behavior shift is also translating into spend: US CTV ad investments are steadily increasing year after year, expected to top $42 billion by 2027.

But with more spend comes more scrutiny. Historically, TV advertising has been difficult to tie to real business outcomes. Advertisers had to rely on loose proxies like Nielsen ratings and anecdotal spikes in traffic. 

CTV changes that. Today, marketers have access to granular insights, real-time data, and full-funnel attribution models — if they know what to look for.

So, how do you measure the ROI of your CTV campaigns to showcase value to your leadership team and further secure buy-in and budget for this channel? 

Step 1: Start with Metrics that Matter

To prove ROI, you need to start with measurable, meaningful KPIs. Here are a few to prioritize:

• Sales: Sales are the ultimate ROI proof point, and CTV can influence everything from online purchases to in-store revenue lift, across channels.
• Installs: For mobile-first brands or apps, installs attributed to CTV exposure (directly or via multi-touch attribution) show clear lower-funnel impact.
• Return on Ad Spend (ROAS): Measure your revenue generated, divided by campaign spend. This is your north star for financial performance.
• Clicks: While CTV isn’t traditionally a click-based channel, click-throughs on interactive formats or companion banners can signal strong engagement.
• Frequency: This will showcase how often your ad is shown to the same household. Too low and you miss impact. Too high and you waste spend (and annoy viewers).
• Completion Rate: CTV ads are usually unskippable, but that doesn’t mean they’re always watched. This measures how often your ad is watched all the way through.
• Cost Per Completed View (CPCV): Tie media cost directly to fully-viewed ads, helping you evaluate the efficiency of your spend.
• View-Through Conversions: Track whether a viewer takes a desired action (like a purchase or site visit) after watching your CTV ad, even without clicking.
• Impressions: Representative of the number of times your ad was shown, impressions are a foundational metric that provides a sense of delivery.
• Brand Lift: For longer-lead buying cycles, brand lift studies can measure ad recall, favorability, or intent among exposed versus control audiences.

But remember not every campaign needs every metric. Choose what aligns with your goals, whether it’s driving sales, building awareness, or both.

Step 2: Go Beyond Vanity Metrics with Verified Measurement

Your CFO doesn’t want to hear about viewability assumptions. They want verifiable results.

CTV ads may look great on screen, but without quality controls, your budget may be going to waste. Here’s why:

• Fraud happens on CTV: Like most digital channels, CTV is not fraud-free. One study found that bot fraud in CTV grew 69% year-over-year, and unprotected campaigns can have fraud rates over 11%.
• Not all views are real views: 11% of all CTV inventory are served while the TV is turned off. Others play in the background or in off-screen environments.
• Wrong geo, wrong audience: Due to spoofing or poor targeting, ads may appear in the wrong regions or in the wrong language.
• Brand safety is not guaranteed: Your ad could be running alongside inappropriate, low-quality, or off-brand content, hurting performance and your reputation.

To avoid these pitfalls, use a platform like tvScientific to validate impressions, viewability, and environment quality. Real people, real screens, and right placements are the baseline for true ROI.

Step 3: Make Attribution Your Superpower

One of the biggest advantages of CTV is its ability to tie ad exposure to business outcomes. By working with platforms that support pixel-based tracking or direct integrations, advertisers can measure:

• Online conversions: A viewer sees your ad, visits your site, and makes a purchase, whether it’s immediately or days later.
• Foot traffic: Retailers can track whether exposed households later visit a physical location using location data partnerships.
• Incremental lift: Compare exposed versus unexposed audiences to isolate the true effect of your ad.

This level of attribution is what moves CTV from a brand play to a performance channel, and gives you the ammunition you need in budget discussions.

Step 4: Report Like a CFO (Not a Marketer)

Finally, it’s time to package up your results in a way that speaks your finance team’s language. Instead of starting with platform metrics, lead with business impact. 

For example:

• “Our holiday CTV campaign delivered $5.60 in revenue for every $1 spent.”
• “We reduced cost per completed view by 22% month-over-month.”
• “Among exposed households, in-store visits increased by 13% compared to the control group.”

Make your case with concise, comparative, conversion-driven insights. That’s what secures more budget and makes the CFO your biggest supporter.

Treat CTV as a Performance Channel

With the right measurement strategy, CTV can go toe-to-toe with any other performance channel in your marketing mix. CTV not only offers scale and premium inventory, but now it can also offer clarity, accountability, and measurable return on investment. That means the next time the CFO asks how your CTV campaign performed, you’ll have the receipts.

Want to streamline CTV campaign measurement? Get in touch with us to see how tvScientific streamlines reporting.