New Path Digital vs. StackAdapt: Buying CTV Ads vs. Building a CTV Strategy

Connected TV (CTV) advertising has moved from a niche channel into a cornerstone of modern marketing. As viewers continue to trade traditional cable for streaming services, the opportunity to reach them on the biggest screen in their home has become undeniable.

With digital video ad spend surging to $63 billion in 2024, a significant portion of that growth is being driven by CTV ads.

This rapid expansion presents advertisers with a critical choice: Do you use a self-serve Demand-Side Platform (DSP) like StackAdapt to simply buy ad space, or do you partner with a strategic agency like New Path Digital to build a comprehensive CTV strategy?

This article explores the difference between these two approaches. We’ll examine why a strategy-first mindset, focused on your business goals, is the key to unlocking sustainable growth and a true return on your investment in connected tv ads.

Understanding the CTV Advertising Landscape

At its core, Connected TV (CTV) advertising refers to advertising delivered through any television set connected to the internet. This includes smart TVs and devices like Roku, Apple TV, Chromecast, and Amazon Fire Stick that enable viewers to stream content.

While often used interchangeably, it’s important to understand the nuances between Over-the-Top (OTT) and CTV advertising. Your ads appear within the content on popular ad-supported streaming services such as Hulu, YouTube TV, Pluto TV, and The Roku Channel.

The scale of this market is immense. U.S. CTV ad spending surpassed $30.1 billion in 2024. This growth is fueled by massive audience adoption; as of 2025, CTV penetration reached 90% in U.S. households.

For marketers, this means your audience is already here, waiting to be engaged in a premium, lean-back viewing environment.

The StackAdapt Approach: The Power and Pitfalls of a DIY Platform

The rise of self-serve platforms represents the “buying ads” methodology. It puts the tools directly into the hands of the advertiser, offering a tempting promise of control and access.

What is StackAdapt?

StackAdapt is a prominent self-serve programmatic advertising platform, or Demand Side Platform (DSP). Its primary purpose is to provide advertisers with direct access to purchase ad inventory across numerous digital channels, including CTV ads. The platform positions CTV as a powerful, performance-oriented tool for engaging highly targeted audiences on the big screen.

The Appeal of “Buying” Your Own CTV Ads

The allure of using a DSP like StackAdapt is easy to understand. The key perceived benefits include:

• Direct Control: Marketers can log in, set up, and manage their own campaigns, providing a hands-on sense of flexibility and command over their ad buys.
• Broad Access: These platforms connect advertisers to a vast network of publishers and ad exchanges, offering a wide pool of potential inventory.
• Platform Features: To address market demands, platforms like StackAdapt continuously add features to improve transparency and cross-device measurement capabilities.

The Hidden Challenges of a Tool-Only Approach

While direct access is powerful, relying solely on a platform without a strategic partner presents significant risks. A tool, no matter how sophisticated, is only as effective as the expert wielding it.

• Platforms Don’t Strategize for You: A DSP is designed to facilitate transactions—buying ad space. It cannot analyze your business objectives, understand your customer journey, or build a holistic marketing strategy that ensures your CTV ads investment drives bottom-line results.
• The Risk of Wasted Spend: Without expert oversight, it’s easy to make costly mistakes. Poor audience targeting, insufficient frequency capping (which leads to viewer fatigue), and a failure to integrate CTV with other channels can burn through your budget with little to show for it.
• A False Sense of Simplicity: Programmatic platforms may have user-friendly interfaces, but the underlying mechanics of real-time bidding, attribution modeling, and continuous optimization are incredibly complex. The fact that platforms like StackAdapt must create detailed guides to help users navigate their own systems underscores this complexity—it’s far from a simple plug-and-play solution. For many businesses, a dedicated partner is a more effective path than the DIY route, especially when navigating the nuances of connected TV advertising for small- and mid-size businesses.

The New Path Digital Approach: Building a Growth-Focused CTV Strategy

In contrast to the tool-first model, New Path Digital champions a strategy-first approach. We operate as a strategic partner dedicated to achieving your specific business outcomes, not just placing ads.

Strategy Before Spend: The Agency Advantage

Our process begins with a deep dive into your unique business goals, market challenges, and ideal customer profile. We believe that a successful campaign is built long before a single dollar is spent. As your OTT & CTV advertising agency, we create a comprehensive plan grounded in:

• Deep Audience Insights: We go beyond basic demographics to target households based on specific purchasing behaviors, income levels, online interests, and real-world activities.
• Creative Optimization: We ensure your video creative is tailored for the big screen. A captivating, “lean-back” experience is crucial for grabbing and holding viewer attention.
• Cross-Channel Integration: Your CTV ads are not run in a silo. We align them with your other marketing efforts, such as paid search and social media, to create a cohesive customer journey that amplifies the impact of every channel.

Proving the ROI of a Strategic Approach

The true value of a strategic approach is measured in tangible business results, not just advertising metrics.

• The Halo Effect in Action: One of the most powerful benefits of a well-executed CTV strategy is its ability to boost the performance of other marketing channels. Viewers who see your ad on their TV are more likely to search for your brand later.
• Showcasing Real-World Results: We’ve seen this effect firsthand. For one client, adding a strategic CTV campaign to their media mix increased conversion rates by 82% across their paid search and Local Services Ads campaigns. The data clearly showed that CTV was driving highly qualified customers to convert through other channels. You can see the proof of how CTV drives lift in search conversions in our detailed case study.
• Transparent, Business-Focused Reporting: We move beyond standard platform metrics like impressions and view-through rates. Our reporting ties your ad spend directly to the outcomes that matter: website traffic, lead generation, in-store visits, and, ultimately, revenue.
• Cost Efficiency: As your direct partner, New Path Digital eliminates the hidden platform fees and markups that often exist with middlemen. This ensures more of your budget is invested in reaching the right audience, maximizing your working media dollars.

At a Glance: Buying Ads vs. Building Strategy

The difference between a DIY platform and a strategic partner becomes clear when you compare them side-by-side.

Conclusion: Are You Investing in a Tool or a Growth Engine?

While DIY platforms like StackAdapt provide access to the CTV marketplace, they place the entire burden of strategy, execution, optimization, and analysis squarely on you, the user. This path is complex and risky, often resulting in wasted ad spend and missed growth opportunities.

New Path Digital offers a different path. We are the strategic partner for businesses that demand a tangible return on their advertising investment. By focusing on your unique goals and integrating CTV into a holistic marketing plan, we transform it from a simple advertising expense into a powerful and predictable growth engine. Partnering with an expert team helps you navigate the complexities of connected tv ads and unlock the channel’s true potential as a core component of an effective video advertising strategy.

Ready to move beyond just “buying ads” and build a CTV strategy that delivers real results? Schedule a free consultation with a New Path Digital expert today.

Build a CTV Strategy That Delivers Results

Schedule a Free Consultation

This blog was last updated on 7 hours ago by Siliveru Rakesh