CTV Enters the Bottom Funnel: How Streaming Is Becoming Shoppable

For years, Connected TV (CTV) was synonymous with reach and awareness. Marketers praised its storytelling power and ability to command attention—but rarely measured it as a true performance channel.

That’s changing fast.

Today, thanks to advancements in contextual targeting, AI, and residence-level identity, CTV is not only capturing attention—it’s driving conversions. We’re entering a new era where streaming is becoming shoppable, and the living room screen is proving it can deliver bottom-funnel outcomes.

From Branding to Buying: The New Role of CTV

In a recent episode of AdTech Decoded, Richie Hyden, COO and Co-Founder of IRIS.TV, put it bluntly:

“What we started to test now is, can we get TV to be a bottom-funnel performance medium? And all the data is showing that it 100% can be… If we can place the right ad, at the right moment in time, we can capture the attention of that consumer—it does drive bottom-funnel outcomes.”

Hyden highlighted results like incremental sales lift, app downloads, and in-store foot traffic—all directly tied to CTV campaigns. These are metrics long reserved for digital-native formats like paid search and social. Now, the biggest screen in the house is playing in that same arena.

How It Works: Context + Identity + Measurement

At Viant, we’ve been building toward this moment. With people-based technology like Viant’s Household ID™ Technology, deterministic attribution, and our recent acquisition of IRIS.TV, advertisers can now:

• Target based on context and emotional relevance
  
• Measure real-world outcomes, from purchases to foot traffic
  
• Optimize campaigns across the funnel in real time
  

Why It Matters Now

The evolution of CTV into a measurable, performance-driven channel comes at a crucial moment. With the deprecation of third-party cookies and signal loss across traditional programmatic, marketers are rethinking where—and how—they drive impact.

CTV, long valued for attention and premium content, is now proving it can close the loop.

“We’ve seen significant increases in even driving in-store foot traffic,” Hyden noted. “We always say that the technology that makes these things is quite complicated, but the outcome is really, really simple.”

The Future Is Shoppable Streaming

Whether it’s QR codes, scan-to-buy overlays, or app-store integrations, CTV is becoming a shoppable experience. But even without flashy creative, the power of contextual relevance and real-world targeting is unlocking a new kind of performance.

Advertisers no longer have to choose between branding and outcomes. With the right data, tools, and partners, they can finally have both.