CTV isn’t paid search. You won’t launch a campaign Monday and see phone calls Tuesday. The timeline is measured in months, not days. Understanding that timeline prevents the most common mistake in streaming advertising: quitting too early.
The 90-Day Minimum
Mark it: 90 days minimum before you can evaluate CTV performance fairly.
Why 90 days? Frequency takes time to build across enough households. Brand recognition develops gradually through repeated exposure. The gap between seeing an ad and needing a lawyer can be weeks or months. Attribution patterns need enough data points to become visible. And platform algorithms need time to optimize delivery toward your best-performing audience segments.
Campaigns that run 30-45 days never reach sufficient frequency and never generate enough data to evaluate. They produce inconclusive results that get blamed on the channel rather than the timeline.
Month-by-Month Reality
Month 1: Foundation
Ads delivering across platforms. Impressions accumulating (400-600K depending on budget). Algorithms learning your audience. Frequency building toward 2-3x per household. You’ll see impression reports and completion rates (95%+), but very few direct conversions. Maybe some “I saw your ad” comments from existing clients. Concern is normal. Panic is premature. Quitting is a mistake.
Month 2: Early Signals
Frequency reaching 4-6x per household. Multiple exposures registering. Platform optimization improving delivery. You’ll notice slight increases in branded search volume. Direct website traffic ticks up. More “I saw your ad” mentions from intake. Some leads mention TV exposure unprompted. Cautious optimism is appropriate. Commit to month 3.
Month 3: Patterns Emerge
Frequency at 6-8x for core audience. Real brand recognition building. Compounding effect starting to show in the data. Clear branded search volume increase. Sustained direct traffic improvement. Leads mentioning TV exposure regularly. Possible improvement in lead quality across all sources. Now you have enough data to evaluate continuation with confidence.
Month 4+: Compounding Returns
Frequency building further. New households reached while existing audience gets reinforced. CTV lifting performance across other channels. Sustained branded search lift. Improved conversion rates on Google Ads and organic. Strong brand recall in intake conversations. Clear attribution patterns. This is where the ROI math gets compelling.
Why CTV Takes Time
Three factors create the delay between first impression and measurable results.
The frequency requirement is the most important. One exposure does nothing. Research suggests 6-8+ exposures before a brand sticks in memory. At $20K monthly spend targeting 150,000 households, you’re delivering roughly 650,000 impressions per month. That’s 4-5x average frequency per household. It takes months for enough households to reach the threshold where your name triggers recognition.
The need gap is the second factor. People don’t need lawyers daily. Someone sees your CTV spot on a Tuesday. Two weeks later, car accident. Next day, they search “car accident lawyer.” If you’re there in search results, CTV did its job. But that gap between exposure and need can stretch for weeks. You can’t accelerate it.
The attribution delay is the third. CTV doesn’t produce click-to-call attribution like paid search. The path runs from CTV exposure to brand recognition to eventual need to search or direct visit to lead to case. Each step takes time. Attribution only becomes clear with enough data points across enough time to see the pattern.
Leading Indicators Worth Tracking
Don’t wait 90 days staring at nothing. Track leading indicators that signal whether CTV is building the awareness pipeline.
Branded search volume should start moving in month 2. If people are searching your firm name more often, CTV is registering. Direct website traffic (people typing your URL or clicking bookmarks) tells you the same story from a different angle. “Saw your ad” mentions during intake start appearing in month 1-2 and increase over time. Search conversion rates improving in month 3 signal that warmer prospects are entering your funnel. And lead quality scores shifting upward indicate CTV-influenced leads convert differently than cold traffic.
What Kills CTV Campaigns Early
Impatience is the primary failure mode. Pulling budget at day 45 because “nothing’s happening” means you quit right before the data would have started showing results. You paid for the foundation but never built on it.
Wrong expectations come second. Expecting CTV to work like paid search (direct attribution, immediate calls) sets up inevitable disappointment. CTV is brand infrastructure. It makes everything else work harder.
No search coverage is the third killer. CTV generates demand that flows to search. Without search presence, competitors capture your investment. This is the most common structural problem we see in underperforming CTV campaigns.
Insufficient budget creates the fourth problem. $5K per month doesn’t generate enough frequency in most markets. You’re spreading impressions too thin across too many households, and nobody sees your ad enough times for it to register.
Poor creative is the fifth. A bad commercial running 500,000 times is still a bad commercial. Creative quality matters because CTV’s non-skippable format means people will watch, but they won’t remember something forgettable.
When to Call It Not Working
After 90 days with proper budget, if you see no branded search lift, no direct traffic increase, zero TV mentions from leads, and no improvement in any leading indicator, then something is wrong. But the diagnosis usually isn’t “CTV doesn’t work.” It’s usually fixable: creative isn’t resonating, targeting is off, frequency is too low for the market size, or tracking isn’t properly configured.
Diagnose before quitting. The firms that succeed with CTV are the ones who committed to the timeline and adjusted tactics rather than abandoning the channel.
Signs CTV Is Working
- Branded search volume trending up month over month
- Direct website traffic increasing without other changes
- Intake team hearing 'I saw your ad on TV' regularly
- Conversion rates improving on paid search and organic
- Lead quality shifting upward across all sources
Signs Something Needs Fixing
- No branded search movement after 90 days of spend
- Zero intake mentions of TV exposure
- Frequency below 4x per household per week (budget issue)
- Completion rates below 90% (creative or targeting issue)
- No search presence to capture CTV-generated demand
The Patience Payoff
Firms that commit to 90+ days and proper budget typically see ROAS improve 24% by month three. CPA drops 64% over the same period. Branded search lifts 20-40%. Direct traffic climbs 15-25%. Conversion rates improve across every channel because prospects arrive warmer.
CTV is an investment in future demand, not today’s phone calls. The firms that understand this timeline succeed. Those that expect immediate gratification quit too early and conclude the channel doesn’t work, when the truth is they never gave it a chance to compound.