How CTV Works for Personal Injury Law Firms

Targeting, delivery, measurement: three layers that make CTV work. 90%+ attribution match rates. How streaming campaigns actually function.

CTV looks simple from the outside. Your commercial plays during streaming content. Done.

But the targeting, delivery, and measurement mechanics that make it valuable for PI firms? More sophisticated than most agencies will explain.

Here’s how it actually works.

The Targeting Layer

Before your ad reaches any screen, targeting determines which households see it.

Audience Construction

You define who you want to reach:

AUDIENCE TARGETING PARAMETERS
Geographic DMA, zip codes, exclusion areas
Demographic age 25-64, income, homeownership
Behavioral auto loans, motorcycle ownership, workers' comp research
Intent legal research, PI content, competitor visits

These parameters create an audience: the pool of households eligible to see your ad.

Data Sources

Targeting data comes from multiple sources:

First-party platform data: Streaming services know viewing habits, app usage, and device information.

Third-party data providers: Companies like LiveRamp, Oracle, and Experian provide behavioral and demographic data matched to household identifiers.

Your first-party data: Client lists, website visitors, and CRM data can create lookalike audiences.

The result: instead of reaching “everyone watching Hulu in Philadelphia,” you reach “households in select Philadelphia zip codes with behavioral signals suggesting injury risk.” That’s a different conversation entirely.

The Buying Process

CTV inventory is purchased through several mechanisms:

Programmatic Buying

75% of CTV ad transactions happen programmatically:

  1. You set budget, targeting, and bid parameters
  2. DSP (demand-side platform) identifies available inventory matching your audience
  3. Real-time auction determines which advertiser wins each impression
  4. Winning ad serves to the household

This happens in milliseconds as streaming content loads.

Private Marketplace (PMP)

For premium inventory:

  1. Publisher offers inventory at negotiated rates
  2. You get priority access before open auction
  3. Often guarantees specific placement or volume
  4. Typically higher CPMs but better inventory quality

Direct Deals

Traditional buying relationships:

  1. Negotiate directly with publishers (Hulu, Peacock, etc.)
  2. Insertion orders specify volume, timing, CPM
  3. Less targeting flexibility but guaranteed placement
  4. Often requires higher spending commitments

The Delivery Mechanism

When someone in your target audience starts streaming content:

Ad Selection

  1. Content loads (show begins)
  2. Ad break approaches
  3. Publisher’s ad server requests an ad
  4. Request includes: household identifier, content info, device type
  5. Your DSP/platform evaluates: Does this household match your audience?
  6. If yes, bid is submitted
  7. Auction winner’s ad serves

Ad Serving

Your creative file (typically 30s or 15s video) streams to the device:

AD DELIVERY QUALITY
HD/4K same quality as content
Full-screen sound-on environment
94-96% completion rates Source: IAB/Innovid
Household level tracking

Viewers watch your entire message.

Frequency Management

The platform tracks how often each household sees your ad:

  • First exposure: Awareness building
  • Exposures 2-4: Message reinforcement
  • Exposures 5-7: Action consideration
  • Beyond 7: Diminishing returns, potential fatigue

Optimal frequency is 3-7 exposures per week. Too few = no impact. Too many = wasted spend and annoyed viewers who remember you for the wrong reasons.

The Attribution System

Here’s where CTV differs most from traditional TV. You can actually track results.

Household Matching

CTV platforms build identity graphs connecting devices to households:

IDENTITY GRAPH COMPONENTS
Device IDs streaming device, phone, computer
IP addresses household network identification
90%+ match rates in the U.S. Source: Nielsen, 2025

When a household is exposed to your ad, that exposure is logged.

Verified Visits

After exposure, the platform monitors for website visits:

  1. Ad serves to Household A at 8pm Tuesday
  2. Someone in Household A visits your website at 10pm Tuesday
  3. Platform matches: same household
  4. Visit attributed to CTV exposure

This “verified visit” metric shows CTV’s impact on website traffic.

Conversion Tracking

Beyond visits, tracking extends to conversions:

Form submissions: Pixel fires when someone fills out contact form Phone calls: Call tracking connects calls to exposed households Downstream actions: CRM integration can track consultation scheduling, case signing

Attribution Windows

How long after exposure do you credit CTV?

WindowUse Case
7 daysConservative, high confidence
14 daysStandard for most campaigns
21 daysExtended for longer consideration
30 daysMaximum reasonable window

Legal services typically use 14-21 day windows. People don’t need a lawyer immediately after seeing an ad. But the ad influences who they call when they do need one.

The Optimization Loop

Campaign performance improves through continuous optimization:

Data Collection

  • Impression delivery by segment
  • Completion rates by creative
  • Verified visits by audience
  • Conversions by all dimensions

Analysis

  • Which audiences convert best?
  • Which creative drives action?
  • What frequency maximizes response?
  • Where is budget being wasted?

Adjustment

  • Shift budget toward performing segments
  • Reduce spend on underperforming audiences
  • Refresh creative showing fatigue
  • Adjust frequency caps

ROAS improves 6.6% after 30 days and 24% after 90 days of consistent CTV investment. Optimization compounds.

The PI-Specific Application

For personal injury firms, the system enables:

PI TARGETING CAPABILITIES
Injury-prone vehicle purchasers, motorcycle owners, construction workers
Geographic focus on service area, exclude unwanted areas, high-value zips
Competitive exclusive audiences, pre-accident awareness
Measurable cost per visit, lead, and signed case

The Integration Requirement

CTV doesn’t work in isolation. The system requires:

Search protection: 75% of consumers search after seeing TV ads. If competitors capture those searches, your CTV investment benefits them.

Landing page alignment: Message consistency from TV to website improves conversion.

Intake readiness: CTV generates interest; intake converts it. Response speed matters.

See CTV and Search Coordination for integration best practices.

References