Cross-Channel Retargeting: How to Retarget Your CTV Ads on Social

Social still fills the hearts and minds of advertisers, but CTV is fighting for some market share, thanks in large part to the high-quality, non-skippable, opted-in advertising experiences that come with it. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could connect these two dynamic advertising worlds? With cross-device technology, cross-channel retargeting from CTV to social is possible. Here’s how: 

How to Retarget Your CTV Ads across Social

I get it—merging the world’s of CTV and social sounds far fetched. In an advertising world full of fragmentation, connecting the bridge between these two dynamic worlds may seem impossible. Thanks to cross-device technology, it’s not.

Imagine this: You’re an auto advertiser promoting the launch of a new car and want to get in front of your target audience with high-impact ads aimed at influencing their purchase decision at the beginning of their shopping journey. Enter CTV. To get in front of the right people, you tap into first- and third-party audiences and serve them an engaging, full-screen ad experience that captures their attention when they’re spending time with CTV device—think Roku. This is great. Viewability rates are high, and you’re getting in front of your target audience during opted-in moments. It’s a perfect match for brand awareness. For now, that’s where they shine. However, if you’re working toward a full-funnel strategy, CTV falls short (for now). 

So, what can you do? Continue the advertising experience by retargeting your CTV ads to the same audiences on the major social platforms.  

Continuing the example, let’s say that your CTV ad truly resonates with only one of the people in the household. With cross-device technology, you can identify this person by looking into their browsing behavior across devices and target them again across social. Likewise, you can push mobile ad IDs to social using cross-device technology and tap into these engaged audiences with ads designed to push them down the funnel—think a social ad with a CTA for a test drive or to locate the nearest dealership. Where CTV falls short, social picks up the slack. 

CTV to Social Advertising

Why is this capability so powerful? Why can’t you use two campaigns aimed at audiences in each ecosystem? Because you may be retargeting someone with a second ad they doesn’t relate. That could mean wasted impressions. 

Think about it. Despite popular belief, social isn’t always made for brand awareness, especially with video. Viewability rates are too low, with people spending mere seconds scrolling past your ad. So, if you want to retarget this audience and continue your brand story in another ecosystem, you’re reaching people who barely spent time with you. 

On the other hand, if you flip the script and start your brand awareness with CTV ads, you’re guaranteeing viewability—people are spending meaningful time with your ads. Plus, these are opted-in moments, which increases the chances your brand will resonate. From there, you can identify the most engaged audiences and retarget them with social ads designed to drive conversions or other lower-funnel KPIs. It’s a win-win by giving your audience an improved, consistent, and cohesive experience across channels that resonates with them at each stage of their journey.


Cross-device technology brings audience targeting into the 21st century and gives you the power to engage a meaningful audience with a cohesive and unified experience across CTV and social. As online commerce grows in the hearts and minds of advertisers, connecting these dots will only become more important—that’s a given.

Want to learn more about how to retarget your CTV ads across social?

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