ClickZ Digital Ad Platform Newsletter | The Rise of CTV Advertising📺

Plus: ⚡Google vs Meta - Ad Platform Showdown in 2025

Author

Rafe Houston
April 23, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 10 minutes

Heads up! To ensure you continue receiving our newsletters, please add [email protected] to your contact list!

Welcome to ClickZ Digital Ad Platform News, your essential newsletter for digital marketers and eCommerce professionals.

Sector Spotlight 🎥

DIGITAL ADVERTISING GROWTH

Digital ad revenue surged 15% YoY to $258.6B in 2024, driven by robust growth in digital video, retail media, search, and social channels. Marketers should note the increasing importance of AI-driven automation, first-party data strategies, and mid-tier publisher growth for effective audience targeting and budget allocation.

CTV ADVERTISING SURGE

Connected TV (CTV) ad spend will grow 15.8% in 2025, reaching $33.35 billion, as marketers benefit from precise audience targeting and real-time campaign optimization. Millennials will dominate CTV viewership, with 69.9% of the US population projected as users by 2026, making CTV crucial for modern marketing strategies.

AD SPENDING INSIGHTS

EMARKETER’s Q1 2025 Ad Spending Benchmarks deliver data-driven insights on total US media, digital, search, retail media, TV/CTV, and social network ad spend. Marketers gain precise benchmarks to inform budget alloc

ations, campaign development, and media mix analysis. This resource is vital for staying competitive in a shifting landscape.

SOCIAL COMMERCE REVOLUTION

TikTok is emerging as a critical driver in the evolving U.S.-China trade landscape, enabling Chinese manufacturers to bypass traditional retail barriers and sell luxury goods directly to American consumers via engaging, transparent content. This direct-to-consumer approach—boosted by TikTok Shop and highly influential creators—challenges established luxury branding by demystifying production processes, revealing price markups, and fostering a more price-conscious, value-driven mindset among consumers.

For marketing professionals, this shift signals a profound transformation in brand positioning, pricing strategies, and influencer partnerships. As regulatory changes like the removal of the De Minimis rule increase tariffs and global scrutiny of supply chains intensifies, marketers must prioritize transparency, adapt to changing consumer perceptions of luxury, and address the escalating risks of counterfeiting within the eCommerce ecosystem.

RETAIL MEDIA INNOVATION

Meta is aggressively pursuing retail media budgets by expanding marketplace API access, providing granular data sharing—including product-level reports and impression logs—and introducing ad formats that drive both online and in-store sales. These moves directly target marketers seeking more actionable insights and performance measurement as retail media spending grows. For marketing professionals, Meta’s approach not only offers enhanced attribution but also opens broader partnership opportunities in a competitive landscape.

AD PLATFORM STRATEGY

Choosing between Google Ads and Meta Ads should align with your advertising goals, audience behavior, and budget strategies. Google Ads excels in capturing high-intent searches, making it ideal for industries like legal services, home services, and significant eCommerce due to its conversion potential. In contrast, Meta Ads thrive in fostering demand and driving immediate conversions for products that appeal visually or impulsively, benefiting fashion, beauty, and home décor.

As advertising costs climb and automation becomes prevalent, advertisers must craft a flexible strategy leveraging both platforms. The optimal approach combines high-intent conversions via Google Ads with demand generation and branding through Meta Ads, ensuring a diversified and responsive ad spend. Emphasize creative work that resonates across channels, harnessing automation while maintaining human oversight. By embracing a hybrid strategy, marketers can navigate changing trends effectively, adapting to seasonal shifts and emerging consumer behaviors with agility.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT FASHION MARKETING STRATEGIES

TikTok is proving itself indispensable in fashion marketing, offering platforms for brands like Adidas, Louis Vuitton, and Dior to elevate their digital presence through strategic content. Adidas excelled by incorporating popular internet personalities, enhancing relatability and organic engagement. Louis Vuitton leveraged celebrity appeal to reinforce its cross-cultural luxury identity, while Dior's cinematic approach made strides in top-of-funnel awareness. Each brand effectively aligned their content with TikTok's dynamics through authenticity and emotional resonance.

The common thread in these TikTok successes is alignment with brand DNA and platform nuances. From Adidas's influencer engagement to Gucci's transparency, brands achieved authentic interaction beyond visibility. The TikTok Fashion Index highlights how understanding digital culture nuances nurtures performance, offering marketers insights into crafting campaigns with genuine engagement. By focusing on authentic narratives and influential personalities, brands can transform mere presence into strategic performance, embodying cultural fluency that resonates deeply within the digital space.

Influencer Corner 📢

🚨BRANDS…PLEASE stop doing this.

Too many marketers stop describing their solution 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 once they understand it. 🤣 (Which, I totally get. Once you’ve mastered the solution you no longer act, speak, or teach like a newbie anymore...)

But that’s exactly where the trouble starts.

𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗰𝗾𝘂𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗴𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗮 𝗦𝗣𝗘𝗔𝗞 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗮 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻.

B2B marketers are eating your lunch. And they’re doing it with an ad…

DTC brands, B2B marketers are crushing it with an ad format you’re missing. The trick? Founder-first LinkedIn posts.

Forget the fluffy brand talk—share real product-building insights: prototypes, feedback, debates, and decisions. It sparks genuine engagement, builds community, and drives top-of-funnel traffic.

When founders speak directly to the audience, they convert. Why isn’t your brand doing this yet?

Optimization Hub ⚙️

PERFORMANCE MARKETING

Setting up a Google Ads campaign that delivers measurable ROI requires marketers to focus on precise keyword research, tightly themed ad groups, conversion tracking, and disciplined budget management. Effective campaigns prioritize search intent and avoid wasted spend by excluding broad match and vague keywords. This approach grants actionable clarity, making it essential for professionals aiming to maximize efficiency in eCommerce and service-based lead generation.

CTV MARKETING STRATEGY

CTV advertising is gaining traction as marketers react to tariff-driven economic uncertainty by reallocating budgets from linear TV to measurable, performance-focused channels. With 81% of U.S. advertisers prioritizing accountability, CTV’s advanced targeting and real-time optimization ensure both reach and ROI without sacrificing visibility. This shift offers marketers actionable ways to make every media dollar more effective in uncertain conditions.

DELIVERY INNOVATION

Walmart’s adoption of geospatial data science technology expands delivery coverage to 12 million more U.S. households, offering improved accuracy and real-time logistics that facilitate same-day service and consolidated order fulfillment. Marketers should note this as a critical shift in last-mile delivery capabilities, redefining consumer access and expectations in eCommerce fulfillment.

📲 Like what you’re seeing?

Get real-time insights from top industry events, expert takes, and behind-the-scenes content. Follow ClickZ on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube for your daily dose of marketing intel.

ClickZ is a Contentive publication in the DTC eCommerce division