TV Ads for B2B – why it works and where to start

The pressure to grow is on. At the same time, the paid channels you’ve always leaned on (LinkedIn, Google, Meta) are getting more competitive and expensive.

But here’s something new. More people are watching TV than ever (but through streaming now). CTV (connected TV) is one of the biggest paid channels very few B2B teams are seriously testing. I got into why on our recent podcast with Amit Sharan, SVP of Marketing at Tatari. Ironically, Amit advocated against TV in his previous role (at LiveRail before Facebook bought it). Now, CTV brings Tatari $100M+ in net revenue.

You already know TV builds brand. If I said: “You can save up to 15% on car insurance,” you’d immediately know which brand I’m talking about, right? Everybody knows the Geico gecko (even my kids). And how did they build that brand recognition? TV.

So TV is very much alive, and you don’t need a Super Bowl budget to make it work for your brand.

Here’s how you can make CTV work for you, even in B2B.

1. Retarget on TV (and repurpose your content)

According to Amit, every B2B company should be retargeting their audience on CTV, including LinkedIn and website visitors. He says it works best once you hit ~10,000 unique monthly visitors. If you’re immediately thinking: “Great, but I don’t have a Super Bowl budget,” Amit says as little as $50/day can bring results from CTV.

Why TV? Because where else do you get 15-30 uninterrupted seconds to tell your story? Unlike digital and social, CTV isn’t about scroll-stopping copy and visuals. This is a platform to lead with your story and give your brand a chance to shine. What works on social can absolutely work on CTV too (no need to reinvent all your content). That founder video that went viral on LinkedIn? Double down on it.

Tatari’s best-performing spot? Just Philippe, the CEO, looking straight at the camera, explaining why the company exists.

2. Make your clients the star (social proof = people buy from people)

Tatari’s up against a competitor whose main spokesperson is Ryan Reynolds, one of the most likeable celebrities out there (until recently). How do you compete with that? Amit’s answer: lead with your customers.

Tatari sends video crews to film customer case studies. They get a lot of long-form and short-form content out of that, and their customers get to feel special. One of Tatari’s top-performing ad formats is a mashup featuring multiple clients talking about the same thing, similar successes, results and wins. When a few people reinforce each other’s message, it becomes more believable.

If you’re already recording customer feedback (even via video calls), you’re halfway there. You don’t need a full film crew to make this work. Focus on the consistent story instead.

3. How TV makes the rest of your marketing work harder

This is where retargeting from point #1 comes back. A rising tide lifts all boats, and your marketing efforts compound. Tatari’s clients say that after running a TV ad, all their other channels’ metrics improve, and they see an average of a 25% increase in branded search.

Once you have a recognizable brand, outreach becomes that much easier. People already know, like and trust you, so they’re that much more likely to buy from you. And how do you easily tell the masses about you? CTV. People buy from the brands they know, so make sure they hear about you, again and again. This sets the stage for outbound and makes it more effective too.

4. Make TV your “channel in reserve”

One of the biggest mistakes I made in my first go-round as a marketing leader was not having enough channels in reserve. I was so caught up in short-term growth and hitting the number this year that, when it came time to scale up the next year, I didn’t have anywhere to go. And new channels take time. You can’t just say “we need to grow more, let’s dump another $100k over here.” You have to learn and test a channel before you can rely on it.

If I could do it all over, I’d carve out a clear line in the budget for future tests. Maybe 80/20, today versus next year. Use that 20% to make sure you can actually hit the number when the pressure’s on. Here’s how I’d do it: not spend big on TV right now, but start learning the channel this year so it’s ready when you need it.

That’s how you end up with a channel that compounds instead of a one-off campaign. Geico’s gecko didn’t get famous from one Super Bowl spot. It got famous from thousands of small placements over years. The same can work for B2B brands.

Amit also shared how he tracks ad performance, how AI fits into this, and his next big challenge. Watch the full episode here.

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