How Precision Targeting And Measurement Are Powering B2B Growth On CTV
Inside Linkedin’s CTV Strategy With Cat Perez
LinkedIn is taking its rich B2B audience data beyond the feed and into the living room through partnerships with Roku, Hulu, and NBCUniversal. In this conversation, LinkedIn Business Development Manager Cat Perez shares how the company is making CTV more accessible and measurable for B2B marketers—offering self-serve targeting and independent performance validation via iSpot. Early results show LinkedIn is over 4x more effective than linear TV at reaching target audiences, with 71% of that reach being entirely incremental.
JON LAFAYETTE (JL): What specifically are you focused on within such a large organization?
CAT PEREZ (CP): One of our top priorities is solving the B2B measurement challenge. B2B sales cycles are very different from B2C— they typically take six to nine months instead of 30 days. To help customers navigate this, we've integrated with companies like iSpot to better measure CTV campaigns and give B2B marketers insights into how they are reaching their target audiences across both linear and streaming environments.
JL: What is LinkedIn’s B2B video advertising offering?
CP: We’ve partnered with publishers like Roku, Hulu, and NBCUniversal to extend LinkedIn’s B2B audiences targeting beyond our platform. As a marketer, you can target audiences such as senior IT decision-makers and reach them either within the LinkedIn feed or on premium CTV platforms like Hulu and Roku. The goal is to reach business professionals outside their day-to-day work life—in their homes where they’re more relaxed and receptive.
JL: If I’m a B2B advertiser already using LinkedIn, how would I use the CTV capability?
CP: You can log into LinkedIn Campaign Manager and select the CTV campaign option. You'll upload your creative, define your target audience, set your budget, and we take care of the rest. We’ll ensure your ads are delivered through our publisher partnerships, reaching your desired audience on platforms like Hulu, Roku, and NBCUniversal.
JL: How do you measure whether these campaigns are working?
CP: We’ve integrated with iSpot to independently measure all of our CTV campaigns. What’s unique is that iSpot provides advanced audience measurement. Traditional metrics often focus on age and gender, but that’s not enough for B2B marketers. They want to know if they’re reaching business decision-makers like senior IT leaders or senior sales and marketing professionals. With iSpot, we can provide that precision.
JL: Are you seeing strong results from this?
CP: Yes! As early performance results suggests, LinkedIn is 4.3 times more effective at reaching a B2B marketer’s target audience compared to linear TV. Additionally, 71% of LinkedIn CTV’s reach is incremental, meaning we’re finding unique business decision-makers who aren’t exposed to linear ads. Sometimes LinkedIn is perceived as more expensive, but when you look at our effectiveness at reaching target audiences, we’re very competitive. iSpot’s independent measurement validates that.
JL: What makes LinkedIn better able to find these unique audiences?
CP: LinkedIn has access to the richest B2B audience available. While some business decision-makers can be reached on linear TV, we're much more effective at finding and reaching them through streaming platforms thanks to our professional audience data.
JL: How does LinkedIn help marketers deal with fragmentation?
CP: We recognize that B2B audiences are everywhere. Now, marketers can reach them both on and off LinkedIn through our integrations with CTV platforms. LinkedIn represents the richest B2B audience data available. While some business decision-makers can be reached on linear TV, LinkedIn is much more effective at finding and reaching them through streaming platforms thanks to our professional audience targeting.
JL: What kind of feedback are you getting from customers about your CTV offering?
CP: The response has been very positive. Customers are excited that they no longer have to rely on broad age and gender categories. They’re able to measure real audience reach based on job title and decision-making power. Once they see the first iSpot report, they realize how much waste they can cut from their linear or other CTV buys—and many are shifting dollars toward LinkedIn for better audience targeting.
JL: What do you think measurement’s role will be in the future?
CP: Measurement will be critical. As linear viewership declines and streaming rises, marketers will demand greater granularity to justify their investments. Without clear, reliable measurement, the shift to CTV won’t be sustainable. Measurement is what gives marketers confidence to continue investing in streaming and video advertising.
