Paramount Launched a New CTV Retargeting Platform. Sales Factory Was First to Test It. Here’s What We Learned.

In media, advantage comes from being early, curious, and willing to test before best practices exist.

That’s exactly where Sales Factory found itself in late 2025, when Paramount Ads Manager opened access to its new connected TV retargeting capability. Before benchmarks were established and before the platform became widely adopted, Sales Factory became the first company to activate and test Paramount’s CTV retargeting beta through a live campaign for a home improvement brand within our core client portfolio.

Why Being First Mattered

Paramount Ads Manager is a relatively new self-serve CTV platform, built to make premium streaming inventory more accessible to advertisers. The launch of retargeting within the platform marked a meaningful shift in how CTV can be used.

Until now, retargeting has largely lived in social and display. Those channels are increasingly saturated, more expensive, and easier for consumers to tune out. Paramount’s CTV retargeting capability introduced something fundamentally different: the ability to re-engage high-intent audiences in a lean-back, high-attention environment without relying on cookies or click-based behavior.

As an agency deeply experienced in home improvement and retail marketing, Sales Factory saw this as a pivotal moment. Testing early allowed us to understand the mechanics, performance, and real-world value of CTV retargeting before it became table stakes, and to translate those learnings directly into smarter strategies for our clients.

How We Activated the First Test

We launched the campaign on December 3 and ran it through the end of the year, intentionally choosing one of the noisiest advertising periods to stress-test the platform.

The test was executed for a home improvement brand, with a clear objective: retarget consumers who had already visited the brand’s online direct-to-consumer site and reinforce brand presence and product consideration through non-skippable CTV video. 

The audience was built exclusively from first-party site visitors and activated across Paramount’s streaming ecosystem, including Paramount+, CBS, and Pluto TV.

As the first company to run this capability, there was no playbook to follow, but that was the point.

What We Learned

Over the December flight, the campaign reached 106,144 unique users and delivered 434,000 impressions.

Top impression markets included Atlanta, New York, Charlotte, Dallas, and Chicago, all key markets that closely align with home improvement retail demand and distribution footprints. Ads ran alongside premium, familiar programming such as Criminal Minds, CSI, Blue Bloods, and feature-length movies, placing the brand in environments traditionally reserved for much larger TV buys.

Beyond the quantitative results, the campaign delivered meaningful qualitative insights tied to consumer behavior and brand perception.

First, CTV retargeting restores attention. In a season defined by ad fatigue and endless scrolling, CTV ensured the message was actually seen. Non-skippable placements and long-form viewing created uninterrupted exposure that does not exist on social or display.

Second, the big screen effect is real. Appearing within premium TV content elevated brand perception in a way smaller screens cannot. For home improvement brands, that translated into greater authority, legitimacy, and trust, all critical factors for products sold at retail.

Third, CTV retargeting expands influence beyond the original visitor. While the retargeting signal comes from one individual’s site visit, the ad reaches the entire household. This co-viewing effect introduces the brand to spouses, family members, and gift-givers who were never part of the original digital interaction.

Finally, CTV offers a clear antidote to click fatigue. During the holidays, consumers are overwhelmed by clickable ads. CTV removes the pressure to act immediately and instead focuses on recall, reinforcement, and mental availability, which is often the missing link between exposure and purchase.

How This Changes the Conversation Around CTV

Historically, CTV has been viewed primarily as an upper-funnel awareness channel. This first-to-market test demonstrated that CTV can also play a meaningful role further down the funnel, especially when paired with first-party data.

Paramount’s new retargeting capability lowers the barrier to entry, making premium streaming more accessible without sacrificing quality or brand safety. Budgets can start small, campaigns can launch quickly, and advertisers gain access to audiences in one of the highest-attention environments available.

For Sales Factory, being first was a deliberate choice to lean into what’s next, test it in the market, and ensure our clients benefit from that insight before it becomes mainstream.

What This Signals for the Future of Media

Leadership in media comes from stepping into what’s next, testing it in the market, and learning faster than the rest of the industry.

By becoming the first company to activate Paramount’s CTV retargeting platform, Sales Factory gained early insight into how retargeting performs when it moves to the biggest screen in the home. That experience now informs how we build smarter, more resilient media strategies for the brands we serve.

The advantage lies in moving early, learning fast, and applying those insights where they matter most.