Case study · Health & wellness

Customers worth $129. In July, CTV brought them in for $67. Meta cost $167.

A national health and wellness brand selling direct to consumer wanted streaming TV to bring in customers, not just awareness, at a cost that made sense against a customer worth about $129. In July 2026, CTV brought customers in for $67 each by the CTV platform's count; Meta reported $167 per customer for the same brand and month. A May 2026 incrementality test showed 41.4% more purchases among households that saw the ads. CS & Co. planned, bought and measured the campaign.

Direct-to-consumerConnected TVRetargeting + new audiencesFeb – Jul 2026

$67CTV cost per customerJuly 2026, vs $167 on Meta

$15Per returning customerThe best-performing audience

$2.20Per site visitHalf of visitors became leads

+41%More purchasesProven with The CS Method™

Same brand. Same month.

How much did CTV cost per customer?

$67 on CTV against $167 on Meta in July 2026, each platform by its own numbers: about 2.5 times less.

Meta · July 2026

$167

per customer, as reported by Meta

CTV · July 2026

$67

per customer, as reported by the CTV platform

The CTV figure uses a 7-day credit window, close to Meta's own 7-day-click / 1-day-view rules, so the comparison isn't stretched in our favor. In July, CTV ran on a smaller budget weighted to warm audiences.

Where it worked best

Where did CTV work best?

Every one of these came in well under a $129 customer.

Audience	Cost per customer	Customer value vs cost
Returning customers	$15.23	8.5x
Warm leads	$30.40	4.2x
Best retargeting programs (digestive & women's health)	$32–35	3.7x+
New audiences: women's health campaign	$59.54	2.2x
Whole direct-to-consumer program, six months	$93.92	1.4x

Retargeting paid for itself on the first order, before a single repeat purchase.

What we learned

How long do CTV buyers take to purchase?

Longer than most dashboards wait. The typical customer bought 8 days after seeing the ad. If you judge CTV on next-day sales, you're missing most of what it does.

8 days

Typical time from ad to purchase

Same day17%

Within a week47%

After two weeks33%

How we know it was CTV

How do you know CTV caused the sales?

We didn't take the platform's word for it. The CS Method™ reconciled the platform's numbers against the brand's own orders, and a May 2026 incrementality test showed the households that saw the ads made 41.4% more purchases. That gap is what CTV caused, not what it happened to be near.

“Set the number a customer has to cost before we spend a dollar. Then prove it with a control group, and get paid when it moves.”

By Cory Poccia, Founder & CEO · Published September 25, 2026 · Updated October 15, 2026

Your turn

What would a customer cost you on CTV?

Most CTV plans are DECAF. They spend, they report, and nobody can prove what they sold. CS & Co. plans, buys and measures your streaming TV against the number you're held to, proves what it caused with The CS Method™, and only earns past the plan fee when that number moves.

We'll show you the math before you spend a dollar.

Find out if CTV is a fit

Figures: February 1 – July 31, 2026 unless marked July; direct-to-consumer sales only, retail excluded. CTV figures as reported by the CTV platform, 30-day window unless noted; the July CTV cost per customer ($67.33) uses a 7-day window. Meta figure as reported by Meta for July 2026 ($167.23 per purchase). Each platform counts purchases by its own rules. In July, CTV ran on a smaller budget weighted to warm audiences. Customer value is average first-year revenue per customer, not profit. “Paid for itself on the first order” is platform-attributed return on retargeting spend. Incrementality test run May 2026 by the CTV platform. Client name withheld.