How to Get Your Commercial on TV
Olena Svietlova
2025-02-28 • 9 min to read
Ever thought TV ads were out of your league? Think again. In just one hour, you could have your brand on the biggest screen in the house—without spending a fortune or dealing with complicated media buying.
TV advertising is no longer just for massive brands with million-dollar budgets. Whether you run a hospital, an online clothing store, or a marketing agency, Skybeam makes it easy to get your commercial on premium streaming platforms like Hulu, Pluto TV, and Discovery+ — without the hassle.
If you’ve ever wanted to see your business on TV, this guide will show you how to do it — quickly, affordably, and with amazing results.
Why TV Advertising Still Works (and Why It’s Better Than Ever)
TV ads still do the main thing — grab attention on the biggest screen in the house. But now, thanks to Streaming TV, you’re not just reaching millions of viewers; you’re reaching and converting the right ones—with precision like in digital targeting.
Here’s why TV advertising is growing—and why you should consider it:
People still watch TV for hours every day. By Nielsen, the average U.S. adult spends about 32 hours each week with TV during warmer months and an additional two or three when the weather gets colder.
You can target exactly who you want. Unlike TV ads in the past, Streaming TV lets you reach viewers based on age, interests, location, and even their behavior.
It’s surprisingly affordable. With Skybeam, you control your budget, starting with as little as $50/day instead of paying massive upfront costs.
The bottom line? You don’t need a massive budget to advertise on TV anymore.
How to Get A Commercial on TV in 5 Steps
Your competitors are already on TV—why aren’t you?
TV advertising isn’t just for big brands anymore—your audience is already watching, and now it’s easier than ever to put your business on the big screen.
With Skybeam, you don’t need a massive budget to run a high-impact TV ad campaign. Whether you’re a local business, an eCommerce brand, or a nationwide company, you can reach the right people at the right time with the right message—all on premium platforms like Hulu, Pluto TV, and Discovery+.
Here’s a simple plan for how to launch your first TV ad right now:
Define your goals. What do you want to achieve? Brand awareness, engagement, sales?
Set your budget. Start small and scale as you go.
Define your target audience. Select targeted demographics, interests, and locations.
Choose the right Streaming TV platforms. Balance reach and precision.
Upload or create your TV commercial. Use existing content or our AI-powered TV ads creation tool powered by Waymark (coming soon).
Launch your campaign!
And yes, it’s that simple! Let’s break down each step so you can get your business on TV today.
Step 1: Define Your Goals
Before launching your TV campaign, take a moment to define your goals. Clear objectives will help shape your messaging, targeting, and budget.
What Do You Want Your TV Ad to Achieve?
Ask yourself: What do you want your ad to accomplish for your business?
Attract New Customers. Expand your reach and introduce your business to people who haven’t heard of you before.
Build Brand Awareness. Want people to recognize and remember your brand? This stage is all about getting your name out there and making a strong first impression.
Increase Engagement. If you want to spark interest, your ad should highlight what makes your business unique and why customers should care.
Build Trust. Move potential customers closer to a decision by showcasing the value and credibility of your product or service.
Drive Sales. Convert viewers into customers with a strong call to action, encouraging them to visit your website, call, or make a purchase.
💡 Tips: That’s also okay if you’re not entirely sure about your ideal objective at first. Many businesses start with a TV commercial that touches on multiple goals, like boosting brand awareness while driving engagement. As your campaign runs, you can analyze performance and refine your strategy to focus on what resonates most with your audience.
Step 2: Set Your Budget
One of the biggest myths about TV advertising is that it’s expensive. But with Skybeam, you’re in complete control—you set the budget, adjust spending as you go, and target only the audiences that matter to your business.
What’s a Minimum Starting Budget for TV Advertising?
Your ideal start budget depends on your goals. Instead of guessing, use Skybeam’s Insights Hub to forecast campaign performance before you launch. Just enter your budget, target audience, and location, and get real-time estimates for impressions, clicks, and website visits.
Example
Let’s say a fitness apparel brand wants to promote its new gym wear in Texas using a $2,000/month budget. Based on Skybeam’s Insights Hub predictions, they could expect:
✔ 66K–111K forecasted impressions (views of their ad)
✔ 11M+ estimated audience size (potential reach)
✔ Up to 1.4K website visits (direct traffic from the campaign)
💡 More Smart Budgeting Tips for TV Advertising
Start small and scale up. A $100+/day budget is a great starting point for local TV campaigns.
Run campaigns for at least 2–3 weeks to track performance trends effectively.
Use the Insights Hub to predict your campaign’s impact and optimize before spending.
Step 3: Define Target Audience
Reaching the right audience is the key to a successful TV ad campaign. With Skybeam, you can fine-tune your targeting based on demographics, interests, location, and more—ensuring your ad is seen by the people most likely to engage.
Why Audience Targeting Matters
TV ads used to be broad and imprecise in the past—you’d pay for a slot on a popular show, hoping your ideal customers were watching. But now, with Streaming TV and advanced data-driven targeting, you can pinpoint exactly who sees your ad when they see it, and how they interact with it.
Example:
Let’s say you run a high-end business consulting firm and want to target affluent business owners in Illinois. You might start by selecting Kenilworth, IL, the wealthiest city in the state, according to Forbes.
By using Skybeam’s Audience Estimation Tool, you’d see that targeting only Kenilworth may be too narrow, even with 100+ premium TV inventory options available. That means your ad might not reach enough people for meaningful results.
Solution: Instead of limiting your targeting to just one city, expand your reach to the entire state of Illinois while still filtering for business owners and high-income households.
What Happens When You Broaden Your Target?
More impressions → Your ad is shown to more relevant viewers.
Better optimization → Adjust in real-time to deliver the best results.
Higher engagement → You still reach high-value leads but with a larger audience pool.
How to Select the Best Targeting Strategy for TV Advertising
🔹 Hyper-Targeted (City/Zip Code). Best for brands with local goals or specific geographic focus (e.g., local law firms, house seller firms).
🔹 Broad Targeting (Regional/National). Ideal for brands that want to scale quickly while still keeping audience filters in place (e.g., online retailers, subscription services, franchises).
💡 Pro Tip: Not sure how specific or broad your targeting should be? Use Skybeam’s Insights Hub to test different audience segments before launching to see estimated impressions and engagement.
With Skybeam, you’re in full control—whether you want to reach a hyper-local niche or a nationwide audience, your ad gets seen by the right people at the right time.
Step 4: Choose the Right TV Platform
Picking the right Streaming TV platforms (also called “inventories”) is the key to making sure your ad reaches the right audience while maximizing deliverability.
With Skybeam, you have access to 250+ premium streaming networks, including Hulu, Pluto TV, Paramount+, ESPN, and more. Let’s break down how to choose the best inventory mix for your TV ads.
Why Inventory Selection Matters
Choosing where your ad appears is just as important as who sees it. If you go too narrow, your ad might not deliver enough impressions. If you go too broad, you might waste your budget on audiences who aren’t the best fit.
Example: A Toy Store with Too Narrow Targeting
A local toy shop in Alabama wants to promote a special holiday sale to parents with 1+ children. They decide to:
✓ Target only specific cities in Alabama (Belle Mina, Bellamy, Beaverton, Bellwood, etc.).
✓ Select only one streaming platform: Paramount+
✓ Set a $100/day budget
The result? A very low deliverability score, meaning the campaign might not reach enough people to make an impact.
How to Fix It?
Instead of restricting inventory to just one platform, expanding to multiple networks (like Hulu, Pluto TV, and more) improves ad deliverability while still keeping precise audience targeting.
💡 Pro Tip: Balance matters. If your geo-targeting is too specific, opening up to more TV networks ensures your ad still reaches your audience at scale.
Step 5: Upload Your TV Commercial
You don’t need a Hollywood production crew to create a great TV commercial. If you already have social media videos, product demos, or brand promos, you’re halfway there. Simply repurpose your existing content and bring it to TV with Skybeam (check the requirements here).
How to Make a Great TV Commercial (Without Starting From Scratch)
Use what you already have. Upload social media clips, YouTube ads, or product videos and turn them into a TV ad.
Keep it simple and focused. Stick to one message and one clear goal—whether it’s brand awareness, website traffic, or sales.
Hook viewers immediately. The first five seconds are crucial, so make them count.
Ensure it meets TV ad requirements. Skybeam provides clear specifications to ensure your ad looks and sounds perfect on the big screen.
💡 No commercial? It’s not a problem. AI can create one for you.
Coming soon! In just a few weeks, we’re launching our AI-powered tool by Waymark, which will generate a TV commercial in minutes. Just enter your website, choose your branding style, and let AI handle the rest—no production team is needed. Stay tuned!
And….That‘s all!
Launch & Track Your Campaign in Real Time
Once your ad goes live, Skybeam’s real-time reporting dashboard provides deep insights into performance, audience behavior, and campaign impact—helping you optimize results on the go.
Key Metrics to Watch
Impressions: How many times your ad was shown.
Reach: The unique number of viewers who saw your ad.
Conversions: The total number of leads, purchases, or other goal completions driven by your ad.
CPM (Cost Per Thousand Impressions): The cost of showing your ad to 1,000 viewers.
Cost Per Event: The amount spent per conversion or desired action.
Spend: Monitor your spending in real time and adjust your budget as needed for maximum efficiency.
Use these insights to refine your targeting, optimize ad placements, and improve TV creatives —so every dollar works harder for you.
Why Businesses Love Skybeam
Skybeam makes TV advertising easy, affordable, and effective—so you can focus on growing your business while we handle the heavy lifting. Here’s why brands choose us:
✔️ No contracts, no hassle. Advertise on your terms without any long-term commitments.
✔️ Self-serve TV Ad Platform. Launch your TV campaign in minutes without needing an agency or media-buying experience.
✔️ Advanced targeting. Reach the right people at the right time.
✔️ Insights Hub. Get data-driven insights on TV viewership, audience habits, and top platforms to optimize your strategy.
Your audience is watching. Make sure they see your brand.
👉 Book a Demo and let us walk you through the platform.
👉 Or Explore Skybeam Yourself and launch your first campaign today!