Roku Inc. Partners with Smartly to Revolutionize CTV Advertising
On June 17, 2026, Roku Inc. (NASDAQ: ROKU), the leading TV streaming platform in North America, announced a significant partnership with Smartly, a renowned AI-powered advertising technology platform. This collaboration aims to integrate the advanced capabilities of social advertising into Connected TV (CTV), offering marketers a robust tool to enhance their advertising strategies on the biggest screen in the home.
1. Transforming CTV Advertising
The heart of this partnership lies in the direct integration of Smartly with Roku Ads Manager via the Roku Ads API. This innovative connection enables marketers to efficiently run CTV campaigns using the same tools they employ for social advertising. As a result, brands can quickly activate campaigns on TV, extending their reach and enhancing measurability in their marketing efforts.
Laura Desmond, CEO of Smartly, emphasized the significance of this collaboration, stating, "CTV's performance era is here. The best advertising follows attention across every screen, and streaming is where we can now finally unlock the same proven results." She highlighted that partnering with Roku would allow advertisers to apply the same strategies that have proven successful on social media to the CTV landscape, facilitating a structural shift in brand growth.
2. Streamlined Creative Development
One of the standout features of this partnership is its focus on simplifying the creative development process. Advertisers can now adapt their existing social media assets for television, saving both time and resources. This eliminates the need to create separate advertisements for each platform, thus enhancing operational efficiency.
Patrick Harris, Roku's Senior Vice President of Global Advertising Sales & Partnerships, noted, "Advertisers want CTV to work as hard as their best-performing channels. At Roku, we are strategically positioned to deliver that at scale." He further emphasized how this partnership allows brands to leverage the speed and precision of social media advertising in the CTV space, ultimately driving measurable growth.
3. A New Era for Advertisers
The collaboration between Roku and Smartly represents a pivotal moment for advertisers seeking to maximize their impact across diverse platforms. With Smartly's expertise in AI-driven advertising technology and Roku's significant presence in the streaming market, this partnership is poised to deliver innovative solutions that meet the evolving demands of marketers.
As Smartly continues to support over 800 brands and manage more than $7 billion in ad spend globally, the integration with Roku's expansive platform could potentially lead to substantial improvements in campaign performance. This includes achieving a 5.5x return on ad spend (ROAS) and saving advertisers an impressive 42 minutes of labor for every hour of campaign management.
4. Conclusion
This partnership marks an exciting development in the realm of digital advertising, particularly for CTV. By merging the strengths of Smartly's advertising technology with Roku's extensive streaming capabilities, marketers are now equipped with powerful tools to harness the potential of television advertising. As the landscape of advertising continues to evolve, Roku and Smartly are at the forefront of creating innovative solutions that promise to redefine how brands engage with their audiences.
For more insights into this partnership and its implications for the advertising industry, visit Roku's advertising page or Smartly's website.