Why agents should take a second look at TV advertising

For most independent agents, TV advertising has never been a real option. The math didn’t work. Producing a single ad cost anywhere from $5,000 to $20,000, and that was before buying the media to run it. National carriers could afford that. Most independent operators couldn’t. And so the channel stayed off the table, not because it didn’t work, but because the cost of entry made it irrelevant.

Now three things have changed at once: how the ad market is structured, how inventory is bought and what it costs to produce a credible ad. Together, they add up to something independent agents haven’t had before: a realistic entry point.

How streaming changed TV economics

Connected TV — streaming, in plain terms — now represents more viewing time than broadcast or cable (around 45%, according to Nielsen’s 2025 data), a mark it passed for the first time last year. That’s not a trend line anymore; it’s a structural shift in where audiences are.

On linear TV, you bought a time slot. You paid for the hour, the day and the network, and you hoped the right people were watching. Minimums were high, commitments were locked in, and targeting was largely based on demographic guesswork. This model was for large budgets. It had to be.

Connected TV flipped this model on its head. Inventory is sold in tiny, flexible increments. There is no locked-in schedule, no bulk commitment. A campaign can start at a few hundred dollars a month and reach a defined audience: households targeted by ZIP code, income level, life stage or purchase intent criteria drawn from data providers such as Experian.

Carriers buy TV to be everywhere. Independent agents don’t need to be everywhere; they only need to be in their specific market, in front of the households that are likely to be clients. That’s a very different use of the channel, and one that the old model never made possible. 

The metrics to track

There’s a reason national carriers have been on TV for decades, and it’s not just reach. It’s the trust factor. A 30-second video in someone’s living room has a different effect than seeing it for two seconds on their scrolling feed. Seeing the same name three or four times over a month is how brand recognition really happens. This isn’t exclusive to TV, but TV does it more efficiently than most outlets available to independent agents.

The measurement aspect is where many agents get hung up. TV attribution is not as instantaneous as a search click, but it’s not a black box either. Website pixels can connect ad exposure to site visits. Promotional codes or a phone number in the ad can link inbound activity directly to a campaign. Geographic lift, looking at business volume before and after a campaign window, can provide a sense of overall momentum. Agents seeking a deeper level of detail can use customer relationship management or point of sale data to measure behavior even deeper in the sales funnel.

The better way to look at it, though, is to consider two time scales: short-term lead indicators and growing brand awareness in the market over time. The two aren’t in conflict; they’re just answering different questions. 

Getting started: What a realistic strategy looks like

The entry point is lower than most agents would expect. A consistent campaign can be run for $100 to $300 a month, not as a test but as an ongoing presence. The important word is “consistent.” A small budget, steady over time, has a much greater effect than a short burst followed by silence. Presence compounds. Absence restarts the clock.

Before streaming changed the media buying side, the other barrier was production. To produce a credible TV ad, a production company, script, shoot and post-production were needed, all before a single impression was bought. Artificial intelligence-based creative tools have significantly reduced those production requirements. The production barrier is far lower than it was even a couple of years ago; what remains is closer to a recurring line item than a capital investment.

With those constraints minimized, strategy becomes the primary driver. Targeting should be approached in two tiers. The first should target households that have demonstrated high purchase intent — such as movers, coverage researchers and life event triggers — to drive immediate inquiry. The second tier should target a larger reach of homeowners and qualified demographics in your geography. One will drive immediate results, and the other will drive future results.

Another factor to keep in mind is the power of creative execution. A strong, simple call to action, such as “Mention this ad for a free policy review,” will outperform more generic brand messaging. Give your viewers something concrete to do with what they just watched. 

The economics of TV advertising have changed enough that it deserves a fresh look from any independent agent who dismissed it a few years ago — and that dismissal was justified. Production costs made entry prohibitive. Media buying favored large, committed budgets. The audience existed, but the access did not.

That calculus has changed. The production barrier is essentially gone. Streaming has restructured how inventory is bought and at what price. Targeting has moved from broad demographic guesswork to defined audiences. You can take advantage of all that without having a national carrier’s budget.

What remains is a straightforward question: Is a consistent and modest presence on a platform that consumers have always understood as a standard-bearer of quality something that should be factored into a long-term strategy? For independent agents trying to grow a book of business in competitive local markets, it’s a question worth asking seriously, probably for the first time.

David Naffis is cofounder and CEO of Adwave. Contact him at [email protected].