How to map connected TV advertising skills gaps

What to take away

Decide whether you will hire the connected TV advertising skills you lack or train the people already in post, and pick a date for that decision.
Build the forecast around workstreams such as planning, buying, measurement, creative and compliance rather than job titles alone.
Give every gap an owner, a cost and a review trigger so the forecast survives the next budget round.
Illustrative examplea six-person team adding one CTV workstream might set aside £8,000 a year for training and backfill cover.

Where the forecast sits in the planning cycle

The decision in front of you is whether to fund skills before the next buying cycle or accept slower campaign turns. A forecast written on its own turns into a wish list. One written beside the media plan becomes a schedule with dates and costs attached.

Forecast in the planning cycle

Strategy choices first
shape roles needed
Media plan
attaches dates and costs
Platform joins or leaves
rewrite forecast
Measurement change
alters reporting
Supplier contract ends
task may become uncovered

Strategy choices come first, and they shape the roles you need. Thinkbox guidance on deciding your TV advertising strategy explains how the buying approach follows the strategy, which is where skill gaps first appear.

Budgets move as platforms win and lose spend. The Connected TV advertising: trends and outlook article tracks which formats are pulling money, and the workstreams gaining budget are the ones that will need people.

Three pressures usually force a rewrite: a platform joining or leaving the plan, a measurement change that alters what you report, and a supplier contract ending. Each one can turn a covered task into an uncovered one inside a quarter.

Map each skill to a workstream

A forecast built on job titles dates quickly. Job titles change, workstreams do not. List the work your campaigns require this year: audience planning, inventory and deal buying, measurement and reporting, creative adaptation for the big screen, and compliance sign-off. Give each skill a confidence rating from one to five, so the gaps are comparable.

For audience measurement, record the currency and source used for each inventory type. BARB and its AdvantEdge planning tool may be relevant to UK TV and BVOD; where CTV campaigns use platform or supplier reporting instead, document the methodology and its limits.

Audit and price skills

List recurring campaign tasks
Mark covered, partly covered, uncovered
Note tools each task depends on
Compare with peer teams or agencies
Convert uncovered tasks to hours and cost
Choose hire, train, contract or automate
Set review triggers

Steps 1 to 4: audit what you have

List recurring CTV campaign tasks, from audience planning and inventory selection through deal setup, creative adaptation, measurement and reporting, and compliance sign-off.
Mark each task as covered, partly covered or uncovered, and name the person responsible.
Note the tools each task depends on, because tool fluency is a skill in its own right.
Compare your list with two or three peer teams or agency partners to find what you missed.

Steps 5 to 7: price gaps and set triggers

Convert each uncovered task into hours a month, then price those hours using your organisation's actual staff costs or supplier quotes for external support.
Choose hire, train, contract or automate for each gap, with a named owner and a start date.
Set review triggersa platform mix change, a contract renewal, a measurement change or a new market entering the plan.

Train, hire or contract out

Training suits steady work such as planning, reporting and compliance. Contracting covers short peaks, for example a launch quarter. Hiring fits work that repeats every month and needs one accountable owner.

Ask whether the work can be done well part-time, and whether the knowledge needs to stay in the building. Skills held only by a contractor leave with the contract.

Automation suits repetitive reporting, and the Connected TV advertising AI applications article sets out where it removes analyst hours and where it does not. Read that before you cut a role you still need.

Anyone who signs off creative or audience data needs current guidance. The ASA resource library gathers advice across digital and video advertising, which makes it a sensible first stop when you write the compliance part of the forecast. For UK sign-off, check whether each placement is covered by the CAP Code or BCAP Code. The ASA administers the CAP Code and handles BCAP Code complaints under Ofcom's co-regulatory arrangements; Ofcom is the statutory regulator for broadcast advertising.

Agency teams can lean on published research when they build a training plan. The IPA knowledge centre collects research and best practice for agencies, and it is a fair benchmark for what a mid-level planner should know.

Common questions

How often should we refresh the forecast?

At least once a year, and sooner when platform mix, measurement rules or supplier contracts change. Quarterly works for teams running several platforms at once.

What if we cannot afford to hire?

Train two people instead of one so cover exists during leave. Write the gap into the forecast with a cost, so the choice is visible at the next budget round.

Should the forecast include compliance skills?

Yes, because codes and platform policies change, and the person signing off needs to keep up. Give that person a yearly review date in the forecast.

Who owns the forecast?

The media lead usually owns it, with input from analytics and compliance. Without a named owner, the forecast is the first line cut at budget time.