The news: Roku is partnering with cross-platform advertising firm Spaceback to offer advertisers a free tool to convert existing social media marketing materials for its connected TV (CTV) platform, per Marketing Dive.

The news builds on the September launch of Roku Ads Manager, a self-serve advertising platform aimed at small and medium-size businesses advertise. The Spaceback partnership adds another easy avenue for brands looking to transition to CTVs.

The race for marketers: CTV platforms are aggressively launching advertising and commerce features in the hopes of integrating brands into their networks.

• Roku isn’t the only company offering such features. Amazon has offered to cover some costs for brands advertising on its video platforms, and Meta offers a similar channel for advertisers to adapt Instagram and Facebook ads for Reels.
• With hardware sales slowing down due to saturation—we forecast that 86% of US households will use a CTV device this year—manufacturers and CTV platforms are increasingly turning to advertising to make up for the dip in revenues.
• There’s an extra incentive for CTV platforms to make it as easy as possible to embed advertisers; the lack of measurement standards for CTV makes it difficult for marketers to weigh ad effectiveness on different channels. If advertisers spend heavily on one CTV platform, they’re less likely to divert that spending to a rival.

Our take: Roku’s Spaceback partnership shows the company attempting to boost its advertising revenues by reducing the barrier of entry for marketers and small brands. The company faces steep competition from Amazon for advertisers, especially due to Prime Video’s link to Amazon’s broader marketplace. However, Roku’s own commerce partnerships could help address this challenge.