• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, May 19, 2025

Strategus developers have built a targeting platform that relies on conversational and real-time social data from platforms across Meta as well as Snap, Reddit, TikTok, and X to target ads.

Generative artificial intelligence (GAI) makes it possible. The technology powers Social Signal CTV Targeting, the company’s platform, as well as a partnership with consumr.ai, a ProfitWheel company. The data improves on precise targeting in connected TV (CTV) campaigns.

Joel Cox, co-founder of Strategus, which claims to have run the first programmatic CTV ad with The Trade Desk in 2015, said: “Some might say the Meta API is the eighth wonder of the world because this tool can comb” and make sense of the data.

Strategus works with clients to define the key profiles, accounts, hashtags and content that matters to the brand.

The AI tool extracts all that information and turns it into an exportable taxonomy that the company can push into demand=side platforms (DSPs) for campaigns to serve as a CTV ad impression.

“The tool leverages the social platform’s ad API in each one of these platforms,” he said, creating a second-party advertising data segment. “It’s generally available public information within the platforms.”

When a specific brand, topic or account reaches a high level of significance within the social platform it is pulled through the API. Then information, keywords like names and locations, is extracted by the AI and the platform pushes the packets of data into the DSP and becomes the bidding criteria.

Cox called the service a new “level of behavioral targeting — based on interests, affinities, and trending topics.

In a recent pilot campaign with a major Orlando-based tourist attraction, Strategus tested multiple targeting strategies during a three-week period and compared them to social signal targeting. Using social signal targeting in tandem with consumr.ai’s audience insights and data, the campaign delivered 23% lower costs on digital ticket sales and 28% lower costs for event calendar conversions compared to the next-best tactic.

Strategus -- which also worked with Carthartt, Harley-Davidson, Pella and many others -- has also delivered measurable lifts in website visits and increased foot traffic–suggesting real-time social data can lead to smarter campaigns and better results.

Since the Orlando tourist attraction tested the platform, between 10 and 12 clients have joined the beta, working with about 90 to 100 days’ worth of data.

When asked Cox to define the accuracy of the data in campaigns, he said, "you can't say every time this tool provides the correct audiences until we have set the campaign live and test it against other data taxonomies."

Social data has become another data set to identify the correct prospects.