From Meta to Roku: Tactical Plays to Win on the Biggest Screen in the House
If you're a performance marketer used to Meta's world of audiences, placements, and creative testing, Roku might feel like a totally different game. But according to Dan Lapinski, the Head of Product Strategy and Ops for Roku, on a recent Foxwell Founders call, that perception is outdated. Roku has quietly built a performance ecosystem with many of the same levers you’re already using. If you know where to look. Here’s a tactical breakdown of how Meta advertisers can win on Roku right now.
1. Treat Roku Like an Always-On Performance Channel — Not Just a Q4 Blitz
First, shift the mindset. Roku isn’t just a holiday bolt-on. The audience is there year-round, and the measurement stack is strong enough to justify persistent testing, not one-off flights.
Tactic: Start with a modest test budget ($20K–$25K), but structure your campaign like you would in Meta: clear audience hypothesis, tight creative loop, and pixel-based goals.
2. Use Roku's Native Pixel to Unlock Full-Funnel Attribution
You can drop the Roku pixel on your site — just like Meta — and track:
Page visits
Add to carts
Purchases
Lead submissions
This allows Roku to optimize delivery toward high-intent behaviors. Not just impressions or clicks.
Tactic: Treat Roku pixel setup like Meta’s CAPI. Work with devs (or leverage Shopify plugins) to fire relevant events. Make sure to pass back revenue data for proper ROAS reporting.
Just use FOXWELL when you sign up
3. Retarget Roku Viewers With Meta (and Vice Versa)
When someone watches your ad on Roku, you can capture exposure signals using a third-party pixel, allowing you to retarget those viewers across supported channels for deeper multi-touch attribution and conversion lift.
Tactic: Brands can deploy a 3P pixel to build “exposed” audiences that can be retargeted elsewhere, or upload customer lists directly into Roku to retarget or suppress users with precision on the biggest screen in the house.
You can also run the strategy in reverse. Start by driving Meta traffic, then retarget those same users on Roku to reinforce your message with premium CTV placements proven to improve recall and assist conversions.
4. Lean Into Roku’s Audience Graph — It’s Not Guesswork
You can target based on:
Roku app usage (e.g. fitness apps, kids’ content)
Purchase behaviors
Demographic overlays
Custom CRM uploads
Tactic: Upload your top 10,000 customer emails and hit them up while they watch TV. Or, go interest-based by selecting behavioral traits — Roku’s data isn't inferred; it's device-verified.
Bonus: They also offer “Roku segment overlays” — pre-built persona groups like “health-conscious millennial parents” that are plug-and-play.
5. Creative Doesn't Have to Be Cinematic — Just Clear and Direct
Roku creative doesn’t need a six-figure TV budget. In fact, Dan said top-performing creatives are often UGC-style, even if shot horizontally.
Tactic: Repurpose your best Meta ads for Roku:
15–30 second length
Horizontal format (ideally 16:9)
Strong hook in the first 3 seconds
CTA at the end with clear offer
Bonus if you include subtitles (many users watch on mute). Plus you can utilize their partnership with Spaceback, which we discussed here, and can turn any social creative you have into a TV ad for $0 extra cost. Here’s a few best practices too for you.
6. Use Roku's Incrementality Testing to Prove Lift
Dan emphasized: Roku makes it easy to run incrementality tests for holding out a clean control group to measure true lift in site traffic, purchases, or brand search volume.
Tactic: Structure your test like a scientific experiment:
Choose one region to target with Roku
Keep another region dark
Measure site traffic, Meta retargeting pool growth, branded search lift
Use companies we like include INCRMNTAL, Haus, Measured, WorkMagic, and LifeSight to gain understanding.
7. Think of Roku as a Reach Engine That Fuels All Other Channels
Dan made it clear: Roku isn’t about last-click. It’s about exposure that primes the pump. Brands see stronger Meta and Google performance when paired with consistent CTV presence.
Tactic: Run Roku prospecting > Meta retargeting > Google branded search. Then use MER (blended return) to evaluate total impact — not just platform-specific ROAS.
Final Word
Meta buyers have every tool they need to win on Roku and they just haven’t applied them yet. From pixel data to audience uploads, cross-channel retargeting to incrementality measurement, Roku is far more tactical and measurable than most think. It’s not about leaving Meta. It’s about reinforcing it with scale, attention, and creative surface area Meta can’t give you.
Want to talk through your test plan or ad creative for Roku? Bring it to the next Founders call or post inside the community. Not a member yet? Join the Foxwell Founders Membership here.