Every CTV campaign comes down to the same fundamental question: who are you actually trying to reach? Paramount Ads Manager gives advertisers a full suite of targeting solutions to answer that, from geo-targeting by DMA or ZIP code, to placement selection across Paramount+, CBS, and Pluto TV, to audience targeting built around real viewer behavior. The newest addition to that suite is Peak Audience Targeting, which uses an algorithm to find your best audience automatically.
But when you already have a good sense of who's most likely to want what you're selling, and you want to zero in on that audience directly, Interests & Behaviors Targeting is your direct path to reach them. It's built around categories that reflect real-world habits, so your campaign reaches viewers already primed to care about your brand or product.
But how do you know the right Interests & Behaviors category for your specific business? We looked at how advertisers across different industries are actually using it today, then paired that with Paramount's own audience research to build a practical answer: how to target the right audience on CTV for your specific business, industry by industry.
How Advertisers Are Using Interests & Behaviors Targeting on Paramount Ads Manager
Across Paramount Ads Manager, five Interests & Behaviors categories come up again and again, each tied closely to a specific set of industries:
- Homeowners is used by more advertisers across industries than any other category (but is especially relevant for home services, construction businesses, and real estate advertisers)
- Live Events Fans is a natural fit for sports, gaming, and entertainment advertisers.
- Education maps closely to colleges, universities, and other education advertisers.
- Parents is a great option for advertisers across education, retail, travel, restaurants, and healthcare.
That mapping is a useful starting point, but the real value is in CTV targeting by industry: breaking these categories down by the type of business actually running the campaign. That's what the rest of this guide covers.
E-COMMERCE
Most Used
Here are the Interests & Behaviors categories most used by E-Commerce advertisers on Paramount Ads Manager:
- Online Shoppers
- Home and Garden
- Luxury Buyers
Best Performing
Here are the Interests & Behaviors categories with the top-performing campaigns for E-Commerce advertisers on Paramount Ads Manager:
- Health & Wellness stands out on efficiency. Advertisers targeting this category saw roughly 23% lower cost per conversion than those using Online Shoppers, the vertical's most common category.
Also Worth Testing
- Parents
- Life Events
Both categories tie back to major purchase moments, like a move or a new baby, that tend to drive a wave of e-commerce spending across categories.
What We Know About E-Commerce Audiences on Paramount
According to Paramount Audience Profiler research:
- 24% of Paramount Streamers agree they often go out of their way to find new stores to shop at, 5% more likely than non-Paramount audiences.
- 46% of Paramount Streamers prefer online shopping to in-store shopping.
- 27% fall into the Impressionable Buyers segment, a group driven by trends, influencers, and new arrivals, and 12% more likely to appear on Paramount than elsewhere.
CTV Advertising for E-Commerce Brands: Creative Tip
Lean into product discovery. Impressionable Buyers respond well to "new arrivals" and trend-driven messaging, while a Health & Wellness audience is more likely to respond to a straightforward, benefit-led pitch.
OFFLINE RETAIL
Most Used
Here are the Interests & Behaviors categories most used by retail advertisers on Paramount Ads Manager:
- Homeowners
- Home and Garden
- Retail Shoppers
Best Performing
Retail advertisers’ campaigns targeting the Home and Garden Interests & Behaviors category drove ~85% lower cost per conversion than those targeting Homeowners, the vertical's most-used category.
Also Worth Testing
- Online Shoppers
- Parents
Even brick-and-mortar retailers benefit from reaching people who are already comfortable researching or buying online, since that behavior often precedes an in-store visit.
What We Know About Retail Audiences on Paramount
According to Paramount Audience Profiler research:
- 51% of Paramount Streamers visited a mall or shopping center in the last 6 months.
- 58% shop around a lot to take advantage of specials or bargains.
- Over half prefer shopping at local, independent stores over national chains, useful context if your business is competing with bigger-box retailers.
CTV Advertising for Retail Brands: Creative Tip
Retail creative for CTV advertising for retail performs best when it's specific about the deal or the trip, not just the brand. "Free delivery this weekend" or "New arrivals now in-store" gives viewers a reason to visit, not just a reason to recognize your name.
EDUCATION & TRAINING
Most-Used & Best Performing
Parents is currently the only Interests & Behaviors category with meaningful campaign volume among Education & Training advertisers.
Also Worth Testing
- Life Events for programs tied to major transitions like career changes or new degrees
- Business Decision Makers for professional development or executive education offerings
What We Know About Education Audiences on Paramount
According to Paramount Audience Profiler research:
- 94% say exploring and learning about new things is a top personal value.
- 94% also say continuing to learn throughout their life is a top value.
- 15% plan to start or return to school in the next 12 months, and another 15% plan to change jobs in that window, both strong signals for education and training advertisers.
CTV Advertising for Education Brands: Creative Tip
Given how highly this audience values learning, educational messaging that leads with what a student will actually learn or become will likely outperform ad creative that leads with the institution's name or prestige.
Get more best CTV practices for education marketers >
ENTERTAINMENT
Most Used & Best Performing
Here are the Interests & Behaviors categories most used by Entertainment advertisers on Paramount Ads Manager:
- Live Events Fans (both the most-used and the most cost-efficient Interests & Behaviors category for Entertainment advertisers)
- Sports Enthusiasts
Also Worth Testing
Gamers Travel Enthusiasts, particularly for entertainment brands tied to destination events like festivals, concerts, or tournaments.
What We Know About Entertainment Audiences on Paramount
According to Paramount Audience Profiler research:
- Nearly 50% of the U.S. population are live sports viewers, a large pool for any entertainment advertiser tied to live programming.
- 83% of sports fans say TV ads influence their purchase decisions after they search online.
- 25% of Paramount Streamers are Backyard Vacationers who favor nearby, drive-to destinations, a relevant overlap for entertainment venues and local events.
CTV Advertising for Entertainment Brands: Creative Tip
Tie creative to a specific moment, a concert date, a season premiere, a tournament, rather than a general brand message. Live Events Fans in particular respond to urgency and a clear date.
REAL ESTATE & CONSTRUCTION
Most Used
Here are the Interests & Behaviors categories most used by Real Estate & Construction advertisers on Paramount Ads Manager:
- Homeowners
- Home and Garden
- Luxury Buyers
Best Performing
Real Estate & Construction advertisers’ campaigns targeting the Luxury Buyers Interests & Behaviors category drove ~86% lower cost per conversion than those targeting Homeowners, the vertical's most-used category.
Also Worth Testing
- Business Decision Makers, a strong fit for commercial construction and B2B real estate services
- Life Events for advertisers targeting people who've recently bought a home or are going through a major transition
What We Know About Real Estate & Construction Audiences on Paramount
According to Paramount Audience Profiler research:
- 22% of Paramount Streamers say they're likely to remodel or refurnish their home in the next 12 months.
- 14% say they're likely to buy their first home in the next 12 months, and 9% are likely to buy a second home or vacation property.
- 25% hired a housekeeping or professional cleaning service in the last 12 months, a useful signal for adjacent home services advertisers in this space.
CTV Advertising for Real Estate & Construction Brands: Creative Tip
Life Events targeting is especially useful for real estate and construction advertisers with a longer consideration window, since it reaches people who've recently gone through a move or major life change and are actively assessing what their new home needs.
Get more best CTV practices for construction firms >
SERVICES
This vertical spans a wide range of businesses, from legal and financial services to insurance and home repair, so treat the categories below as a starting point rather than one-size-fits-all.
Most Used
Here are the Interests & Behaviors categories most used by Services advertisers on Paramount Ads Manager
- Homeowners
- Legal Services
- Business Decision Makers
Best Performing
Advertisers in the Services industry that targeted the Life Events Interests & Behaviors category drove ~75% lower cost per conversion than those targeting Homeowners, the vertical's most-used category.
Also Worth Testing
- Financial Services and Insurance for advisory and coverage-based businesses
- Renters, a useful complement to Homeowners for businesses that also serve people who don't own their home.
What We Know About Services Audiences on Paramount
According to Paramount Audience Profiler research:
- 52% of Paramount Streamers visited a bank in person in the last 12 months, and 14% took out a loan or mortgage in that window.
- 40% are likely to buy some form of insurance in the next 12 months, split across auto, homeowner, and life coverage.
- Nearly 70% of Paramount+ viewers own their home, a strong baseline for almost any home-adjacent service business.
CTV Advertising for Services: Creative Tip
Because this vertical covers so many different service types, the strongest creative is specific about what problem you solve and how fast you solve it (same-day service, free consultation, no-obligation quote), rather than general trust-building messaging alone.
AUTO DEALERS
Most Relevant Categories
- Auto Intenders
- Luxury Buyers for dealers focused on premium or lease-heavy inventory
What We Know About Auto Audiences on Paramount
According to Paramount Audience Profiler research:
- Paramount Ads Manager audiences are 8% more likely to be planning a new vehicle purchase in the next 12 months, and 14% more likely to be planning a used or pre-owned purchase.
- Among Paramount Sports audiences specifically, that jumps to 22% for new vehicles and 29% for used or pre-owned, making Sports content a strong environment for auto creative.
- 16% of Paramount audiences fall into the Lease & Luxury segment, 9% more likely than non-Paramount audiences, a useful signal if your lot leans toward higher-end inventory.
CTV Advertising for Auto Dealers: Creative Tip
Lead with what's on the lot right now (a model, a price point, a lease offer) rather than a general dealership branding message. Pair Auto Intenders targeting with geo-targeting by DMA or ZIP code to keep spend focused on your actual service area.
Cross-Vertical Best Practices
A few practices hold up no matter what industry you're in:
1. Test more than one category.
The data above points you toward a strong starting place, not a finish line. Running two categories against each other early on is the fastest way to learn what's actually working for your business.
2. Pair Interests & Behaviors with geo-targeting.
Narrowing by DMA or ZIP code on top of an audience category keeps your spend focused on people who can actually become customers.
3. Install the Pixel before you need the data.
Even without it, you can already see core performance metrics like spend, impressions, CPM, cost per view, and video completion rate. But the Paramount Ads Manager Pixel adds a deeper layer on top of that, connecting your campaign to bottom-funnel metrics like site visits, leads, and purchases. It's also what unlocks advanced features like Retargeting, so you can reconnect with people who showed interest but didn't convert.
If you're not sure which audience is the right fit (or you'd rather take the guesswork out of targeting altogether) Peak Audience Targeting is the move. It's one of several CTV audience targeting tools available on Paramount Ads Manager, built to find your best audience automatically so you don't have to choose a category yourself.
The Bottom Line
There's no single best Interests & Behaviors category. The right one depends on who you're actually trying to reach, and the data above shows real, consistent patterns by industry. Whether you're in e-commerce, real estate, or professional services, there's a clear place to start, and room to keep testing from there.
Ready to put CTV audience targeting to work for your business? Log in to Paramount Ads Manager to start testing Interests & Behaviors categories and find the right audience for your next campaign.
Sources:
- Interests & Behaviors performance by vertical: Paramount Internal Data
- Audience Profiler stats: MRI Simmons, 2025 November Cord Evolution (SU25 USA). Weighted to the population. Based on P18+. Sample Size > 50
