Facing a crowded competitive field and shrinking linear TV audiences, Freeway Insurance recently decided to go big in streaming. By launching a self-serve campaign with Roku Ads Manager, the brand was able to diversify their media investments, boost awareness, and drive a massive number of new leads.
Let's peek under the hood to see how they did it.
The challenge
Freeway Insurance has offered affordable auto insurance since 1987 and is one of the fastest growing companies in its category. But the company faced tough competition from legacy providers and fewer ad impressions in traditional cable and broadcast TV. As a result, it decided to double down on digital channels — streaming in particular — where its customers were increasingly spending their time. With locations in 32 states, they also wanted the flexibility to target specific markets and demographics.
As the lead-in to all TV, Roku had the audience Freeway was looking for.
The campaign
Vertical: Auto insurance
Objective: Target local markets and drive brand awareness
Format: Streaming video ads with Roku Ads Manager
The approach
Freeway chose to work with Roku Ads Manager since the platform offers the power and scale of CTV along with the flexibility and reporting features of social ad tools.
During the campaign set-up process, Freeway defined age and income segments using Roku’s proprietary audience insights and geotargeted important markets like Florida. Importantly, going local didn’t require going small. Forty-seven percent of US streaming time is spent on Roku, which means granular targeting can still deliver big.¹
Freeway has been actively spending with Roku Ads Manager since September 2024, running ads that emphasize Freeway’s affordable auto insurance.
Roku Ads Manager allowed the brand to define their preferred KPIs using Roku’s pixel, making it easy to track when streaming ads led to website conversions — and optimize accordingly.
Additionally, Roku gave Freeway real-time insights on which audiences and regions responded best to its ads, informing future campaigns.
The results
By combining the reach of TV with the precision and accountability of digital ads, Freeway has delivered strong performance against both upper- and lower-funnel KPIs.
Across all audiences and ad versions, the insurance company has generated a whopping 215 million impressions, resulting in a significant awareness boost. More importantly, all that attention translated directly into action. As of June 25th, the Roku audience generated 2.2 million page views on Freeway’s website, resulting in 336,000 new leads for their auto vertical.
"The option to create local campaigns and invest more money in specific states is a huge win for us and a reason we’ll be including Roku Ads Manager on future marketing campaigns,” says Alejandra Morales, media director at Confie, Freeway’s parent company.
Looking for an easier way to plan, optimize, and measure CTV campaigns? Sign up for Roku Ads Manager.
¹ Comscore CTV intelligence data, May 2024
