Programmatic advertising, as a broad definition, refers to the buying of ad space through automated technology. More specifically, to an ad exchanger that works to place series bids. Programmatic advertising encompasses a wide range of tactics, and not only display. There are also ways to implement these tactics to video, native ads, and search.
Programmatic encompasses a multitude of tactics, and to understand the hows, whos, and whys, you need to be familiar with some terminology.
Now that we have the base terminology down, let’s look at some types of programmatic ad exchanges.
One of the main benefits to programmatic advertising is that instead of placing with individual publications, advertisers are able to scale up or down the targeted audiences across the web. Compared to the manual process of finding a single publisher directly, negotiating a plan and contract, and all the small pieces in between, programmatic can expedite the advertising process because instead of selecting a publisher that aligns with your brand, you can select audiences that align with your brand over a multitude of publishers. If your company has been working on building out your own first party data, you can even target those data streams. While traditional advertising still has its own benefits (namely brand safety), adding another layer of broad range advertising like programmatic is another funnel to bring brand recognition to the forefront of your potential customers.
Although programmatic is a huge piece of the digital atmosphere, it has its idiosyncrasies. Such as the risk for botted views/impressions. There are ways to mitigate this risk, but unfortunately they all have drawbacks or can’t guarantee efficiency. Your best bet to mitigate bot fraud is to keep an eye on your analytics for anything out of the ordinary.
For most small businesses trying to manage their own advertising, many of the buying platforms are straightforward enough that you should be able to spend minimal time on setup for a basic display campaign, focusing mostly on the fundamental targeting settings - geo, day/time parting - and demographics like age and gender, if that’s applicable to your business. These are great options for small businesses that are already somewhat established and just want consistent advertising. Keep in mind that while the bidding is automated, it’s not a good idea to set it and forget it. As your audience changes over time, you’ll need to adjust your targeting to match. If you over-target your audience and it changes, you could be in the particular situation where you’re targeting out new relevant buyers
Newer businesses, or businesses that are working mainly on expansion, will probably want to start a conversation with an ad agency soon after, or even before, starting a basic display programmatic campaign. Many agencies are aware of the issue of fraud as well, and have their own processes to try and mitigate that risk. Also, running Programmatic through an ad agency will make managing ad campaigns much simpler for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, the amount of data you get back in reporting can be overwhelming and hard to sort through, which can cause a lot of confusion if you’re struggling to understand your audience. When you have an agency who is well-versed in sorting and translating this data, you’ll be able to employ more technical tactics, such as hyperlocal or contextual targeting. A good ad agency will also supply recommendations based on where or how you’re receiving interactions. Most agencies have best practice recommendations, such as how often to refresh creatives, tips on what kind of creative content is the most engaging, and whether you’re oversaturating a specific market, which can be just as detrimental as not advertising at all. The biggest pro to employing an ad agency is that it can save you money over time by increasing the value of each individual interaction or impression. Keep in mind, more impressions does not necessarily equal more conversions.
Whatever your need, from client retention to brand awareness, programmatic advertising can be an invaluable player in your advertising lineup.