With the advent of automated buying methods and evolving landscape of streaming, media buying is entering uncharted territory. The days of manual media buying are becoming obsolete, and if you want to remain competitive in the media buying space, it’s crucial to adapt to programmatic ad buying.
However, doing something entirely new is far from simple, especially for traditional media buyers who are accustomed to the old way of operations. From updated technology to unfamiliar processes and an increasingly competitive market, modern media buying takes time to master.
To help you better understand what programmatic ad buying is all about, the Strategus team has put together this all-in-one guide to keep on hand.
Let’s get straight to the point — programmatic digital advertising is the future of ad buying. The programmatic ad buying industry is projected to reach a staggering $98 billion in ad spend during 2021, comprising up to 68% of all digital advertising.
So, what do you need to know to stay ahead of these trends? First, let’s clearly define what programmatic digital advertising is:
Programmatic digital advertising is the process of purchasing online advertising impressions through automated platforms, allowing advertisers to aggregate, book, flight, analyze and optimize the ad campaign.
Okay, but what does that really mean? Essentially, the process condenses the manual media buying process — finding a publisher, communicating via phone and email, negotiating a final price, and serving the ad on a website — into a matter of seconds. There are five major differences between the two strategies:
>> To learn more about why programmatic is the future of ad buying, read the full blog here
The programmatic ad buying process is far from straightforward. It involves complex automation and technology that most media buyers are unfamiliar with. However, with a little clarification, you can better understand how the process works and begin adapting your strategy.
While the technology used can be complex and difficult to understand, the process itself can easily be broken down into these seven steps:
>> For an in-depth example of the programmatic ad buying process, click here
As it pertains specifically to OTT (over-the-top) advertising, programmatic ad buying is becoming more and more important. As more people are opting for streaming services, advertisers are forced to rethink their approach to targeting. No longer can they target them as effectively solely through cable television, opening up the need for an extension of their linear capabilities.
As the name suggests, programmatic OTT advertising combines the programmatic media buying process and OTT media consumption to serve ads via CTV (connected TV) devices to relevant targets.
The combination of these two technologies takes the best of both worlds and combines them into one effective targeting strategy — it automates the buying process to remove manual tasks and serves ads in a place where you know your target audience is engaged.
This customized and automated process allows for quicker exchanges with sellers, more relevant impressions among your target audience, and optimized frequency of your campaign.
The evolution of programmatic ad buying goes hand-in-hand with the increasing prominence of OTT media consumption. As advertisers continue to adapt to the cord-cutting movement that has increased the reliance on OTT media consumption and streaming services, the time is now to incorporate the benefits of programmatic.
Here are five main advantages that OTT/CTV advertising campaigns will benefit from with programmatic ad buying:
>> To learn more about each of these benefits, read our full blog
At this point, you may be wondering what the actual bidding process consists of, and we don’t blame you. Real-time bidding is one of the most important steps of the programmatic process, as it dictates who actually wins the impression and for how much.
What’s more, the process takes less than 100 milliseconds, meaning you discover relevant ad space, bid on it against competitors, and (depending on your bidding parameters) serve the ad to your target audience all in less than a blink of an eye. But how does this process help you win more relevant impressions?
>> Read the full blog post here to learn about RTB and impressions.
We’ve talked a lot about the importance of optimizing your campaign in order to be successful. Now it’s time to get into what that optimization process actually looks like. Though there are plenty of factors that go into optimizing an ad campaign, here are three crucial elements to investigate when looking to improve your effectiveness:
>> Learn more about programmatic ad campaign optimization in our full article
The media buying process has come a long way since the invention of the internet. For a more thorough understanding of programmatic media buying, where it came from, and where it’s going, here is a brief overview of its evolution.
As discussed above, the traditional media buying process was highly manual, susceptible to human error, and time-consuming. However, at the time, the process was the best solution as it allowed for media buyers to create hands-on relationships with trustworthy publishers to continually serve your ads over time.
In addition to the aforementioned downfalls, though, this process also limited reach as many media buyers interacted with the same publishers and same audiences.
Programmatic media buying dates back to 1994 when AT&T purchased the first programmatic banner ad encouraging web users to click on their ad. Though not entirely automated yet, the placement of an advertisement in this new digital form opened the door for the ensuing automated process.
The modern way of doing things automates the manual ad buying process and serves digital ads to relevant buyers. We won’t repeat the process, but the journey to get here has allowed advertising teams to be far more effective and efficient in their efforts. And as more media buyers recognize the utility of this process, its adoption will only continue to grow.
>> Read the entire blog post to learn about the evolution of programmatic advertising
We understand that the programmatic process can seem confusing, and that’s because it is. It takes a team of experts to truly understand the intricate details of the programmatic process, from initial website visits to eventual conversions.
If you need help building a programmatic ad-buying campaign, our team is ready to help. Contact us today to get started.