Understanding the programmatic advertising
Programmatic advertising is, in a nutshell, an automated, machine-learning-driven way to buy media. It streamlines the decision-making process of where and when to place ads, using data and algorithms to target the right audience at the right time and in the right context.
So why is it so controversial, anyway? Shouldn’t we all be all for the latest technology trends?
Well, it is a bit like a poker game with a high stake; everyone’s intrigued by the potential winnings but wary of the bluff. On the one hand, you’ve got this powerhouse of technology promising laser-precision targeting and efficient traffic. On the other, there’s this cloud of doubt — how transparent is it, really?
Are the ads, in fact, reaching the right people or just disappearing into the digital ether? Plus, what about ad fraud and privacy concerns? It’s a mixed bag, and that’s what keeps the conversation lively and ongoing.
Why do you think your brand is relevant?
To put it bluntly, why should your target audience care? A bit too often, we focus on acquiring leads, driving revenue, bringing sales, and essentially looking at the final results or whatever we want the user to do for us. This makes sense; it’s a root for performance marketing as we know it today because, at the end of the day, this is what really matters from a business standpoint. There’s no question about that.
But I encourage you to take a step back and think about your average customer — who are they? I’m not thinking about the ideal target persona but the person who actually buys from you. They might be very different from who you wish them to be. I recommend you to do a little exercise and answer a few of these questions:
- If someone saw your brand for the very first time, what would they think?
- If you weren’t familiar with the product/service your brand provides, what would convince you to go on their website?
- What other circumstances might make a user buy from you (e.g. weather conditions, time of the day, month, their location…)?
I bet there are lots of different answers that come to your mind right about now. This is exactly where programmatic comes in handy. It allows you to cast a really wide net, test all of these assumptions and see for yourself whether you were right about your audience. Combine this with a really great creative and effective brand messaging, and you have a chance to reach people you’ve never even thought about before as potential customers.
And boom, a new revenue has just been unlocked!
Common misconceptions about programmatic advertising
In the past few years, I’ve probably heard just about everything about programmatic there is, from what it is to who you need to be to be successful with it. Let’s look at the most common assumptions:
- “It’s display banners, right? It doesn’t work in today’s world” — Well, it’s true that display might not be enough in today’s digital sphere. But it’s also false because programmatic offers so much in terms of creativity! It’s display, video, YouTube, native, dynamic creative optimisation, audio, digital-out-of-home… Whatever your brand needs, we’ve got it!
- “It’s not transparent! I don’t know where my ads are being displayed” — Very false! Every Demand-Side-Platform I know (like Adform or Google’s DV360, so platforms where you can run programmatic) has the option to see the exact list of URLs your ads served on in the last days and weeks. You can also specifically choose which websites to include or exclude.
- “I need to be a top player in my industry and spend six figures on digital” — False. Even a small to medium-sized business can benefit from programmatic. Yes, bigger budgets help (more on that later), but smaller campaigns that are highly targeted can prove to be very efficient in terms of available budget.
How much should you spend on programmatic ads?
Now, let’s talk numbers. How much should you spend on programmatic ads? The simple (and annoying) answer is: it depends.
To give you something to start with, I’ll tell you this: For testing, experimenting, and checking which audience works, a simple campaign lasting six to eight weeks should be enough. The absolute minimum you should have is around $100 a day for one country. This calculates to around $5600 for one country — not a massive amount, right?
Bear in mind that we always recommend going above the minimum. It is easy to imagine why — more budget allows the specialist to have more flexibility with testing new audiences, placements for your creatives, or combining different layers of targeting.
That’s where the true power of programmatic advertising lies. Despite being an awareness, top-funnel channel, we have many possibilities to target — based on behaviour, the topic of the page, interests, job titles, custom intent, keywords, and more. Sure, Google’s deprecation of third-party cookies made life a bit more difficult for us, but most programmatic trade desks (and there are many) still have many possibilities and workarounds for removing cookies.
How to know if programmatic advertising is a good fit for your brand?
So, should everyone do programmatic? As tempted as I am to say ‘yes, of course’, the answer is… no.
At the very beginning of this post, I mentioned maturity. It all boils down to understanding how complex digital marketing is nowadays. The simple funnel approach no longer works — it would be more appropriate to say that it is more of a sinuous mountain path that goes up and down when you least expect it.
A few things to consider to assess whether your brand is ready for programmatic:
- Start by analyzing your audience data — Do you know who your customers are, what they are interested in, and how they buy/convert?
- Reflect on your marketing objectives — Are you looking to raise awareness among key audiences, or are you specifically looking for conversions?
- Are you willing to adapt and scale? — programmatic is a good fit if you are open to exploring new spaces and formats and testing the best approaches and audiences.
- Flexibility and trust — Are you okay with trusting the process and not seeing everything reflected in the attribution set-up? Not everything in broad awareness activities can be reflected 1:1 in data.
Programmatic success in B2B: How can we utilize programmatic for B2B tech brands?
My journey with programmatic started on the B2B side of marketing — just because I like to make things difficult for myself!
Programmatic isn’t the first channel that springs to mind when thinking about marketing strategy for a large tech company. It’s frankly not the second or even a third option.
However, it still has an important role to play. I learned that having an ever-green campaign focused heavily on retargeting will prove to be fruitful for your business in the long run. You will be in front of your key audience constantly, and if you are smart about it (I’m talking about reasonable frequency, sensible creative rotation, and a clean and functional landing page), this sort of ongoing campaign will become an important pillar of your marketing strategy.
What I’ve also learned in the process is that adding a few prospecting tactics a few times a year (yes, seasonality exists even in B2B) will give you a cost-effective and meaningful traffic boost, which will then be seen in paid search or SEO efforts.
Conclusion
Embarking on the programmatic advertising journey can usher in a new era of precision, efficiency, and engagement for businesses that are ready to navigate their waters with a nuanced and strategic approach.
Programmatic advertising requires a bit of patience, the ability to see the bigger picture, and thinking about your brand’s marketing strategy from a long-term perspective. It might offer a fresh, new perspective and become this new, outside-the-box idea for you to present to the board.
If not, at the very least, it will drive a lot of traffic to your pages at a low cost and give you some more insight into who’s clicking and who’s not. Does it sound like a win-win, or is it just me?
