Programmatic advertising: four false barriers to entry

Programmatic advertising, the automation of media buying, is a daunting discipline to approach.

Suffering from an overuse of jargon within the industry, a general complexity surrounding the subject, and limited understanding of how programmatic actually works, it’s not hard to see why the phrase makes many eyeballs roll (including my own).

Yet programmatic is coming at us fast.

It’s already the de facto method of buying and selling ads online, the world of print media is starting to adopt it, and it’s entering traditional methods of trading out-of-home advertising spaces too. Even the direct mail industry is experimenting with it.

We’re at the stage where it’s becoming apparent that the future of ad buying is going to be dominated by programmatic. But many marketers just don’t understand it.

While there’s no quick fix for simplifying programmatic for the uninitiated, there are certainly other areas that can be clarified surrounding programmatic advertising.

As part of the ADBL Dot Native’s masterclass in programmatic advertising, Trevor Miranda, lead trainer at programmatic specialists MediaMath, explains what he considers the biggest myths that have become barriers to entry for programmatic advertising.

Myth one: Programmatic advertising lacks transparency

“Ad networks were generally known for their lack of transparency, and it was from that lack of transparency that ad exchanges were born,” Trevor explains. Here, Trevor cites two prominent examples – tracking where an advert has served, and the cost of serving it.

“Some exchanges do mask URLs. However, a lot of exchanges show actual URLs for where the ad will serve or has served.

“Another issue with transparency is the amount of fees that can add up when buying programmatically… It’s not only important to know what platform costs you have, but what costs are associated with any data providers you use, any private marketplace deals you may run and any other service that could incur a fee.”

While many perceive a lack of transparency, often that is no longer the case. And if an exchange is not transparent enough for you, find one that is.

Myth two: Programmatic offers low-quality inventory

Agreeing to pay for adverts without seeing where they will be displayed can be fearsome for many. Even more so if you have the perception of programmatic being associated with low quality ad spaces.

“While this may have been true at one point in time, more and more publishers are selling premium inventory programmatically,” says Trevor.

“The rise of private marketplace direct and automated guaranteed deals has allowed publishers to sell some of their more premium inventory in an automated fashion through technological exchanges.

“In essence, buying premium inventory is becoming more and more like buying and selling products via an online retailer.”

Myth three: Programmatic is just for lower-funnel conversions

According to Trevor, programmatic is often an underused tool that has a great deal more potential for marketers.

“Most people associate programmatic with messaging to consumers who have already expressed interest in a product or brand, through retargeting.

“However, we find that in practice, there is so much potential in exploring the other aspects of the funnel – all the way to the top, with branding.

“Programmatic can tie together every single touchpoint across your journey – while also assigning specific measurements to each as consumers journey down the funnel.”

Myth four: Programmatic is just for display

While many incorrectly see programmatic as solely for display advertising, according to Trevor it’s set to revolutionise the way we market.

“Oddly enough, one of the very first ‘programmatic’ forms of marketing could be considered to be search engine marketing – wherein marketers bid on specific keywords to be associated with paid search results.

“This model later transitioned naturally to the world of display advertising, as ad banners were easy to disseminate across multiple publishers all at the same time.

“But as we see standardisation of technology across screens, we see that other formats, screens and channels also adapt well to automation: video, mobile, and social. As technology improves our ability to execute these types of campaigns at scale, so does our ability to optimise these interactions in real time.

“Programmatic is not just for display—we will see it grow exponentially into all areas of marketing.”

Trevor Miranda is the lecturer for the ADBL Dot Native masterclass on programmatic: The Power of Programmatic. Claim your free access to the programmatic masterclass for seven days (no credit or debit card needed).

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