The state of programmatic advertising is constantly evolving as new technology comes into the marketplace. The new State of Programmatic Advertising Report from Ascend2 Research-​Based Marketing contains everything your clients will want to know about this topic, including details on how the process works.

How Programmatic Advertising Works

“…over 80% of digital display marketing in the US is done via programmatic advertising.” But how does programmatic work and how can your clients benefit from using the format? When a consumer loads a website and sees your client’s ads on the screen, a lot has happened behind the scenes. An ad exchange service matches ad space (supply side) that publishers have made available to brands, your clients (demand side), that will pay to have their ads show up on the page. In real time, this automated auction takes place before the page loads. During that auction, algorithms also look at what is known about the consumer (often based on cookies). Then the algorithms match ads from the marketers that will pay the most to reach that consumer on that site.

Goals and Challenges

Programmatic advertising has been around for a while, but not everyone agrees on the best way to use it. This year’s top challenges for marketers include audience targeting (46%) and budget allocation (37%).

Despite those concerns, about 37% of marketers plan to increase programmatic advertising by more than 10%. What’s driving the increase? Marketers believe programmatic can help them improve lead generation (47%) and brand awareness (47%). They figure that when a consumer notices their ad, they become aware of the business and may eventually become customers. That activity all leads to the top objective of driving sales. 53% of marketers use programmatic to increase sales.

There are a lot of vendors in the programmatic ad sales process. All of that activity in the business model complicates matters and leads 70% of marketers to say they are only somewhat successful in their programmatic ad sales efforts. Marketers also tell researchers that the following areas lead to the most successful outcomes in programmatic:

• Audience targeting 73%
• Keyword targeting 41%
• Retargeting 27%

Not all marketers feel confident of their abilities to optimize their programmatic efforts. For example, 53% of surveyed marketers use a combination of outsourced and in-​house people. Another 18% outsource to a specialist. 

How to Optimize Programmatic ROI

When you discuss the benefits of buying ad space in your media property, you’re often talking about ensuring that the client’s message will appear along appropriate content. And you can also tell clients which consumers use your content. 

If you’re selling programmatic, use your expertise to guide your clients. In the programmatic direct format, your client is assured of getting a full-​page takeover or similar placement for a fixed price. If they want to have their ads appear in premium spaces, you can guide them to buy ads on private exchanges (PMP). Your expertise can also come in handy when clients want to lower their costs by using ad exchanges, but improve their results by determining which keyword to use in order to connect with targeted audiences and the right kind of content.

You can help clients that have questions about programmatic advertising by running a Digital Audit on them. The tool, available on AdMall by SalesFuel, can be conversation starter about optimizing digital ad spending.