Amplify: Programmatic 101

If your business uses online advertising, you may have come across the term “programmatic marketing.” This technology has helped the advertising world streamline the ad buying process, becoming a vital tool in any marketing campaign. It's become an integral tool for mobile display ads, and much more.

But programmatic marketing isn’t necessarily an easy concept to step into. What is it, and what can this powerful tool do for your business? 

What is Programmatic Marketing?

Programmatic marketing uses AI and automation software to buy ads in real-time instead of relying on human negotiations and fixed price points. 

Ad placements are made using predetermined and specific data, such as consumers' age, location, career, and particular interests. This allows companies to have a hyper-targeted ad campaign with a high ROI. 

The use of an automated algorithm also helps determine where an ad should be placed. For example, if the algorithm determines that the target customers are mainly on Facebook, the ad will go there. Or, if the target audience is on other specialized sites, then the ad will be placed on those platforms instead. 

5 Statistics on Programmatic Marketing

1. The share of display ads is increasing. Programmatic marketing is expected to make up 88.2 percent of digital display ad sharing by 2022, to $96.59 billion. In 2021, that share is expected to reach 86.5 percent of all money spent on display ads. 
2. The biggest driver of programmatic marketing is in video, specifically CTV.  Ad spending on connected video devices is expected to increase by 52.9 percent by the end of 2021, according to a report by eMarketer. The research firm predicts that video will likely be the most significant growth in the ad market in the coming years. 
3. Programmatic marketing makes up over 50 percent of marketing budgets. The popularity and success of programmatic marketing made up over half of marketing budgets in 2021 alone. 
4. Marketers are dedicating more resources to automation. Marketing teams are changing how much money they are putting into automation. According to a survey by Ascend2, 23 percent of marketers expect the resources invested in automation and programmatic marketing will increase, with 64 percent expecting it to increase slightly. 
5. Mobile usage increased during the Covid-19 pandemic. As remote work becomes the norm and more people spend time surfing the web on their phones, the opportunities for mobile display ads and programmatic marketing are likely to increase. 

How to Use Programmatic Marketing for Your Business

There are several ways that you can use programmatic marketing to promote your business. 

First, you need to understand the market. There are several types of programmatic marketing terms that are important to understand: real-time bidding (RTB), demand-side platform (DSP), supply-side platform (SSP), and data management platform (DMP). 

• RTB is when ads are bought and sold in real-time, with transactions taking around the same time to load a page. 
• DSP is software connected to an ad exchange. The exchange is where the actual buying and selling of the ad takes place. The software allows users to buy ad placements automatically. 
• SSP is a platform designed to help publishers manage their advertising inventory and fill it. It makes use of RTB to auction off ads to the highest bidder automatically. 
• DMP is used to store and manage data correctly. It's used with both DSP on the advertiser's side and SSP on the publisher's side. 
  

Understanding these various methods and how they all interact can help you know how to use programmatic marketing for your business, whether that's through ads on Facebook, on mobile phones, or with video ads on YouTube. 

For example, a recent client wanted to drive foot traffic and in-store sales for a CBD beverage launch. We set up specific campaigns based on precise location data with a predetermined audience using prior demographic and persona research.   

The result was over two million impressions, a 17.8 percent increase in foot traffic, and all of the items in the targeted stores selling out. 

Use Mobile Display Ads and Other Programmatic Marketing to Expand Your Business 

Using programmatic marketing can save your team time and money by giving you more time to focus on optimizing your campaign. And with the right tools in place, you can make sure that your ads target the right audience.