What is Programmatic Advertising ?

The term “programmatic advertising” refers to the process of purchasing and selling digital advertising space in an automated manner. However, it is not simply automation; rather, it is a data-driven approach that assists you in bringing your brand to the attention of the appropriate audience at the appropriate level at the appropriate time.

Programmatic advertising makes use of sophisticated software and algorithms to buy impressions through ad exchanges. This eliminates the need to manually place media buys, which require multiple buyers to negotiate different IOs (Insertion Orders). This makes it possible to access thousands upon thousands of publisher sites all at once.

In programmatic advertising, some of the most important components include the following:

• Advertisers: Customers who are interested in reaching specific audiences. They manage campaigns and make purchases of advertising inventory through demand-side platforms, also known as DSPs.
• Publishers: Owners or managers of websites with ad space to sell. Through the use of supply-side platforms (SSPs), they make advertising impressions accessible.
• Ad exchanges: Marketplaces on the internet that facilitate the connection of advertisers and publishers through auctions.
• DSPs (Demand Side Platforms): The software that is utilized by advertisers in order to purchase ad space from exchanges.
• SSPs (Supply Side Platforms): Software that makes ad space available to exchanges.

Advertisers gain access to ad exchanges through dynamic service providers (DSPs) in order to place bids and purchase ad impressions from publishers who plug into exchanges through service providers (SSPs).

The built-in automation that is a part of programmatic buying lets everything take place in the blink of an eye, which is a wonderful aspect of this method of purchasing.

How Programmatic Advertising Works

Let’s take a look at what goes on behind the scenes during each programmatic ad auction:

• Targeting: When a user visits a website, the publisher’s platform makes ad space available. Simultaneously, the DSP uses activity data to determine which ads would be a good match.
• Bidding: Based on all of the data, the DSP automatically calculates and places bids for that ad spot in milliseconds.
• Ad Serving: The advertiser with the highest bid wins and their ad instantly appears to the visiting user.
• Optimization: Advertisers collect performance data with each impression in order to optimize future bids and improve targeting.

All of this happens quickly thanks to real-time bidding (RTB) technology. RTB allows advertisers to bid on a single impression at a time, analyzing everything in real time to serve the most relevant ad.

Programmatic marketing, as opposed to traditional methods, combines user data, behavior patterns, and real-time insights to automate precise ad buying on a large scale.

Advantages of Programmatic Advertising: Why Programmatic ?

Traditional ad buying is no longer associated with the use of limited data and guesswork. Machines can now handle everything at a rate that humans cannot match, thanks to real-time data.

With all of this automation, you can run more agile campaigns that adapt to current trends and engage your audience at the optimal time and frequency.

Instead of spending time evaluating placements, programmatic marketing allows you to focus on strategy, such as:

• Setting clear KPIs
• Analyzing campaign results
• Improving ad targeting and design
• Exploring more programmatic opportunities

Consider a real-world example. A health and fitness brand is aiming at millennials aged 25 to 34 who want to stay fit and eat well.

They can change settings such as age, interests, online habits, and even location using programmatic advertising. This means that their ads will appear on health blogs, video platforms, and relevant social media pages where their target audience spends time. Advertisers engage the most relevant and interested audience at the most appropriate time, increasing brand awareness, engagement, and loyalty.

Types of Programmatic Advertising

According to what was stated earlier, the “Mad Men” approach that relies solely on intuition is no longer effective. And neither does a one-size-fits-all approach, which was prevalent in the early days of the dot-com industry. Back then, you could get away with simply running banner ads. Now you need to use a variety of options to reach people.

• Display Ads: Display advertisements, also known as banner ads, are the most prominent form of online advertising. These advertisements are distributed across a variety of websites and can be customized to precisely target particular audiences.
• Video Ads:The use of video advertisements is ideal for telling a story about a brand in a way that deeply engages viewers and captures their attention. Through the use of programmatic advertising, marketers who want to reach audiences with highly targeted video advertisements can do so in a much more efficient manner.
• Native Ads: Ever noticed how often you see ads for articles or posts that are linked to the content you’re currently scrolling through? That’s native advertising for you. It’s sponsored content, but done so subtly that it feels organic to the platform.
• Connected TV (CTV): More people are tuning out of mainstream television and turning on to streaming. CTV allows ads on streaming platforms and apps, reaching binge-watchers, streamers, and casual viewers.
• Digital Out-Of-Home (DOOH): Think of this as the traditional billboard gone digital. Screens in public places, from bus stops to elevators, display dynamic ads that can change in real time based on data. For instance, during the morning school drop-off period, DOOH ads near a school may display ads targeted toward parents.

Most programmatic advertisers use a combination of all these types. When done right, it’s possible to tell your story across display, video, and native ads, culminating in a final impactful CTV ad. That’s the kind of cross-platform storytelling that really cuts through the noise in today’s busy digital space. Payvertise uses advanced technology to integrate Web3 with advertising data and syncs it to the blockchain.

Conclusion

The future of programmatic advertising is bright, and now is an excellent time to capitalize on a growing trend. Accessibility has never been greater, particularly for smaller brands, and hopefully this article has given you a better understanding of what it’s all about.

If you want to experiment with programmatic and see what it can do for your display campaigns, Payvertise is a great place to start! We provide a self-service programmatic platform with no minimum spend, and you can have your campaign up and running in minutes.