Programmatic advertising: How smart tech delivers better campaigns

The digital advertising landscape is in a constant state of change – with new trends & techniques emerging on a daily basis. As more technologies and social media platforms enter the market, it’s becoming increasingly difficult for advertisers to know which digital channels will deliver the biggest impact, at the lowest cost.

Traditionally, advertisers purchase media placements directly from each publisher or social platform (EG YouTube, Facebook or reuters.com). While this traditional form of media buying provides direct control and 1:1 measurement, it can be cumbersome and ineffective for advertisers who need to prove a strong ROI for each channel – while keeping pace with ongoing digital trends.

Enter programmatic advertising – an innovative form of AI-driven media buying that automates the entire digital process, known as a real-time bidding auction. It’s efficient, targeted, and scalable – and is designed to ensure campaign budgets are continuously optimised for the channels that are delivering the highest engagement and conversion rates.

So, should you make the switch from traditional to programmatic? Here are 3 ways programmatic advertising delivers better campaigns and improves your media bottom line:

1. Higher cost-efficiency

The cost of traditional media buying can vary widely, as the prices are set by each individual publisher. Typically they will charge a premium for custom ad formats, specific ad placements and advanced targeting. The 1:1 nature of traditional buying requires the advertiser to commit their time, expertise and resources to implement each and every campaign detail. With programmatic advertising, these additional time and monetary costs are minimised if not eliminated completely – with smart automation and the ability to use a broad range of media options at no extra cost.

2. Greater transparency across ad spend

Even in this modern era, this old marketing adage continues to ring true: “Half my advertising spend is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.” Traditional media buyers have virtually no visibility into the true cost and spread of their spending, as publisher-controlled reporting can be opaque at best. Through programmatic, impressions are bought via real-time bidding, giving advertisers a clear picture of the chosen channel’s cost and allocation. As purchasing and tracking occur on the same platform, buyers can accurately see how their investment is performing, in real-time. Advertisers are then able to understand which campaign elements are delivering the best results – leading to higher performing campaigns, increased ROI, and significantly reduced media wastage.

3. More in-depth, instant and holistic reporting

Campaign reporting is an invaluable tool, not only to track performance but to inform and guide future campaigns. Collating data from individual publishers can become fragmented, requiring manual data collation from each individual source. Programmatic advertising avoids this by seamlessly collating each campaign data point into one, integrated system. Known as consolidated reporting, it allows advertisers to see their media performance at a glance, so they can adjust certain elements and increase campaign success. This wealth of data can then be easily accessed for deeper analysis, informing future campaign strategies.

Programmatic advertising leverages cutting-edge technology to streamline the buying process – thereby putting the advertiser in complete control. In an ever-evolving digital landscape, advertising strategies must constantly evolve alongside these changes – in order to maximise the impact of every media budget.

This is where the experts come in. For more information on how to optimise your next media campaign, contact one of our Pure.amplify programmatic specialists today.

Written by Ernest Lo, Programmatic Operations Lead for Pure.amplify, Pureprofile.