Programmatic Advertising: Less Competition, More Opportunity

There’s been lots of coverage of the effects of COVID-19 on digital over the past few months, and I’d like to add to this with some of the more positive benefits it is bringing to programmatic advertisers.

The opportunity in programmatic advertising

During regular discussions with our suppliers, we’re seeing clear connections, primarily revolving around clients who have remained active with their digital campaigns, those who have started to reinstate their campaigns and even better some of which are increasing spend and experiencing the benefits in the current market:

• With larger brands pulling spend entirely or reducing it significantly, there is currently less competition and more opportunity for active brands to stand out. Less competition also means a more captive audience, providing the opportunity to gain increased exposure and conversions.
• With less brands active in the market, we’re seeing others gain easier access to premium inventory. This has helped to boost conversions with ads featured in prime positions.
  
• People are spending more time than ever before on their devices driving record online traffic. Programmatic advertising helps you reach more people, encouraging their buying journey in a natural way.
  
• With a larger number of users online, cost per mille (CPM) is reduced. As such, you can experience greater efficiency reaching bigger audiences.
  
• Consumer behaviour has adapted, perhaps for the long term. There has been a notable surge in eCommerce and online entertainment with bricks-and-mortar stores temporarily closed. Even with physical stores set to reopen, there is likely to be some hesitancy to return to traditional shopping methods.

Why programmatic advertising?

For those businesses who are scaling back their marketing efforts or have experienced budget cuts, you may be looking for a more cost-effective, flexible marketing channel, such as programmatic advertising.

In a bid to be where your customers are, your ads need to be taken outside of the search engine. Using programmatic, you can boost brand awareness, place your messaging in the spotlight and engage, upsell and convert users, wherever they’re browsing.

Programmatic and display advertising uses AI, combining numerous data points to deliver relevant placement of your ads across the Google Display Network while increasing reach to other global networks too. Using data, you can create an accurate picture of your audience outside of their engagement with your business. Demographics, interests and even how users browse are all taken into account to identify behaviour patterns. This can effectively predict a user’s next move, helping to discover new customers that you may not reach through search advertising alone.

Reach your audience with programmatic advertising

The habits of your target audience have changed. Right now, they may not be proactively turning to Google to search for your brand and product. But they’re certainly very active online. Take the time to understand how their lifestyle has changed so you can adapt where to locate them and how to target them. What do they want to see and hear? How should you communicate? Answering these questions will allow you to craft effective and meaningful campaigns that resonate.

Programmatic can help you connect with the right consumers at the right time by considering who your audience is, where you can find them and how they consume content. Using programmatic, your campaigns can curate around your brand and customers, using data and AI to generate maximum performance. Using this approach, you can begin to understand the person behind the ad, creating a campaign that tells a story and generates a real connection.

Transparent reporting

At this time, understanding exactly what’s performing and what isn’t, is crucial. Programmatic advertising provides complete control through transparent and detailed reporting, offering full visibility of exactly where your ad is being displayed, how it performs, and where your budget is being spent. To get a more accurate representation on channel performance, we use a data-driven attribution model which supports more effective budget allocation.

With full transparency and comprehensive reporting, programmatic allows you to see and understand the inner workings of your campaigns, providing control and security during an uncertain time.

Programmatic isn’t for everyone, but it will bring significant benefit to those with suitable budgets, particularly brands who have a disruptive approach to marketing and would be keen to explore this further. One thing is for certain: your online brand presence has never been more important. There are clear opportunities for advertisers to sensitively benefit from the current landscape, perhaps it will simply allow you to gain a larger share of voice that you wouldn’t usually achieve due to higher competition.

We’re happy to help you navigate the changing landscape. We have an extensive overview of market changes and can use our expertise to advice you on the best channels and tactics for today.