Programmatic Ads: Where do I start?

What is it? How can my brand or agency use it? What is the minimum I can spend? We’re answering these questions and more to help you get the most out of programmatic ads.

Many advertisers are investing in various forms of digital media to address a wide variety of goals. Whether you are part of an in-house marketing team, agency, business owner or a combination of these working together, you probably have some of the basics covered like email, marketing automation, paid social, pay-per-click and more…and that’s awesome. And perhaps you have a need to bring in an element of digital media which leads to the question that we hear most: “I’m interested in programmatic, but where do I start?”

But first…why should you even consider programmatic?

Programmatic advertising has made it easier than ever for advertisers to reach their target audience by automating the ad buying process. Some of the reasons advertisers use programmatic ads are to:

  • tell their story to more customers
  • drive an action like visits to a website or product sales
  • access premium digital inventory with lower barriers to entry
  • enhance their audience targeting
  • advertise on more media channels through one coordinated campaign
  • …and more.

But most importantly, programmatic can accomplish advertiser goals in a cost and time efficient manner versus working with media channels directly, which is why its still one of the fastest growing sectors of media, with over 70% of digital ads transacted programmatically.

In fact, programmatic ads have been proven to enhance the performance of other media investments which is why, the best place to start is to share what you’re already doing in other forms of online media.

For instance, maybe you’re using Search to direct people to your site when they are actively looking for something relevant to your business. Or paid social as a way to engage customers and understand who your target audience is. Any information about what other media you’re using will help craft a more efficient and informed programmatic strategy.

Note: If you’re not investing in some form of search, we recommend considering this before or along with programmatic as it’s key to getting the best results.

The next thing to consider is what programmatic advertising can help you achieve as a part of that bigger media picture. While there are many objectives that it can help address, those starting in programmatic media typically fall into two categories:

  • You have a very specific and timely need, like a product launch or special event that you want to drive conversions for OR
  • You want to build awareness of your business or product and need to reach more people beyond those already searching for it.

Having a clear objective for what programmatic needs to accomplish will help you optimize campaign performance and get the most out of your ad budget.

At this point, if you are ready to learn more about what programmatic can do for you, these key details about the media you are using and the goal you want to achieve are a great place to start, as a premium media partner can guide you through the rest.

But for those who want to take it a step further, some additional things to consider are:

  • Do you have existing Digital Creative to work with or will you need design support?
    • If you don’t have existing creative, let your partner know about any resources you want included in the campaign like imagery, video, copy, logos etc. as it may influence the media strategy or plans for creative support.
  • Any details regarding the Targeting and Timing like
    • audience demographics and behaviors,
    • geography and Location Targets
    • promotional, seasonal or campaign dates
  • Reporting: are there any specific insights you would want to share with decision makers?
  • Budgets: if you don’t know how much to spend in programmatic, offering estimates around your broad marketing budget will help your media partner make an affordable recommendation.

A good programmatic partner will use this information to craft an integrated campaign, that maximizes the efficiency of programmatic media, and enhances performance of your entire marketing plan.

Ready to get started?

As experts in programmatic, Gigawatt can help you deliver relevant messaging to consumers across all of their connected devices. For more information about how we can help you reach your advertising goals, reach out to us today.