Programmatic Advertising for Beginners (The Complete Guide)

Programmatic advertising has grown in importance as a way to reach a large audience with the right message at the right time. It allows advertisers to target their audiences more precisely than traditional advertising and drive measurable results faster and cost-effectively.

Programmatic marketing is a process that automates buying and selling of digital ad space. Instead of placing ads manually, marketers create rules for how, when, and where their ads appear. 

These parameters are known as “ad specifications” or “ad guidelines”—they include details like the size of the audience you want to reach, where you’re willing to place your ad, what type of sites you’re okay with your ad appearing on, etc. If you are reading this article, you are probably ready to take your knowledge about programmatic to the next level. Keep reading to learn about programmatic advertising, how it works, who can benefit from it, and much more.

What is Programmatic Advertising?

Programmatic is an approach to buying digital media that is technology-driven, data-focused, and fully automated. But what does that mean?

Programmatic, as the name suggests, is a process. It is not something you turn on and off when you feel like it. Instead, it is an always-on approach to managing your ads, carefully monitoring your inventory, and efficiently managing your budget across various advertising channels. 

Programmatic advertising is a dynamic channel that allows advertisers to execute campaigns across various digital channels and devices. It is primarily based on real-time data and automated trading systems.

How Does Programmatic Advertising Work?

To understand how programmatic advertising works, one must be familiar with its underlying concept – the buying and selling of ad inventory. This process is carried out through an automated system, which clears the path for an advertiser to purchase ad inventory directly from publishers. These systems conduct real-time bidding, or RTB for short, for the available ad space based on the advertiser’s specifications. The winning bid is then used to serve advertisements to the site’s visitors through the publisher’s ad server. 

The Top Reasons You Should Use Programmatic Advertising

The benefits of using programmatic advertising are numerous. Here are some of the reasons why you should make the switch to programmatic advertising.

• The data-driven nature of programmatic advertising allows you to optimize your campaigns based on insights from your previous campaigns. This makes it possible to maximize the potential of your ad spend by targeting the right audience through the right channels. 
• Programmatic advertising has superior click-through (CTR) and conversion rates (CR) compared to traditional advertising channels. 
• The data-driven nature of programmatic advertising makes it possible to target your audience based on their interests, demographics, and more. This makes it possible to maximize your targeting potential. 
• Programmatic advertising allows you to start campaigns instantly. This means you don’t have to wait for your campaigns to start. Once you have set up your campaign, you can start to see results right away. 
• Real-time data in programmatic advertising allows you to make adjustments to your campaigns instantly and on the fly. This means you can make changes to your campaigns whenever you want without the need to submit new ads.

What are the Different Formats of Programmatic Advertising?

Programmatic advertising is not restricted to digital advertising alone. You can run programmatic campaigns across various channels, from display to native, video to social media, email, and more. 

• Display: For display advertising, you can use real-time bidding to purchase inventory on a cost-per-thousand-impressions (CPM) basis. 
• Video: If you want to run video campaigns, you can use real-time bidding to purchase impression-based or view-based campaigns. 
• Native: If you want to run native advertising campaigns, you can use real-time bidding to purchase channel-based or impression-based campaigns. 
• Email: With email marketing, you can use real-time bidding to purchase campaigns based on engagement and click-through rates. 
• Social: With social media, you can use real-time bidding to purchase campaigns based on engagement.

How Do You Buy Programmatically?

Before you start buying programmatically, you need to set up your programmatic buying platform. The good news is that most of the major platforms have made this process simple and easy, especially for beginners. You need to open a trading account and link it to your media buying platform. The next step is to find a seller and start programmatically buying ad inventory. Finally, you need to create a campaign, add your creativity, and then start the process of buying ad inventory. The more campaigns you create, the more ad inventory you can buy programmatically.

How Can You Succeed With Programmatic Advertising?

These are the questions you should ask yourself before diving into programmatic advertising. Creating a plan of action based on your audience’s needs, your brand goals, and the current state of the marketplace will allow you to succeed in the programmatic advertising world. Let’s look at the most important factors that will help you succeed in programmatic advertising. 

• First and foremost, you need to understand the fundamentals of buying and selling media inventory. How does the process work, and how does the industry work overall? What are the key players in the industry? What are their roles? What is the value chain? How does the buying and selling process work? How does the technology work? This will allow you to better understand the market and the industry, which will help you achieve more success. 
• Next, you should analyze your business’s and brand’s current state. How is your marketing evolving? What are your customers’ needs? Where is your brand being advertised? What types of ads are you running? What are their results? How much are these ads costing? These are just some of the questions you should ask yourself. The answers will help you find new ways to boost your brand’s performance and increase revenue. 
• Finally, you should look into the future of the marketplace and determine how programmatic advertising will evolve. What are advertisers’ needs? What are the upcoming trends? How will new technologies affect the marketplace? How will new legislations affect the marketplace? Seeing into the future will allow you to prepare for what is to come and ensure you are prepared for success.

Conclusion

Programmatic advertising is not a fad; it is here to stay and will continue to grow. The benefits of using programmatic advertising are numerous and far outweigh the disadvantages. Therefore, marketers yet to get on board should consider doing so as soon as possible. 

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