Programmatic ad buying has skyrocketed in the past few years and with good reason. If you haven’t tried it yet, now’s the time! Like so much technology in the advertising world, it can feel intimidating, but the bottom line is – it’s just about making things more efficient and effective.
Programmatic ads take the placement process out of the hands of traditional media planners and put them into powerful algorithms instead. The short version is programmatic ad buying automates the process of selling and placement of digital ads over exchanges in less than a second. The algorithms don’t waste impressions when they won’t be effective, so the placements are more effective, making them more cost efficient along the way. If you’re ready to take the leap, let us know and we can walk you through it. If you want to geek out a bit on the nuts and bolts of it all first, here are the four main components of programmatic buying that help drive results and increase engagement:
Demand Side Platform (DSP)
Demand Side Platform is a type of software that allows advertisers to buy automation advertising. This process allows advertisers to save time and money by making it easy to manage campaigns through the use of mobile marketing. DSP is most effective when launching an email or social media campaign because it helps track data and measure conversion rates as well as engagement.
Supply Side Platform (SSP)
Supply Side Platform (also known as a sell-side platform) is an advertising platform used to coordinate and manage the supply and distribution of ad inventories. This method works best for media owners and publishers.
Data Management Platform (DMP)
Data Management Platform focuses on audiences and helps collects and organize data from primary, secondary, and third-party sources. The DMP works collectively with DSP and SSP to aide in target advertising by personalizing ads and producing content customization. A few steps for marketers to keep in mind when using DMP’s is organization, segmenting and audience building, insights and audience profile reports, and activation.
Ad exchange
Ad exchange is a virtual marketplace where publishers and advertisers gather to trade digital advertising space. This process takes place in real time and involves gathering inventory from the publisher’s website including display, mobile games, video, and in-app inventory. The exchange between the advertiser and publisher is simply based on supply and demand where the publisher is looking to sell advertising space on their website to the higher bidder, connecting advertisers to a Demand Side Platform (DSP).
Regardless of what type of programmatic ad buying campaign you put together, there are other components to ad buying you can explore to find what works best for your products or services. Coming up with a strategy to measure the most effective method, will help you spend your dollars wisely and save time on ad placement.
If you would like help with marketing and advertising, feel free to contact us. We offer a variety of services like digital marketing & analytics, marketing & brand strategy, and more to small and large companies.
