Traditional TV advertising has always depended on Nielsen’s gender and age data to locate an audience. However, with the arrival of programmatic TV, advertisers and brands are able to use data analytics and automation technology to increase their accuracy in reaching the right audience. This form of advertising has the potential to address the challenge of audience fragmentation, increasing the chances of monetizing undervalued inventory, and reducing the costs that might otherwise be used in pure digital plays. Through Programmatic advertising tools, marketers also have the opportunity to improve their spending efficiencies while also understanding their media buys more than ever. Here are the steps on how to effectively advertise on Programmatic TV.
Ask the Right Questions
The first step in programmatic TV advertising is to make feasible strategic decisions, i.e., why are you considering new programmatic technologies in the first place? Some of the answers to this question include:
• To focus on creativity and strategy
• To reduce the total time spent on the marketing campaign
• To use existing efforts to increase acquisition
• To eliminate bid management and other advertising activities
Another important question to consider is whether the existing strategy supports programmatic technology. In other words, is the technology implemented solving a related problem? If, for instance, you are observing a decrease in conversion rates, the problem may not be the advertising approach used, but rather other factors such as inadequate product positioning and the changing market trends.
Define the Core Areas of Programmatic Advertising
Once you understand the need to pursue programmatic advertising, you need to define these components: the target audience, ad creative, ad inventory, benchmarks and metrics, and data and insights. Programmatic advertising requires one to define the target audience effectively. It would be best if you understood the ideal market segment, including demographics, interests, and purchase behaviors.
With a defined audience, a marketer should think about the ad inventory (where to find the audience) and ad creative (eye-catching and engaging ways to attract the audience). If you are a consumer-facing brand, you will have to use Instagram, Facebook, and Google Ads to reach your audience because a larger audience is likely to be on these platforms. With programmatic technology, the audience data collected from ads and campaigns can be used to build creativity through machine learning.
Over time, markets set performance benchmarks and measure the performance metrics. The data sets can be used to measure the progress of the advertising campaign, thus, managing the audience more effectively.
Evaluate and Select the Programmatic Ad Vendors
With a clear advertising structure in place, you need to implement the right technology. Decide whether you will be using a trading desk or DSPs. If you are working with a media team, which has enough resources, you will probably use DSPs. However, every DSP has its benefits and challenges. To utilize each effectively, invest in trading that capitalizes on the automation benefits that programmatic technology offers.
When evaluating the right trading desk or DSP vendors to implement on the programmatic advertising, consider the following information:
• Cost— Inquire about the overall cost of the technology and the setup fees in order to stay within your budget.
• Transparency—Determine whether the DSP you want to choose can enhance data accuracy. Check the measures that each vendor puts in place that ensure realistic clicks.
• Data— Evaluate the quality of data that every vendor provides. Ask about the type of data used by the vendors and determine whether they have the capacity to integrate the technology you are currently using.
• Reporting—Check for the metrics measured and how powerful the reporting features are.
• Ease of use—Ask the vendors if they offer an intuitive interface. Never consider a platform that has a poor user experience.
