Combining consumer data and programmatic methods, advertisers can purchase specific audiences and environments to gain insights, retarget users and extend reach. They can layer audiences and environments, and they can optimize plans in real time for better and faster results — no matter the campaign objective.
1. Capitalizing On Available Data For Audience Buying
Programmatic buying gives marketers access to multiple exchanges, mass inventory and a tricked-out dashboard; however, quality data is the real fuel of every programmatic buy. Brands should start by taking advantage of their own data, also called first-party data. This information is collected through the brand’s website, newsletters or offline purchase data. That data is used to match and target those specific users online. When serving an ad to someone who already knows the brand, or is perhaps already interested in its products or services, the ads become much more relevant and meaningful.
Marketers should also take advantage of third-party data gathered from online and offline sources. It includes credit card user data, purchase data and data around users’ online activities. By purchasing specific audiences using third-party data, advertisers are targeting behaviors at a much larger scale than they would if they just used first-party data.
Finally, adding behavioral data into contextually relevant environments increases ad relevancy. This is located nowhere else on the media plan. Contextually relevant environments can be easily added by selecting categories, keywords and interests that most identify with the brand.
Behavioral and contextual targeting enhances the brand’s relevancy with consumers. Programmatic buying allows advertisers to analyze what behaviors and environments their users are engaging with most in real time. This lets marketers quickly choose and optimize those behaviors and environments to hone in on what’s working best.
2. Using Programmatic Buying As An Integration Or Enhancement
If the overall online and offline media plan includes direct publisher buys, private marketplace (PMP) deals are a great extension or integration. By negotiating a PMP deal, marketers’ ads appear in premium content at a much lower cost than if they were purchased directly. As the programmatic buying space continues to grow, publishers are even offering homepage takeovers, site-specific buys and roadblocks.
3. Using Programmatic For Retargeting
While prospecting and targeting specific audiences is important, gathering a list of consumers already interested in the brand and retargeting them through programmatic buying is a smart, efficient tactic. Marketers are more likely to get a desired action or conversion if they target consumers who have already displayed some level of interest. Programmatic buying allows advertisers to bid slightly higher to guarantee they hit their already interested users. Brands can even use programmatic buying as a retargeting tool for other online partners on the plan, all by placing a simple pixel on their website.
4. Using Programmatic For Reach Extension
Extending the reach and forcing a campaign to find new eyes is extremely important. By adding programmatic buying to a media plan, marketers have better control of frequency capping, which limits the number of times a user sees an ad in a given time frame. By managing frequency capping in the buy, brands extend reach and control how often they want to message their target user.
Programmatic buying adds value to a media plan. It may be the most efficient way to purchase impressions, but it also gives advertisers the opportunity to gain insights and learn about their online audience. Programmatic buying is dynamic; it allows marketers to use data to target many audiences and gives them the tools to optimize in real time. It’s the best way to test-and-learn audiences, enhance campaigns and extend the reach of media plans.
