Programmatic: 10 Advertising Questions Answered by the Experts

Have you ever done Programmatic Advertising? The answer might be “Yes” whether you realize it or not. Programmatic Advertising sounds like a complicated concept, but at its core, it’s just the automated buying and selling of digital ad space. Sound familiar yet? How about Google Ads and the Google Display Network? Or Meta and TikTok? All of these platforms use programmatic techniques to deliver targeted ads across their inventory of websites and apps. If you’ve ever run ads on the internet or had someone run them for you, you’ve likely engaged with Programmatic Advertising.

So what makes it “Programmatic?” Picture this. You sell concert tickets and you want concert-goers to see the tickets you have for sale. You could place digital ads on music-related websites to reach some of the right people. You could wait for people to search for “concerts near me” and serve up an ad featuring your upcoming shows when they do.

But what if you could just tell the computer to “show your ads to the right people” regardless of what they’re currently doing or browsing? That’s an oversimplification, but it’s close to the promise programmatic delivers on. If programmatic was introducing itself to you at a party, it would probably say, “I take tremendous amounts of data and I use it to show the right ads to the right people in the right contexts.”

That’s my understanding of how programmatic advertising works, but I don’t know everything. It’s why I and the rest of Be Found Online partner with Klever to execute programmatic for our clients. We know it’s valuable, especially when compared to less data-informed alternatives, but when we want to get the execution right, we turn to professionals who we trust to nail the technical execution. It also helps that they also throw a pretty great Happy Hour whenever they hop on a plane and visit us in Chicago. 

The last time we got together, we were fortunate enough to sit down with Dante Fusco (VP of Sales), Vincent Potier (COO and Co-Founder), and Ali Rodriguez-Pulley (Senior Account Manager) to get some answers to our burning programmatic questions. We recorded some conversations we’re eager to share with anyone else who is interested in programmatic and what the experts have to say about it. If that interests you, check out the videos we’re sharing below. If you’re trying to look busy at work and can’t play videos right now, that’s ok, we’ve got you. I’ve included summaries below each video for your viewing pleasure.

1. What Is Programmatic Advertising?
2. Why Would You Want to Use Programmatic Advertising?
3. How Does CTV (Connected TV) Work on Programmatic?
4. How Much Should You Spend on Programmatic Advertising?
5. Why Choose a Programmatic Partner?
6. For Which Clients Do Programmatic Ads Work Best?
7. What Makes Programmatic Different from Other Channels?
8. Is Programmatic Only for Awareness and Branding?
9. What Types of Ads Can You Run on Programmatic?
10. What Does Programmatic Reporting Look Like?

What Is Programmatic Advertising?

TL;DR It’s a great way to utilize all digital screens to get your ads in front of the right people at scale. It’s like a stock market with real-time bidding, but for digital advertising. It leverages the DSP (Demand-Side platform) and SSP (Supply-Side platform) to serve ads to the right audiences at competitive prices. It all works through an auction mechanism that matches up people who have ads to show and people who have places to show ads.

Why Would You Want to Use Programmatic Advertising?

TL;DR It gives you the flexibility to reach people across many different platforms and websites all from one place. By contrast, platforms like Meta or Google only offer up their inventory when running ads on one of their platforms. Programmatic lets you reach the right people regardless of which platforms they prefer to use.

How Does CTV (Connected TV) Work on Programmatic?

TL;DR CTV is a fast-growing media type that involves any TV that can connect to the internet and stream video content. CTV can be accessed via programmatic ads, making advertising on TVs cheaper and more accessible than ever before. It also lets you reach people who are “cord cutters” (don’t have cable).

How Much Should You Spend on Programmatic Advertising?

TL;DR Programmatic spend varies by advertiser and based on objective. That said, spending between $10k and $15k per month allows you to generate sufficient visibility and generate enough data for the bidding and targeting algorithms to operate effectively. It’s also helpful to consider the other channels and platforms you’re spending on to establish a baseline for programmatic. If most of your budget is allocated towards bottom-of-funnel or traditional marketing channels, consider moving the least efficient portion of that spend to programmatic.

Why Should You Choose a Programmatic Partner Instead of Doing It Yourself?

TL;DR Working with teams who are experienced with DSPs and SSPs makes the barrier to entry smaller for companies looking to get started with programmatic. It also provides access to account teams, dashboards, strategic recommendations, and other benefits that come from working directly with professionals who are well versed in programmatic.

For Which Clients Do Programmatic Ads Work Best?

TL;DR It can work for any type of advertiser. Businesses who are already sufficiently reaching customers and generating enough demand may not have as big of a need for programmatic. That said, advertisers who are only focusing on capturing bottom-of-funnel demand or people who are already aware and interested might miss out on generating the top-of-funnel activity they may need for the future. Programmatic ads help future-proof your brand by generating awareness and future consideration you will need once you’ve already picked all of your low-hanging fruit.

What Makes Programmatic Advertising Different From Other Channels?

TL;DR It’s a full-funnel offering that allows you to generate Brand Awareness, Consideration, Engagement, and even Conversion. You are able to tap into an expansive audience pool you might not be reaching through your other marketing efforts. The data generated through programmatic advertising can be analyzed to uncover trends and business intelligence that can help inform your marketing strategy in other channels as well.

Is Programmatic Only for Awareness and Branding?

TL;DR No! Programmatic excels at generating Awareness and Branding due to its wide reach and extensive range of targeting options, but it also drives trackable conversions that can be analyzed through extensive attribution modeling and reporting.

What Types of Ads Can You Run on Programmatic?

TL;DR Banner Ads, Home Page Takeovers, Videos, Multi-Media Ads, Connected TV Ads, OOH (Out-of-Home Ads), and other options. Essentially, if you’re able to run digital ads through another channel, it’s likely that you’ll be able to run that same media on a programmatic platform as well. There will also probably be more formats that become available over time and as the technology continues to progress.

What Does Programmatic Reporting Look Like?

TL;DR Programmatic reporting is similar to other paid search and paid social reporting in terms of the level of depth and granularity. It combines top-line metrics such as impressions, clicks, and CTR with conversion reporting and is able to break it down by various segments such as placement, location, day, time of day, and other meaningful ways of breaking down the data. All of this information is organized in custom dashboards that Klever provides to its clients.

That's All (for Now), Folks!

That’s everything we’ve got for now! We’re meeting up with Klever again at the end of the month to talk shop and infect them with our love for all things Chicago. We’re hoping to learn more when they’re here and hope you learned something through these videos and summaries. Programmatic is only a part of the services we’ve been providing to clients for over 12 years in the Chicagoland area and beyond.

We hope you’ll want to learn more about Be Found Online and our entire suite of solutions designed to help you, well, be found online! Reach out with all of your questions, comments, and digital marketing needs!