Month: August 2023

The 2023/24 NFL season kicks off Thursday, September 7th with the Kansas City Chiefs hosting the Detroit Lions. After the 2022/23 season saw an average 16.7 million viewers per game, advertisers are wise to use in-game TV ads to reach fans. But, if big-budget TV ads are out of reach for your brand, fear not. 

Today’s fans are omnichannel viewers. They’ll scroll through social media while watching games, subscribe to players’ podcasts, and browse in-game analysis or post-game highlights on their phones. All these actions provide ample opportunities for brands to create relevant and memorable interactions.

With all these new channels, it may feel overwhelming to decide where to begin. Ahead of the 2023/24 NFL season, we’re helping advertisers create a winning strategy by looking back at key trends and media habits in the 2022/23 season. This gives advertisers insight into where they can reach their audience in the coming months as they tune into football games or NFL-related content.

 

The Impact of the Hollywood Strike on TV

Before we jump into key trends, it’s important to note that this NFL season will launch at a unique time in television history. As the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA remain on strike, TV networks will eventually run out of new content to premiere. 

A gap in new content would seemingly lead to fewer consumers watching TV. However, experts are confident that consumers won’t stop watching. Rather, they’ll simply shift their viewing habits. Two genres unaffected by the strikes are reality TV and live sports. These genres are poised for significant viewership in the coming months—just in time for the NFL season.

 

Key Trends from Last Season and Their Impact on the 2023/24 NFL Season

 

Amazon Prime Video Coverage of Thursday Night Football

To keep up with more people streaming TV than watching cable or broadcast television, major broadcasters offer game coverage via their respective streaming platforms like NBC using Peacock, for example. In fact, Amazon was the first to test a streaming-exclusive broadcast. 

Last season, Amazon made an inaugural run covering Thursday night NFL games on its Prime Video streaming service. While it fell short of traditional broadcast viewership, their regular season coverage still delivered an impressive 9.58 million average viewers per game.

Going into this year’s season, Amazon made a “litany of updates to its ad services,” to entice advertisers. Most notably, advertisers can now “run audience-based creative…using Amazon insights to serve different creative to different users all in the same ad break,” according to Amazon Ads VP/Global Sales Alan Moss. Additionally, to give brands the same reach they’ve come to expect with linear TV, advertisers are “promised the potential to extend ad buys within Amazon to make good on any rating shortfalls.”

 

The Power of the Second Screen

In 2022, 49% of viewers used two or more screens while watching football. Sixty-nine percent of viewers used a second screen — typically a mobile device or laptop — to find more information about a product or service after seeing an ad. 

Brands have a great opportunity to align their ads with NFL-related content using contextually placed display, video, or social media ad units. With NFL-specific ad buys, your message appears within contextually-relevant publishers alongside content such as: 

• Betting/odds predictions
• Opinion & expert analysis
• Key storylines throughout the season

Because consumers are viewing these ads on mobile or laptop devices, advertisers can utilize ad creative that drives them further down the funnel. Incorporating action-related content encourages consumers to click to learn more, driving them to your website.

 

Audience Reach Goes Beyond the Field as NFL Podcasts Grow 

Since 2021, just under 900,000 new podcasts have launched. Nearly half of U.S. consumers (42%) are monthly podcast listeners, while more than a quarter (26%) listen weekly. 

Every industry has seen an influx in podcast content as the value of this media form has become increasingly obvious. Sports — specifically the NFL — are no different. In 2021, the NFL teamed up with iHeartMedia to launch the NFL Podcast Network. This partnership included “the distribution of NFL Media’s existing podcasts, as well as the co-production and distribution of two dozen new original podcasts… focusing on NFL history, inside access, and more.”

Additionally, networks across the industry — Barstool Sports, Wave Sports + Entertainment, and LockedOn — continuously add new content to the mix as players, teams, coaches, and analysts throw their hats into the podcasting ring, growing their audience, reach, and influence all while monetizing their content.

As advertisers look to the upcoming season, podcasting provides a great outlet to reach fans beyond Thursday, Sunday, and Monday game schedules. With a host of targeting options — show, content, genre, publishers —advertisers can reach their specific audiences as they tune into NFL content throughout their week. 

 

Stay Flexible and Tuned in to Trending Moments

As the NFL season approaches, one of the best tools advertisers can incorporate is to stay flexible and ready for whatever may come their way. Think back to the 2013 Super Bowl. No one could have predicted a stadium-wide blackout during the halftime show. But, Oreo’s fast thinking “you can still dunk in the dark ” post garnered them 525 million earned media impressions

Having a solid strategy in place at the start of the season — incorporating some of the channels and strategies above — ensures flexibility to jump in on trending conversations and critical moments in the season. 

 

Digilant’s Solutions to Reach NFL Fans

It’s never too late to add football and NFL-related ad buys into your media strategy. Digilant has custom, data-driven NFL and Football omnichannel packages at the ready to help you score big with fans this season. Contact us today to get started.

For years, media buying centered on the idea that only people interested in a specific industry or product would visit certain websites. The publisher or site itself had to contextually align with the topic of your ad – otherwise known as endemic advertising placements.

As consumer data and audience insights have evolved, advertisers have begun to view ad placements how they view consumers — multifaceted. We now know that ads don’t need to only appear against certain topics, categories, or content. We can use targeting and data analytics to reach the right consumer, no matter where they browse. This shift has positioned non-endemic retail media advertising at the forefront of media buying.

So, if you’re wondering which tactic – endemic or non-endemic advertising – is suitable for your brand, keep reading as we’ll dive further into what these terms mean, their benefits, and how to incorporate them into your media playbook.  

 

What is Endemic Advertising?

The term ‘endemic’ is defined as native or natural to a specific environment or its surroundings. When taken in the context of advertising, it refers to ad placements that are contextually relevant or native to the market in which they are placed. 

This is an especially fruitful tactic when buying ad space within retail media networks (RMNs). Suppliers —  whose products are available on the retailer’s website, pay for ad space within the retailer’s network (website, app, emails, etc) —  to promote their products within the customer shopping experience. 

 

How Endemic Retail Media Advertising Works

Retail endemic advertising is the primary format by which ads are bought and sold within RMNs. Take Walmart’s DSP, for instance. Brands who sell their products at Walmart gain access to exclusive first-party ‘Walmart Connect’ data and in-market audiences (Walmart Connect) to reach shoppers at every stage of the shopping journey. They provide premium behavioral and audience data for brands to target consumers, such as previous buyers or in-market shoppers. 

Additionally, this exclusive partnership gives brands access to premium endemic ad placements within the shopping journey. Brands can highlight their products at the top of search results on Walmart.com or use sponsored product carousel ads within the Walmart app, to name a few examples. The ad formats themselves lend to a simple path to purchase with features such as ‘add to cart’ and ‘buy now’ highlighted directly within the ad.

As consumers have diversified where and when they shop, RMNs have stayed in step, offering ad placements beyond their websites and apps. Walmart, for example, offers endemic advertisers opportunities to advertise across their social media pages, across their email marketing, or with in-store displays. 

Endemic advertising’s structure is simple yet effective. Shoppable ad formats directly within retailers’ networks enable brands to reach active shoppers interested in their products with straightforward click-to-purchase formats. 

 

Benefits of Endemic Retail Media Advertising

The benefits of endemic advertising for advertisers are rooted in the system’s structure. Brands can access exclusive ad placements to connect with consumers while they are in an active shopping mindset. It enables them to create more relevant ad campaigns tailored for shopping audiences. 

One might wonder why retailers are willing to display ads as they might distract from the shopping experience. Simply put: offering ad space across the network provides an additional revenue stream beyond retail sales. However, the benefits of endemic ads are more than an opportunity to drive dollars.

Shopping is inherently a discovery process; consumers seek new products to try or compare to others. Because these ads use first-party audience targeting, the retailer knows the consumer will be interested in the brand or product. So, the suggested products and ads tailored to individual customers create a personalized, relevant shopping experience. Happy consumers are always a win for retailers. 

 

Amazon’s Shift to Non-Endemic Retail Media Advertising

Traditionally, ad inventory on Retail Media Networks (RMNs) was exclusively available to brands selling their products or goods on the respective retailers’ sites. Since its advent, brands and retailers have benefited from this highly successful and symbiotic relationship. This is why industry experts were thrown a curve ball with Amazon straying from the mold. 

During the Amazon ‘Unboxed’ Conference in October 2022, the eCommerce giant announced that non-endemic brands could start purchasing sponsored display ads on their website. With solutions at the ready, Amazon solidified its ambition to expand its advertising services beyond CPG and endemic clients. 

This announcement marked a significant shift within RMNs, opening a whole new world of opportunities for advertisers who don’t sell products or services on retailer websites. 

 

What is Non-Endemic Retail Media Advertising?

Non-Endemic retail media advertising refers to using retailer ad space to promote a product or service not sold by the retailer by identifying attributes of a retailer’s main or best customers. The retailer can then sell ad space on their website to non-competitor brands whose audience overlaps or mirrors theirs.

 

How Non-Endemic Advertising Works and its Benefits 

GoPuff, a food and consumer goods delivery company, allows advertisers to reach consumers using sponsored product ads and product features in promotions.

While sponsored products and product features are better suited for endemic advertisers, the company recently expanded its advertising capabilities to appeal to non-endemic advertisers. Companies that don’t sell products within the GoPuff platform can now target the platform’s 2.6 million active users with “ads at checkout.”

The key to successful non-endemic advertising is to find considerable overlaps in the audience base. For GoPuff, Hulu was the perfect partner for a launch campaign. GoPuff’s core audience group consists of males, between 25 and 34 years of age, living on their own or with roommates in major cities throughout the US. While GoPuff doesn’t offer TV streaming services, this audience overlaps perfectly with the cord-cutting demographic Hulu works to convert to subscribers. And so far, these platforms are seeing success, with an engagement rate of 5% during the first month of the partnership.

This approach presents GoPuff — and other retailers — with valuable opportunities.Because GoPuff doesn’t offer the service, it runs no risk of lost business. However, by enabling non-endemic advertisers to purchase its ad inventory, GoPuff diversifies its revenue stream with online ad revenue. As for non-endemic advertisers, they reap all the same benefits of endemic ads alongside the ability to access previously unavailable inventory. This helps diversify their digital marketing strategy to reach shoppers during every stage of the buying journey. Furthermore, non-endemic retail media advertising enables brand discovery for consumers, opening doors to new companies, products, and services that may have otherwise gone unnoticed. 

 

Digilant’s Endemic and Non-Endemic Ad Solutions through Premier Retail Media Networks

Endemic and non-endemic retail media ads provide advertisers with excellent opportunities to get their products or services to the right audience at the right time. Furthermore, they’re a powerful solution to engage with consumers today and in a cookieless future.

 If you’re interested in learning more about these retail media advertising opportunities or access to retail media networks, we’re happy to chat.

Artificial intelligence has all but dominated recent news. As technology advances and is incorporated into different aspects of our lives, you may be overwhelmed, or even scared, trying to understand how the technology works, let alone how to use it. 

Before you get too overwhelmed, however, consider that AI is already a substantial part of our daily lives, and has been for years now. The personal assistants on our phones, smart speakers in our homes, autonomous vehicles, and customer service chatbots: all artificial intelligence. It’s present in the background of our lives, streamlining, personalizing, and improving some of our more mundane tasks and experiences: social media feeds, eCommerce experiences, online shopping, real-time traffic and weather conditions, purchase verifications and online banking platforms, to name a few. 

In advertising, AI reflects a similar pattern. Many media buyers have used predictive AI in their buys for years, whether they realize it or not. In fact, more than 80% of industry experts integrate some form of AI technology into their online marketing activities. 

It seems all roads point to even more improvements, advances, and applications of AI in media buying. As such, it’s more important than ever for media buyers to understand how the technology works and ensure they are harnessing the power of its technology. 

In this blog post, we’ll cover exactly what artificial intelligence is, the different types, its functions in media buying, and why it’s a necessary technology for the advertising industry.

 

What is artificial intelligence?

Artificial intelligence is an umbrella term for the concept of reproducing human intelligence and cognition in machines. These machines can then execute activities and streamline tasks, learning and improving as they go. There are two forms of artificial intelligence: predictive and generative. 

What is Predictive AI?

Predictive AI refers to artificial intelligence systems that use statistical models, machine learning algorithms, and data-driven approaches to make predictions about future outcomes based on historical data. Predictive AI foresees future events or outcomes based on historical data.

Let’s look at a simple example. Imagine you ride your bike to work every day. Over time, after trying different ways to get to work, you will learn which route is faster or which road or path is better according to the day of the week or based on the weather outside. This is exactly how predictive AI works. You feed the computer or algorithm with large amounts of historical data so that it analyzes and predicts future outcomes based on past learning and applies the learnings to any new data it receives in the future.

What is Generative AI?

Generative AI refers to artificial intelligence systems that generate new content or outputs based on a given set of input data. Generative AI uses machine learning algorithms and deep learning techniques to create new outputs, such as text, images, music, or videos, that are similar to a given training data set. Generative AI models can be used for tasks such as image generation, text generation, and anomaly detection.

This is the type of AI currently making head waves in the news as it’s the basis for companies such as ChatGPT and Dall-e.

 

How does AI work in programmatic advertising?

Programmatic advertising leans heavily on the use of predictive artificial intelligence. These algorithms can quickly analyze large volumes of data from different sources and draw conclusions from them. When applied to programmatic advertising, this has various use cases.

1. Identifying patterns in consumer behavior

Every touchpoint that a brand makes with a consumer can be turned into a data point for artificial intelligence to sort and analyze. Part of this analysis reveals patterns in customer behavior that can then be used to tailor the ad experience based on specific interests or preferences. 

2. Predicting Outcomes

AI can analyze data to identify the likelihood that a consumer takes a certain action. These predictions can then be used to better shape the customer journey. Knowing how consumers act based on search history or previously clicked-on ads enables brands to serve more strategic ads tailored to these typical outcomes.

3. Predictive Analysis

One of the most significant benefits of AI in programmatic advertising is that it can be constantly used to improve future campaigns. Analyzing past metrics, AI can identify which channels, targeting strategies, ad formats, and targets are working well and which are not. This information can then be used to optimize future campaigns, improving your ROI. 

 

Will AI replace human media buyers and planners?

As you were reading the use cases for AI in programmatic media buying, you may have thought, “But, that’s my job.” In short, yes, AI can almost replicate the brain of an experienced media buyer in a machine or algorithm so it becomes capable of predicting, planning, and optimizing media. 

Don’t panic. The key word is “almost.” 

Though machines can certainly make programmatic advertising more efficient, faster, and easier to implement, there remain many factors that need human input and link AI to an overall media buying strategy. Additionally, when you bring efficiency to the media buying process, media buyers are freed from the more tedious tasks, allowing them to focus on the strategic and creative elements of their jobs.

 

Why should you use AI in advertising?

AI-backed strategies create a more personalized experience for the customer. Because AI analyzes campaign data to identify patterns, advertisers can deliver more tailored ads based on the customer’s interests and needs. This provides a more personalized, relevant, and positive customer experience. And every advertiser knows a happy customer is of great value as they are more likely to be a loyal, repeat shopper.

Additionally, brands and advertisers can save money and time by completing tasks faster than humans and making fewer mistakes. AI-powered systems enable advertisers to streamline their efforts, make quicker decisions, adjust to consumer patterns, provide better value, and improve ROI. 

In summary, AI applications in programmatic provide the following benefits:

• Better personalization
• More relevant ads for customers
• More efficient budgeting
• Reduced costs and decreased ad waste
• Operational efficiencies 
• Increased engagement and conversions

 

How do people and businesses benefit from AI?

AI applications in programmatic advertising will continue to evolve and grow as technology improves. With every new application, your advertising efforts can be significantly enhanced. And, as mentioned previously, customers will continue to benefit from more personalized tailored ad experiences. 

Task AI to do all the heavy lifting for your advertising so that you and your team can focus on creating the best possible strategy to reach your audience and improve your ROI.

In 2023, U.S. programmatic digital display ad spending is expected to reach nearly $150 billion, accounting for more than 90 percent of total digital display ad spending. And, as astounding as that figure is, that’s only a part of the picture. As fast-growing channels like connected TV and digital out-of-home are increasingly transacted programmatically, the influence (and complexity) of programmatic advertising will continue to grow. 

Programmatic advertising is a vital part of the modern marketing playbook. Here you’ll gain a foundational understanding of programmatic advertising and how you can leverage it to reach and engage your audiences.

Table of Contents

• What is Programmatic Advertising?
• What Does Programmatic Advertising Look Like?
• Why Does Programmatic Advertising Matter?
• How Does Programmatic Advertising Work?
• What Are the Benefits of Programmatic Advertising?
• How Do You Get Started with Programmatic Advertising?

 

What Is Programmatic Advertising?

Simply put, programmatic advertising is the practice of using technology to automate the buying and selling of ad impressions on media. It uses algorithms to enable advertisers to target segmented audiences using real-time data in ways that simply can’t be accomplished manually, and to do so with accuracy and at scale.

The programmatic ad industry is rife with jargon and acronyms, but from an advertiser’s standpoint, there are just a few basics to know: Brands and agencies use a demand-side platform (DSP) to indicate which impressions they want to buy and how much they want to pay. Publishers and app developers use a supply-side platform (SSP) to deliver their available impressions to brands and agencies. DSPs and SSPs collaborate to automate the buying and selling of digital advertising inventory by integrating with ad exchanges, enabling real-time bidding, and facilitating data sharing for optimization. 

There are multiple ways to buy ads programmatically. The most common methods are as follows: 

• Open Auction, or Real-Time Bidding (RTB): In open auctions, hundreds of buyers can compete for inventory in real time without any restrictions or pre-negotiated deals. 
• Private Marketplace (PMP): These invitation-only marketplaces are more exclusive and feature negotiated minimum prices and non-guaranteed volumes.
• Preferred Deals: These one-to-one deals feature a fixed price and non-guaranteed volumes.
• Guaranteed Deals: These one-to-one deals feature a fixed price and guaranteed volumes.

 

What Does Programmatic Advertising Look Like?

Programmatic advertising is especially attractive to brands and agencies because of the high degree of customization and data-driven targeting that can go into these media buys. Additionally, programmatic advertising supports a wide array of ad formats, ranging from fairly basic executions to highly dynamic ones.

What types of digital ad formats are there and what do they look like?

Need help visualizing the variety of digital ad formats you can leverage to reach your audience? Below is a breakdown of some of the most popular programmatic ad formats, such as:

Native Ads

Native ads reflect the look and feel of the environment in which they appear. They are meant to fit into its surrounding content, providing a more seamless advertising experience than other formats.

Read our full explainer on native advertisements.

Display Ads

Display ads can be static or animated, and combine imagery, text, and a URL link to drive audiences to landing pages. Display ads come in a variety of sizes, with the most common being 300×250 (Medium Rectangle), 728×90 (Leaderboard), 160×600 (Wide Skyscraper), 300×600 (Half-page ad), 320×50 (mobile leaderboard) and 300×250(medium rectangle). 

Video Ads

Video ads typically appear before, after, or during streaming content. However, some might expand the definition of video ads to also include display ads that contain video within them.

Audio Ads

Audio ads are formatted as — you guessed it — audio. These are delivered via streaming platforms, like podcasts or music streaming apps like Spotify, Pandora, or iHeartRadio, for example.

Advanced TV Ads

Advanced TV ads are advertisements that are not watched through a broadcast, cable, or satellite connection. This includes advertisements viewed on connected TVs, over-the-top (OTT) devices, and linear addressable TV. Advanced TV advertising provides sophisticated targeting based on household IP addresses and device types.

Social Ads

Social ads allow advertisers to connect with prospective customers via third-party social networking platforms, in the form of display or video ads. Social Ads are commonly used to drive brand awareness and reach new audiences. Display, video story, and messenger ads are common formats in social media advertising.

Search Ads

Search advertising leverages keywords and phrases to deliver web users advertisements on search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing, based on their search queries. Search ads allow advertisers to drive sales by quickly engaging people who are usually in the market for a specific product or service. Common formats for search ads include text, display, video, shopping, local search, amongst others.

Retail Media Ads

These advertisements are typically videos or banner ads within a retail media network that state they are sponsored.

Programmatic advertising in action:

Here are just a few real-world examples of the powerful results programmatic ad buys can deliver across industries:

• Higher Education: A prestigious university tapped into programmatic advertising to drive interest in specific undergraduate and graduate programs. The organization leveraged a combination of data-driven tactics to target its desired audiences and encourage them to fill out a “request for information” form. The resulting programmatic campaign drove more than 47 million impressions, more than 74,000 clicks (a click-through rate well above industry standards), and 108 conversions.  
• Enterprise Software: A B2B enterprise software company operating in a category with very little differentiation leveraged programmatic advertising to drive brand awareness and audience engagement. Fueling its campaign with B2B data segments and behavioral data segments, along with its own CRM and search data, the company launched a targeted campaign that achieved an impressive 0.44 percent CTR, exceeding its goal by more than 210 percent. 
• Automotive: A top-10 auto brand turned to programmatic advertising to drive traffic to specific landing pages intended to encourage conversions like nearest location finder, learning about offers, and submitting an inquiry for a specific vehicle. By monitoring the programmatic campaign’s real-time results, the brand was able to home in on specific audience segments and implement strategic retargeting that took into account hourly trends. This approach drove more than 6,000 actions on the client’s landing pages and helped to inform the auto brand’s fall savings event campaign.  

 

Why Does Programmatic Advertising Matter?

As the examples above illustrate, programmatic advertising is a great way to drive both awareness and conversion for brands across all industries, both B2C and B2B. Over the decades that programmatic advertising has existed, its technology and tactics have become increasingly more transparent, sophisticated, effective, and measurable. 

In 2022, digital advertising accounted for nearly 72 percent of U.S. media ad spend, and eMarketer expects that percentage to grow to 81 percent by 2026. Given the targeted, data-driven capabilities that underpin digital advertising, this isn’t surprising. But that doesn’t mean your life as a marketer is getting simpler.  

The complexity of the digital ecosystem, and the ad opportunities within it, continues to grow, with new channels, platforms, and technology emerging all the time. Compared to the traditional advertising world, dominated by a known list of top networks and publications, the online world is a vastly fragmented and constantly changing landscape. 

In other words, it’s not humanly impossible for advertisers to keep track of the many digital destinations vying for (and deserving of) their media dollars. But with programmatic advertising, and the tech behind it, you can. 

Programmatic advertising is absolutely essential when it comes to meaningfully leveraging digital advertising. If you’re not leveraging the power of programmatic advertising, you can bet your competitors are—and it won’t take long for your brand to see its own share of voice and relevance dwindle. 

The importance of programmatic advertising will only continue to grow. Need proof? Consider the following: 

• By 2024, U.S. programmatic digital display ad spending will reach $168 billion.
• Programmatic digital video advertising spending in the U.S. will reach $75 billion in 2023, up from $63 billion in 2022.
• Programmatic radio advertising spend in the U.S. crossed the $1 billion mark in 2022.
• Programmatic DOOH ad spending increased by nearly 500 percent between 2019 and 2022.

More and more media is being transacted programmatically every year. If advertisers haven’t embraced this space yet, they’re going to increasingly find themselves left behind, even in channels where traditional media buying was once the norm.

 

How Does Programmatic Advertising Work?

OK, so what does a programmatic media buy look like? While there is a great deal of nuance behind the technology that powers programmatic advertising, as well as the types of auctions cited earlier, a basic programmatic buy looks like this:

1. A person visits a page on a website. 
2. The owner of that website, through its SSP, puts the ad impressions on that page up for auction. 
3. Advertisers, through their DSPs, automatically bid on those impressions.
4. The highest bidder wins the ad impression. 
5. The winning advertiser’s ad creative is served to the website visitor. 

Once the creative is served, the website visitor sees the ad and potentially clicks and converts. Regardless of their action (or inaction), the result is captured and communicated back to the advertiser. 

All of the above steps happen in about a tenth of a second—and this process happens billions upon billions of times per day across the digital ecosystem. 

The 4 Components of Programmatic Advertising

We’ve mentioned that the behind-the-scenes technology of programmatic advertising is complicated, and that’s true. But ultimately, there are four components that advertisers need to understand. 

Demand-Side Platforms (DSPs)

As mentioned, DSPs are used by media buyers at agencies and brands to manage and purchase digital ad impressions across multiple ad networks and exchanges through one interface. They can target their ads based on a variety of data parameters, including demographics, psychographics, behavior, and contextual relevance. Importantly, advertisers don’t have to worry about picking the right destinations for their campaigns; the DSP does that work for them. 

Supply-Side Platforms (SSPs)

On the other side of the transaction, SSPs enable publishers and app developers to offer their available ad impressions to a wide variety of exchanges and DSPs. By opening up their inventory to as many potential buyers as possible, SSPs help publishers maximize their revenue.

Ad Exchanges

An ad exchange is a marketplace for ad impressions that sits in between DSPs and SSPs. It’s essentially a trading floor where the respective platforms go to access the inventory for sale. Advertisers use an ad exchange to buy ad impressions, and publishers make their ad impressions available via exchanges. 

Data Management Platforms (DMPs)

DMPs are unifying platforms that are used to collect and organize all of the data generated by and used to power programmatic advertising. They allow publishers and advertisers to analyze data from all available platforms in order to glean insights and segment audiences. 

 

What Are the Benefits of Programmatic Advertising?

Programmatic advertising is an essential tool within the modern marketing playbook—and for multiple reasons. The data-driven automation of digital ad buying unlocks plenty of benefits for advertisers and publishers alike.

Programmatic advertising is built on the following pillars — all of which are designed to help advertisers do their jobs better. With programmatic advertising, advertisers can drive: 

Improved ROI

Programmatic advertising’s advanced targeting and measurement capabilities help brands eliminate wasted ad spend. Advertisers can quickly identify their best-performing audiences, tactics, and channels while a campaign is in-flight and can double-down in the areas that drive the highest ROI. 

Campaign Optimization based on Real-Time Feedback

Unlike traditional advertising channels, programmatic advertising enables real-time campaign optimization based on performance data and insights while campaigns are in flight, sometimes with the help of predictive AI models. 

Greater Scale

With programmatic advertising, brands and agencies can scale their audiences as needed to hit desired reach and conversion goals. One of the key ways that advertisers can grow their audiences for programmatic campaigns is through lookalike modeling, which finds new audiences based on what advertisers know about their existing customers and prospects. This can be done at the start of a campaign or any point during its execution.

Improved Relevance

The granular targeting that’s possible with programmatic advertising, coupled with the ability to deliver personalized creative, lets advertisers deliver campaigns that are actually relevant to their audiences. Advertisers can target their ads based on thousands of data points, including demographics, interests, context, sentiment, behavior, IP address, purchase intent, CRM data, and more.

Transparency

Programmatic platforms provide advertisers with transparency and control over their campaigns. Advertisers can monitor the performance of their ads, track impressions, clicks, conversions, and other metrics in real-time. They can also set budget caps, bid strategies, and targeting parameters, giving them control over their ad spend and campaign outcomes. Additionally, they can block sites or only run across a specific set of sites

Opportunities to Test and Learn

In addition to being able to funnel spend toward the highest-performing audiences, channels, and tactics, programmatic advertising also allows advertisers to test new marketing messaging and creative and see how they perform in real time. These insights can be used not only to help the existing campaign, but can also be put to work in broader messaging initiatives and future campaigns. 

Programmatic advertising is not without its challenges, but its benefits far outweigh the potential hurdles. The key is to partner smartly to avoid potential obstacles and move forward confidently.

 

How Do You Get Started with Programmatic Advertising?

Advertisers looking to get started in programmatic media can choose to handle the function in-house or to work with a programmatic advertising partner. In many cases, marketers find that in-house management of programmatic advertising can quickly drain internal resources, as successful programs demand significant time, dedicated expertise, constant training, and ongoing education. For these reasons, programmatic advertising partners represent a valuable alternative.  

How to Choose a Programmatic Advertising Partner

Contrary to how some people speak about the automation of programmatic advertising, successful campaigns are not a “set it and forget it” endeavor. The human touch remains vital to achieving the greatest ROI with programmatic campaigns, which is why bringing in a partner that specializes in the technology and strategies that drive programmatic can be more than worth the cost. 

In selecting a partner, look for one that understands the level of nurturing that goes into a strong programmatic campaign and is willing to monitor and optimize results on an ongoing basis while delivering transparent results and insights. Your programmatic advertising partner should be steeped in digital expertise and demonstrate a proactive, agile style of working—and be readily available to answer your questions and provide feedback. 

 

Digilant: A Trusted Programmatic Advertising Partner

At Digilant, we live and breathe programmatic media. We recognize that this dynamic, fast-evolving space requires dedicated resources with experience in monitoring, interpreting, and optimizing campaign performance every step of the way. We’re data experts and technology enthusiasts. We’re passionate about programmatic advertising and get genuinely excited about the opportunity to uncover new audience insights that can be put to use in current and future campaigns. The proof is in our partnerships and perspectives. 

Are you ready to unlock the full power of programmatic advertising for your brand? We’re here to help. Let’s talk about what Digilant can do for you. 

According to eMarketer, retail media ad spending will continue its tremendous growth and shows no signs of slowing, rising from $45.15 billion in 2023 to $106.12 billion by 2027. These numbers speak to the power of retail media advertising and the opportunities they create for brands and agencies everywhere. 

What is Retail Media Advertising?

Retail media advertising is the buying of media on a retailer’s media network. These retail media networks enable retailers to monetize their digital properties — websites, apps, and email newsletters — by selling advertising inventory to third-party brands. 

Retail media networks provide brands with unique and previously unattainable advertising placements.  Additionally, and perhaps most importantly, retail media networks provide first-party audience and shopping data that help marketers reach their desired audiences with greater precision, personalization and relevance, and enables marketers to come away with powerful insights.

Let’s take a closer look.

Tap into First-Party Data

Retailers have access to troves of consumer data — like online and offline purchase history, home addresses, birthdays, and purchase frequency for example — which they’ve collected through loyalty programs, store credit cards, and online accounts. When compiled, this information paints a clear picture of a person’s brand and product preferences, interests, and even possible next purchases. Let’s look at an example to understand how this works.

Melanie is a regular Walmart shopper and a member of the Walmart+ rewards program. She makes weekly trips to a store location in Austin, Texas with routine purchases of all gluten-free groceries, gardening supplies, mystery books, and eco-friendly cleaning products. Additionally, she usually makes online purchases on Walmart’s website for large-breed dog food. With this information, Walmart can assume that Melanie is a homeowner (garden supplies), living in Austin, Texas (in-store shopping habits), owns at least one dog (dog food purchases), and is environmentally conscious (eco-friendly cleaning products). 

This deterministic data is what makes retail media advertising so appealing to savvy brands and advertisers. It is this data that enables advertisers to connect with relevant audiences to promote products and services aligned to the consumer’s preferences, interests, and values — and drive conversions. 

Deliver improved relevance and personalization

With access to shopping data as specific as the flavor of ice cream a consumer likes or the cadence at which they purchase new toothpaste, RMNs enable brands to take their targeting to the next level. This data provides the framework to deliver personalized offers, ad creatives, coupons, or discounts tailored specifically to a customer for greater impact and engagement.

Let’s go back to our example with Walmart and Melanie. Below are a few examples of how advertisers can use retail media advertising to reach Melanie with relevant ads and offers.

• A new dog-food brand wants to promote its treat suited for medium and large-breed dogs like Melanie’s. Through a RMN, the brand can reach Melanie with an offer for 10% off her first purchase. 
• Melanie is a regular gardener. By partnering with a retail media network, a garden supply company can showcase the best products for Melanie based on the specific season and climate in Austin, Texas.
• An eco-friendly CPG brand wants to reach likely customers. By leveraging a retail media network the CPG brand can tap into the RMNs first-party data to reach Melanie, and those like her who’ve purchased other eco-friendly products.

Reach ready-to-buy consumers

The way consumers search for products and services has changed; approximately 63% of consumers visit Amazon or Walmart.com for initial product research. So, while consumers browse and shop, advertisers can reach them in a ready-to-by mindset. There really is no better time to get your brand in front of consumers than when they are just one click away from converting. With retail media advertising, advertisers can capitalize on the moment to drive business. 

Gain detailed and thorough insights and analytics

Whether impression, click, or sale, all the metrics occur in the same platform making it easy for advertisers to better track and understand the ROI of the RMN ads. 

New approaches for new consumer habits

With access to more devices and screens than ever, consumer shopping habits have evolved — from the way they research products to the ways in which they purchase them. Advertisers can ensure they reach and engage their desired audiences with relevant and personalized digital experiences by leveraging the power of first-party data and retail media advertising.

Interested in learning more about the power of Retail Media Advertising? Reach out to our team to learn more.