Executing Programmatic Digital Campaigns – There is no EASY button
Programmatic digital advertising has transformed the way brands reach their audiences, offering automation, efficiency, and data-driven decision-making. However, executing a successful programmatic campaign comes with its own set of challenges. Whether an internal team is pushing the buttons or via a managed services model, below are some areas to consider paying attention to. And, here’s a hint on how to make it work; It takes experienced people to do the paying attention.
Ad Fraud and Brand Safety
One of the biggest concerns in programmatic advertising is ad fraud. Invalid traffic from bots and delivery on MFA sites leads to wasted ad spend, while ads appearing on inappropriate or low-quality sites can damage brand reputation and provide false results. Bot traffic from MFA’s take between 13 and 20% of most ad campaigns and if guardrails are not in place to control delivery that can rise well above 35%. Even the legitimate sites, publishers and apps that are designed to deliver exceptionally heavy ad loads in poor content have a significant negative impact. Either way, the advertiser loses. Implementing strict brand safety measures and controlling where messages are delivered is crucial.
Data Privacy and Compliance
With increasing regulations advertisers must navigate strict data privacy laws while ensuring personalized targeting. The eventual phasing out of third-party cookies further complicates audience segmentation, making first-party data, publisher data and contextual targeting more critical than ever. Beyond regulations and compliance, delivering effective programmatic campaigns is an effort to build trust. Trust from the advertiser and the audience.
Transparency and Control
Advertisers often struggle with a lack of transparency regarding where ads are placed and how they are delivered. Clicking the buttons on the black box is great but what’s happening after? There are a number of questions to ask before a campaign starts. Which DSP the right for this campaign? What publishers should this campaign use to match the client, target audience and message? Where exactly are the ads/spots running? What is the content like? What frequency? What pace? What daypart? These and many other details matter and should be mapped out in advance of building the campaign. It is not easy to build programmatic campaigns right. Working with reputable partner who provides end-to-end focus from a detailed campaign set up to clear reporting can help mitigate this issue.
Measuring Performance and Attribution
Attribution remains a complex challenge, as users interact with multiple channels before converting. Ensuring accurate tracking and leveraging brand lift or performance models can help marketers understand the true impact of their campaigns. The digital advertising world has become consumed with immediate gratification. For programmatic, it is more important to create demand than to merely harvest it. Be mindful of setting appropriate expectations for programmatic digital campaigns. Digital in most channels is a reach first medium. It provides users visibility to a brand in a landscape where they can take action. Programmatic digital will move the needle, just need to make sure it’s the right one.