Programmatic advertising sometimes is referred to as display ads. It’s my least favorite term, because true programmatic is so much more. One of the biggest benefits of programmatic is that it is omni-channel, meaning that you can advertise on different “channels” or mediums. The best DSPs nowadays are omnichannel, meaning that you can advertise on every channel in the same platform.
First an overview of these channels. Programmatic advertising makes it possible to advertise on:
Display. Think of banner ads of different formats and rich media HTML5 creatives that are used on devices like tablets, phones, and computers.
Video. Right now we’re only considering short, 5-30 second video ads on websites, like a YouTube ad. These ads, like display, are on tablets, phones, and computers.
Native. Either display or video. These ads are characterized by their resemblance to the surrounding content on a page, making them seem like a natural flow when consumed with other on-screen content.
CTV. Now we expand our definition of video to traditional commercials that are seen when viewing AVOD (ad-based video on demand) programs on popular apps like Peacock, Paramount+, Discovery, etc. (and soon to be Disney+ and Netflix!). The difference between these and other commercials is that they are bought on a targeted impression basis, instead of in bulk in a certain time slot, making CTV much more effective and measurable.
App. Think of when you are playing a game, or completing a task in a mobile app, and you see ads in either video, display, or native format.
Audio. On apps like Pandora, Spotify and iHeartRadio, you can run targeted audio ads to users based on traditional and music-based characteristics, such as playlist or genre.
DOOH. The newest evolution in programmatic is digital out of home (DOOH). This refers to programmatically buying inventory away from a user’s primary device, in physical places outside of users’ homes. Think of places like airports and malls, billboards and bus stops. Unlike traditional print or digital ads in these locations, programmatic DOOH ads are targetable and measurable, meaning you can save money by showing the ad only when your users are near.
Remember that the channel alone doesn’t determine the effectiveness of a campaign. Instead, these channels, along with creative messaging, and effective targeting, should be seen as distinct pieces of a successful campaign.
Why do advertisers use multiple channels when it requires extra effort during the planning and creative phases?
Multiple channels can help increase your reach, ensuring you get your message in front of the right customers. It also helps you vary your messaging and increase recall to users who may be more inclined to remember the combination of a display and video ad instead of just a display ad. It can also be effective to users who learn in specific ways, for example auditory learners would probably be more likely to convert after hearing an audio ad than seeing a display ad.
In addition to these, you can also set up some awesome sequential retargeting strategies which allows you to control the order that a client sees a message. For example, you could start by showing a video, and then serving an audio ad to only users who’ve seen the first video. Then you could serve another video ad, a display ad, and finally, some native ads. Finally, another benefit of multichannel campaigns are that you can frequency cap across channels. For example, you could set a limit of 3 ads of any type within 24 hours, which both saves money and increases your results compared to frequency capping at the channel level.
In summary, programmatic is so much more than display, and when you take advantage of multiple channels you open up your advertising to reach never before seen users, and get extraordinary results.
