Digital marketing is all about connecting directly with your customers. No more mass advertising to disinterested consumers – you want to target your ad spend towards existing customers or those most likely to purchase your product.
Today we take a look at a beginner’s guide to programmatic display marketing.
Indeed, the digital world offers a panoply of advertising options, including programmatic display advertising.
With this approach, marketers can target specific customers on a certain page they’re visiting. It’s a form of hyper-segmentation that harnesses all the consumer data at your disposal to reach customers based on their interests and behavior.
In fact, programmatic display advertising is the fastest-growing segment of digital marketing. Yet, the dense jargon and confusing metrics can leave many businesses scratching their heads about the programmatic advertising definition – and what they need to do to capitalize on this new approach.
That’s where we come in. In this helpful beginner’s guide, we’ll explain all the basics, from the programmatic advertising definition to how Google displays ads to grow marketing results for advertisers.
Let’s get started.
What is programmatic marketing?
Programmatic display advertising is an advanced marketing strategy that harnesses automated, real-time bidding processes to purchase ad inventory, thereby allowing marketers to target specific users in specific contexts. The result is a hyper-targeted, highly effective ad.
In a nutshell, programmatic display advertising uses intelligent algorithms and real-time bidding to ensure your ads are being seen by consumers most likely to buy your product. Even more impressive, it targets the precise time when such consumers are most likely to buy your product.
Recommended blogs: Top 1,001 Power Words to Boost Engagement & Drive Sales and How to Create a Content Marketing Funnel That Converts
How does Google Display Ads grow marketing results for advertisers?
Whenever a consumer enters a webpage that contains a programmatic advertising section, the Google marketplace will auction the space to interested companies.
This is an ad impression auction.
Only companies relevant to the individual’s interests and behaviors are entered into the auction. The competition for the spot is thereafter largely based on money: whoever bids the most wins the ad.
However, unlike a normal auction, no one is involved. The entire programmatic display advertising auction is automated and lasts milliseconds.
Companies determine their maximum bid ahead of time (alongside their total spend). Based on this, the system automatically bids for the spot; the bids are compared, and the highest bid wins.
Recommended blogs: What is a Good Click-Through Rate for Google Ads? and How Much Do Google Ads Cost? Your Guide to Google Ads
These ads are often highly tailored to users’ prior reading or searching habits. For example, suppose a consumer had previously searched for walking holidays or nearby hiking routes. In that case, the ads could be for said holidays or relevant equipment, e.g., walking boots or poles.
The system reduces wasted ad spending by matching these targeted ads with the relevant consumer. Consumers are much more likely to purchase a product from an ad related to their previous behavior than a random ad – obviously!
Let’s recap on the benefits of programmatic display advertising:
- The website owner creates an ad space and connects it to the Google Display network.
- Advertisers set their cost, budget, and target audience.
- When a user visits the website, it triggers an ad impression auction. Only ads related to a customer’s interests are selected.
- The ad with the highest bid wins the ad space.
- The user sees the ad on the webpage.
It’s that simple!
Recommended services: Content Marketing, Enterprise SEO, Local SEO, Website Design, and Pay-Per-Click Ads.
The benefits of programmatic display advertising
Unlike almost all other advertising types, programmatic display advertising is both smart and flexible. You determine all the factors that go into the bidding battle and then let the algorithm do the rest.
Let’s explore the key benefits:
1. Determine the ad frequency
Not only do you determine who sees your ad but also when they see it. You want to maximize your ad spend by reaching your target market at the precise time of day they’ll be online – or that’s specific to your product.
Doing so reduces your wasted ad spend and ensures your money is spent on reaching your target market at the best possible times.
2. Set your ad spend
Businesses can be a little daunted by the whole automated process. But there’s no need to worry – like pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, you set the maximum bid you’re willing to pay and your overall budget. So, you won’t wake up to discover most of your ad budget has been spent on one or two ads.
Even better, you can adjust your bid over time to maximize your visibility relative to your spending.
3. Target only relevant consumers
Perhaps the most beneficial aspect of programmatic display advertising is precision targeting. It’s little surprise that, according to Google, 76% of advertisers say the targeting options are the system’s best feature.
Older advertising methods were something of a shot in the dark; a hope that whoever saw the ad would be interested in the product. No more – with programmatic advertising, consumers are targeted based on their past interests and behaviors to an incredible degree of accuracy.
For example, The Economist launched a campaign targeting specific news stories individuals had previously read. In just nine days, they saw more than 3.6 million people interact, with an ROI of over 10:1. Pretty impressive!
4. Experience a high ROI
More and more marketers are turning to digital marketing as their primary means of reaching customers. Why? That’s simple – the ROI is beyond anything previously seen.
Take CarTrade: programmatic display advertising increased its conversion rate by 30% and click-through rate by 120%. The result – 5x more leads.
5. Receive phenomenal data insights
Alongside a substantial uptick in customer interactions, you also receive data-rich reports to enhance your ad campaigns further. Insights into ad copy, your target market, and buying patterns can help you produce precision ads laser-focused on converting prospective consumers.
You’ll be able to analyze customers at an individual level – it’s quite simply unparalleled optimization.
Recommended blogs: Are Facebook Ads Better Than Google Ads? and Is Advertising on Google Really Worth It?
Compare Google Display and Programmatic Ads
Want to learn more about programmatic display advertising? You’ll be shocked to see how similar they are to the Google Display Network. Contact our Google Ads specialist today for a free consultation and to answer any questions you may have.
We’re ready to answer all your questions!
