This summer, Google launched their Digital Marketing platform, which leverages programmatics. In doing so, they recognize three important and converging trends to ring in fundamental changes to the way we go about advertising, digitally and otherwise. They are:
1) Optimized advertising: digital media is much more efficient, affordable and measurable than ever before.
2) Everything is digital. More and more content is being delivered and consumed via a digital format meaning the programmatic model will soon take over the way we manage all media platforms.
3) Targeting through data. Lead by Google's massive database, machine learning and artificial intelligence are exponentially growing our capacity to target the right people with the right message across all platforms.
Many leading brands have jumped on board and are experimenting with this very targeted, versatile approach. If it is not already obvious to you, here are the top benefits that early adopters to the programmatic model have been experiencing to date.
1) Less waste: Advertisers are no longer beholden to the publisher's entire audience, paying to reach people outside of their target. Optimized media dollars focus solely on customers who engage with their brand.
2) Break the 6-week cycle: Smaller advertisers can finally envision a sustained marketing presence over the entire year, rather than concentrating their marketing dollars in one or two hit-or-miss campaigns.
3) Better targeting: data and artificial intelligence hone-in to identify the motivations of multiple, relevant target markets, not just one.
4) More engagement: programmatics allows the advertiser to customize each message to fit the need of each target market reached.
5) Active web sites : passive web sites become a thing of the past with better SEO and SEM. They become active marketing hubs that engage new customers with content that can be projected out to various news feeds with native ads and targeted display.
6) Fewer media silos : as digital platforms evolve, advertisers are more and more able to manage all digital and social media assets under one coordinated management platform.
7) More control: the biggest benefit from real-time reporting is that it allows the advertiser to adjust his strategy as he goes. Campaigns get better as the hit-or-miss is taken out of the way messages are delivered. We will soon refer less to the idea of "buying" media as we will to that of "managing content delivery".
8) Win-win: Brands are happy as campaigns get more effective and consumers are happy to receive advertising that is more and more relevant to their needs.
9) Unlimited messaging: unshackled by huge production costs and restrictive formats, brands can flush out a larger number of key messages, benefits and arguments to catch the ear of a greater number of potential customers.
10) Conversation: the feedback loop with the consumer (analytics, social commentary) allows the brand to turn advertising away from a one-way broadcast and more towards a two-way conversation, which is much more responsive and engaging.
As programmatics change the way we treat media, brands are rethinking the way that they build messages and manage media. Certified content delivery strategists are replacing the old media buyer, as advertisers look to actively manage their first party databases, target messaging and refine campaigns using analytics. Digital content is becoming the norm and programmatics will be the new advertising standard, to everyone's benefit.
