The pace of change in the digital industry never stops and much of the product development in today’s digital marketplace is focused on programmatic. Advertiser’s confidence in programmatic buying is also quickly growing which has bolstered programmatic spend. eMarketer estimates nearly four of every five US digital display dollars will transact programmatically by the end of in 2017, totaling $32.56 billion.
With more and more ad dollars shifting from traditional media buys toward programmatic, agencies of all kinds are widely looking for ways to stay competitive and retain their valued clients. Having a solid programmatic offering will be the deciding factor between agencies who succeed or struggle in the coming years.
Whether you are a brand marketer looking for a new partner or an agency wanting to incorporate programmatic into your DNA, here are 5 characteristics of a company that is programmatic to its core.
1. Provides Ongoing Education & Communication
An agency is the first line of defense; helping their clients stay on top of changes in the industry. Make sure you have a communicative programmatic partner that is providing you with ongoing education on changes, recommendations and trends within the space. Not only is it important for agencies to foster an educational relationship with their clients, but they also need to keep clients up to date on how their programmatic campaigns are performing, as well as the ecosystem they are operating in.
2. Hires the Right Talent
It’s a competitive market for good talent. Both agencies and in-house teams are searching for the right candidates. Agencies with programmatic at its core hire individuals who understand the digital space, its technology and have analytical chops. Ideal employees recognize the value in partnering with a programmatic provider that can assist them in strategically assessing and optimizing a campaign based on a deep understanding of the business’ goals and its customers.
3. Applies Programmatic Insight Across Service Offerings
Programmatic doesn’t have to be a standalone offering. In fact, learnings can be applied to elevate an agency’s suite of services. The ideas of dynamic buying and real-time optimization should be integrated throughout an agency’s areas of expertise.
For example, let’s look at search and social media planners. Programmatic can help elevate the strategy by highlighting keyword suggestions based on performance or what is trending in real-time. Programmatic can also inform traditional media such as direct mail. For example, advertisers can geo-fence specific locations that relate to a direct mail campaign and apply Conversion Zones to track foot traffic to the target location.
4. Understands and Uses Data
The role of data in marketing is not a buzzword or a trend. It’s the future. To be competitive in today’s market, agencies and brands alike must be in the data business. When evaluating a programmatic partner, ask how fresh is their data? How do they handle and clean the data? Do they consider the timeliness of the data? When it comes to using data for targeting, relevancy drops off substantially after 30 days, sometimes sooner.
5. Provides Transparent Reporting
It’s no secret that clients want access to robust reporting and analytics. It’s important to understand how much of each dollar spent goes to media, data, and platform costs and also have the ability to optimize performance of each keyword, domain, exchange, time of day, and more.
In today’s world of performance-based digital media, advertisers should accept no less than transparent data, audience insights and reporting, down to the individual user that was served an ad.
Whether you are just getting started in programmatic or want to drive more relevance and increase performance, reach out to us at hi@simpli.fi. We work with the largest buyers of localized programmatic advertising including many agencies and brands as well as trade desks, networks and local media groups