To say 2018 has been an eventful year for programmatic advertising would be an understatement. From the explosive growth in OTT/CTV to game-changing improvements in addressable advertising to the enactment of the EU GDPR legislation, this year has seen momentous developments in the programmatic space.

So, what does next year hold for us? Simpli.fi CEO Frost Prioleau has been one of the industry voices providing answers to this question, and he recently weighed in with the following five predictions and trends for programmatic in 2019.

Improved Measurability and Attribution on OTT/CTV Will Drive TV Dollars to Adopt OTT/CTV Over Linear TV Faster Than Expected.

 
As viewers increasingly consume content on smart TVs, tablets and smartphones, TV buyers will move budgets from linear TV to OTT/CTV in order to test and “follow the eyeballs.” In 2018, the percentage of TV ad budgets spent on OTT/CTV will be lower than the percentage of “TV” minutes viewed on OTT/CTV devices.

Once advertisers experience the improved targetability, analytics, and attribution (including foot traffic attribution) that OTT/CTV advertising provides, they will shift their linear budget over to OTT/CTV and accelerate their spend faster than anticipated. We expect to see that, within two years, the percentage of TV ad budgets spent on OTT/CTV will be greater than the percentage of minutes viewed on ad-supported OTT/CTV content.

Direct to Consumer (DTC) Advertisers Become Big Buyers of Addressable TV Ads.

DTC advertisers are focused on performance and are very data-driven. This combination will make them big buyers of addressable TV in 2019. Addressable TV, including Addressable OTT/CTV, is the perfect medium for DTC advertisers to get their message to a precise, highly granular audience at the household level. Not to mention this audience will be most receptive to this advanced form of advertising.

Netflix will Launch an
Advertising-Supported Offering.

It is no surprise that OTT/CTV demand is high and will continue to be high in 2019. As the supply for ads on high-quality programming ramps up to meet this high demand, service providers like Netflix will cash in on this opportunity and launch ad-supported offerings. With this launch, the volume of OTT/CTV inventory will continue to increase, making more advertising inventory available for advertisers.

One thing is for certain: 2019 promises to be as exciting and dynamic for programmatic as this year was. In fact, we think it’s likely to be even more so. Addressable targeting and OTT/CTV will both be making big waves. And as always, Simpli.fi will be leading the way.

Location-Based Marketing will move towards Addressable Programmatic.

At a time when advertisers increasingly want to localize and personalize campaigns, the next logical step for programmatic advertising in 2019 will be addressable. We’ve watched the evolution of addressable advertising expand from mail to TV and now to programmatic. We will continue to see the same push for more granular and more efficient targeting in 2019 and beyond.

GDPR Adoption will Grow
in the United States.

While the focus on GDPR is on Europe, many companies will voluntarily comply with GDPR in order to better prepare for GDPR-type regulations to be adopted and enforced in the United States. U.S. companies, especially those with a strong Web presence, will begin to pay more and more attention to these regulations and start changing practices in 2019 so they do not become a headline two years down the road.

To learn more about how you can make 2019 your best programmatic year yet with Simpli.fi, reach out to us at hi@simpli.fi.