With digital advertising spend rising 16.6 per cent to £3.5 billion and mobile accounting for a fifth of this total, brands are quickly catching on to the importance of this channel as an effective means of consumer engagement. However, mobile advertising is still causing confusion for brands as they struggle to create omni-channel content to reach audiences across multiple devices and technology platforms. Programmatic advertising is leading the way and times are changing fast as bulk buying quickly becomes outdated.

Going mobile is now a necessity

Consumers are more addicted to their phones than ever before with the average person checking their phone as much as 221 times a day. With statistics like this it is clear that consumers are digesting more and more content on their mobile devices and this is a trend that is only likely to continue to grow. Advertisers need to move quickly and engage with a captive audience that sees their phone as their most important item of value. Brands that get ahead in taking advantage of this channel will gain a staggering lead over those that don’t understand the opportunities available to them.

What is programmatic and why should I be investing in it?

Programmatic is an automated advertising process that works through a dynamic auction called real time bidding, which takes place when a user clicks on a mobile website. Unique advertising impressions are sold through an exchange in which businesses bid to acquire them and immediately utilise them, all within a matter of seconds.

Simple set up

Programmatic is structured on a number of automated processes, meaning strategy can be discussed and implemented quickly. The more insight that advertisers provide about their ideal target audience, campaign goals and objectives, the more effective the campaign will be.

The ability to target individuals

By providing invaluable data and audience segments, programmatic enables marketers to instantly deliver an optimal message to the right person at the right time in a more sophisticated manner.

Advertisers are able to isolate placements that provide relevant content to the target users from across the entire online world, including apps. Based on the publisher’s detailed information, this process can be isolated down to unique pages within a site and also across numerous publishers.

Transparency

Transparency is key when running any promotional campaign and even more so when it comes to mobile advertising. Programmatic enables advertisers to identify specific target users upfront, allowing them to view the size of the opportunity prior to investing. Unlike traditional advertising techniques, programmatic can provide clear reports to provide advertisers with a clear understanding of where their money is being spent and if it is performing effectively. A user’s interests can be understood within milliseconds, enabling the team to adapt and control the campaign with ease.

Customer insights

Big data and the ability to understand consumer behavior is essential across all businesses at the moment and for advertisers this is particularly prominent. Programmatic can offer a wealth of insights that not only highlight which areas are performing, but also the details of the consumer types that are engaging. The time of day and type of content (message, creative, and video) can all be assessed and this is just the start.

Native and video ad formats

With native and video advertising leading the way in the world of mobile advertising, programmatic gives advertisers the freedom to get creative and integrate these formats in to their content. These formats are proving to be far more popular with consumers as they are more appreciative of content that is unobtrusive and doesn’t significantly affect their primary media consumption. Working with major publishers such as The Guardian and Twitter programmatic is becoming more and more integrated, providing the best in personalisation and contexualisation.

Maximise your mobile engagement now

The mobile industry is showing no signs of slowing down and advertisers need to take advantage of the benefits it offers now. The days of traditional display advertising are numbered as advertisers turn to programmatic for its numerous benefits: relevancy, cost effective, targeted and instant returns.

This is just the beginning- as more investment goes into geolocation, video and native advertising; the benefits will only continue to improve. This dynamic form of advertising is changing the industry landscape due to its inherent efficiency and advertisers need to invest now and get ahead of their competition.

Charlie Faulkner

Charlie Faulkner

Contributor


Charlie Faulkner, Head of EMEA and APAC, Manage,com.