Understanding Digital Programmatic Advertising

The modern world is one made up of automatic processes, robotic implementation, and machines that make our lives easier. However, up until now, purchasing ads has been largely a task managed by humans.

However, ‘programmatic advertising’ is now becoming commonplace. We’ll talk more about what this means shortly. In a nutshell, it involves using algorithms and current technology to handle the more menial aspects of buying ads.

In this article, we’ll take a closer look at what programmatic advertising is, and how you can become effective at it. Let’s get started!

What Is Programmatic Advertising?

The term may sound complex, but programmatic advertising simply means using software to purchase and target your ads, rather than doing so manually.

When buying an ad, you’ll often have to deliver a Request For Proposal (RFP) – in other words, make a bid – conduct negotiations, and carry out all the other necessary tasks yourself. However, you can also leverage software to handle some of this work.

We’ll look at why you should use this method in more detail next. Suffice it to say that programmatic advertising is going to be the future of purchasing ads – so getting onboard now should be a pressing concern.

Why Use Programmatic Advertising?

As we’ve alluded to, there are plenty of benefits to using programmatic advertising. Let’s look at four of the most important in a little more detail.

1. Ads Can Become More Highly Targeted

There are already many systems in place that deliver targeted ads to consumers. However, there’s a natural limit to what these can achieve, given the human element in play.

In contrast, machines have no theoretical limit, so they can go so far as to present a specific ad to a single consumer, in a unique context. This precise level of targeting can be a huge advantage for advertisers adopting a programmatic method.

2. You Can Achieve Greater Efficiency

By their very nature, humans have ebbs and flows when it comes to productivity and efficiency. For example, salespeople need to rest, can get ill, and have real-life concerns to attend to that occasionally get in the way of work.

It goes without saying that machines don’t need this sort of downtime, so they can work around the clock to secure the ads you want. What’s more, their processes will be rigid, given the lack of subjectivity involved. This means you could feasibly work out an advertising strategy and implement it perfectly, 24 hours a day.

3. Your Reach Can Be Extended

If the above two benefits aren’t enough, it’s also worth considering how programmatic advertising can increase your reach. Not only can you expand who you reach – by using a plethora of data points to target users – but you can also improve how you reach people.

A powerful enough algorithm could assess millions of data points, and target a specific user across multiple devices such as mobile phones, desktop machines, and even smart TVs. This offers you an unprecedented level of access to your audience.

4. Ad Optimization Can Become More Instantaneous

Finally, with the increase in data points, metrics, and analytics at your disposal, implementing programmatic advertising effectively can make the optimization of your ads a nearly instant process.

Programmatic advertising provides real-time analysis on how your ads are performing. This means you can adapt on the fly to any interesting developments, rather than having to wait and pour over numbers after a campaign has finished.

How Programmatic Advertising Impacts the Digital Experience

Websites are becoming much more than static information hubs. They’re now being used to provide a complete ‘experience’. In other words, many businesses see their websites as just one cog in the machine, with other ‘entry points’ such as social media channels acting as equal players.

As such, it’s also important to understand how programmatic advertising impacts the digital experience of your users. Here are some brief concepts to consider.

1. You Can Inform Your Users More Effectively

Being fully transparent about what you’re doing with your website will both inform and empower users. We’re already seeing this mindset adopted more widely, with the implementation of laws such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

You probably already inform your site visitors about privacy, data usage, cookies, and so on. However, the arrival of technologies like programmatic advertising is going to make this even more important, and increase the amount of details that need to be provided to your audience.

2. Data-Driven Attribution Becomes a Vital Consideration

Transparency isn’t the only change on the horizon. Data will also become more central to your decision making, and will likely be used as sole ‘proof’ of the effectiveness of your choices.

Ultimately, through programmatic advertising you’ll be better able to find the keywords, ads, campaigns, and content that have the largest impact on audiences. What’s more, this type of advertising can help you determine the optimal approach to take – something that’s currently the realm of ‘educated guessing’.

3. Metrics Can Show You How Users’ Search Behaviors Evolve

As we’ve discussed, programmatic advertising can help you gather information on a wealth of valuable metrics. All that data can provide you with insights that would be nearly impossible to notice currently.

For example, you can monitor brand awareness in real-time, and also study brand interest as it evolves. This will show you how the impact of your ads can change a user’s search behaviors over time, giving you the opportunity to plan out future campaigns more effectively.

WordPress Programmatic Advertising

As with many other aspects of running a website, WordPress is an ideal Content Management System (CMS) for helping you implement programmatic advertising. For example, there are many themes that offer dedicated ad space. Plus, with the evolution of the WordPress REST API, you could intertwine both the platform and a dedicated algorithm.

Of course, given WordPress’ active development community, there are also plugin options that can connect you to more advertisers than you could previously access. While the category is still in its fledgling stages, there are a number of suitable solutions within the WordPress.org Plugin Directory to consider.

Support from WP Engine to Improve Your Customers’ Digital Experience

Programmatic advertising is an exciting concept, but you’ll have trouble using it effectively if you don’t have a quality Digital Experience Platform (DXP) behind you. WP Engine is a leader in managed WordPress hosting, and has the award-winning support and advice to match. Enjoy WordPress help and support services, available 24/7/365.

We offer deep insights on the performance of your entire site, and integrate with a wealth of tools to help you personalize and optimize it. For more details, check out our competitively-priced plans!