Why Programmatic Advertising Matters to You
For all the confusion and uncertainty companies have over programmatic advertising, it is a surprisingly simple concept. At its most basic level, it is the automated purchase and placement of advertisements through computer programs.
Programmatic allows you to better target consumers on a real-time basis with while simultaneously cutting out a lot of the processes and bureaucracy traditionally involved in media buying—in both the digital and traditional space. This frees up your marketers to focus their talent on more creative and strategic aspects of advertising.
The ability to target ads with unprecedented precision, reaching the best customers at the most opportune moments, offers incredible marketing possibilities. But in order to start leveraging it ahead of your competitors and maximize your returns, you need marketers who can effectively combine science, creativity and technology skills to deliver the best results.
Recommended reading for more on programmatic advertising:
- The CMO’s Guide to Programmatic Buying
- 4 Programmatic Advertising Misconceptions Debunked
- Programmatic’s place at the top of the marketing funnel
Securing an Edge in a Volatile Field
As the field of programmatic advertising continues to mature, now is the perfect time to innovate and get ahead of your competitors. It’s already nearly a $10 billion/year field, and we expect it to continue growing.
New programmatic strategies and tools are constantly emerging, and more and more media channels are making their ad real estate available for programmatic buying. Most programmatic advertising is currently placed online, but it is slowly shifting to traditional media as well. If you can get the right talent on your team and start building effective campaigns now, you’ll secure a huge edge in the market across the board.
The reality is that programmatic is still a vast sea of unexplored potential, and it will mean different things for different organizations. Your industry, goals, brand, and more will all influence your approach. The sooner you get in the game, the sooner you can start establishing your strategy and finding out what works best.
The Search for the Elusive Programmatic Advertiser
Part of the reason programmatic is taking so long to catch on is that there are simply not a lot of proven experts in the field. The interest and demand is there, but the marketing talent pool hasn’t quite caught up. The great programmatic minds are uncommon and usually comfortably employed by someone who knows how to use their abilities. As with other emerging areas of marketing where the demand for talent outstrips the supply, you can expect to pay a little more for a rock star. But excellent programmatic advertisers are worth their weight in gold.
If you want a top-notch programmatic…program, you can’t expect to get the talent you need by throwing a job description up on a job board and hoping for the best. You’ll almost never find the quality of applicants you need. Instead, there are a few other avenues you could try:
Training Your Employees
If your current marketing team has the capability and interest, it might be possible to get them trained enough in programmatic to do it themselves. Various courses, classes and seminars are available online and elsewhere, though they vary widely in focus, effectiveness and cost.
Outsourcing
As programmatic advertising has gained prominence, a huge number of agencies have crawled out of the woodwork claiming expertise and promising results. Outsourcing to a third party can be costly, and carries some risks. Not all self-proclaimed programmatic geniuses are actually able to back up their claims and some organizations are reluctant to cede control of their marketing to someone else. But if you can find a reliable agency that you trust, it can be an effective way to get access to programmatic capabilities.
Use a Marketing Recruitment Firm
A marketing recruitment firm can help you find the programmatic expert you need to join your team and get your campaigns off the ground. Experienced marketing recruiters understand what makes a great programmatic advertiser and can bring them to you, even if it means enticing them away from a current employer. Just as importantly, a marketing recruitment firm can help you evaluate your current capabilities and programmatic needs to identify just the kind of talent you require.
