Programmatic Advertising for B2B Tech Marketers – A Quick Start Guide

Programmatic advertising has gained popularity because it gives marketers more control over their media spend. According to a report published by the Interactive Advertising Bureau, programmatic media buys account for 85% – roughly $79 billion – of all digital ad spending and are projected to increase another 16% in 2022.

So, what is Programmatic Advertising?

Programmatic advertising, media buying, and marketing is the algorithmic purchase and sale of advertising space. Software automates the buying, placement, and optimization of media inventory within a bidding system operating in real-time and not dependent on person-to-person negotiations.

Why is Programmatic Important for B2B Tech Marketing?

With longer sales cycles and more influencers involved in the buying process, programmatic ad buys coupled with retargeting are a great way for B2B tech companies to stay in front of buying committees throughout the sales funnel. By leveraging your first-party data and using display and video along with native ads such as sponsored content, you are able to keep your brand in front of your target buyers across media platforms and devices. If you are already using SEM to drive traffic and top of funnel leads, consider programmatic ads as an ideal complement for mid-funnel and more targeted efforts, such as ABM.

Is Programmatic Advertising 100% Automated?

Not yet, but with advances in AI and machine learning it is heading in that direction. Currently, programmatic media buying isn’t completely automated, but it significantly streamlines the process for media planners by eliminating the need to negotiate rates and contracts with numerous sales reps from different publishers and networks. The time saved can be used to monitor ad performance and optimize as data becomes available.

How Does Programmatic Advertising Work?

When a webpage owner allocates advertising space on a page demographic and behavioral information about the page’s viewers is channeled through an ad exchange. That ad space is then auctioned off to bidders who want ads for their products and services served to viewers who meet the site’s viewer profile.

What are the Targeting Capabilities of Programmatic Advertising?

Programmatic media buying lets advertisers target viewer segments based on age, gender, social standing, and geographic areas. It also allows buyers to specify publishers, frequency, and times of day to display ads so advertisers know they’re being seen by the right viewers at the right time.

What is Real-time Buying or Bidding (RTB)?

Real-time buying, or real-time bidding, is a component of programmatic advertising that facilitates the buying and selling of advertising inventory. Sales are made on a per-impression basis within ad exchanges–virtual marketplaces where publishers and advertisers trade digital ad inventory—holding auctions in real-time.

What is a Demand-side Platform (DSP)?

Demand-side platform systems let advertisers, agencies and networks automate ad impression purchases (display, video, mobile, search) across multiple ad exchanges using targeting and optimization algorithms to assess the attributes of every ad impression. A bid is assigned based on the attributes identified to deliver maximum value for each impression. and assigns a bid based on those attributes to get the most value for each individual impression.

What is a Supply-side Platform (SSP)?

Supply-side platforms are the publisher’s equivalent of DSP, enabling publishers to automatically sell ad impressions in real-time, for maximum return, using multiple ad exchanges.

Marketing and advertising are benefiting from automation, as demonstrated by the growth of programmatic buying. Programmatic advertising will continue to grow in popularity as it increases in efficiency and expands beyond digital media to print and broadcast, allowing marketers to develop precision-crafted, personalized messaging that can be delivered to highly targeted audience segments at the right time and in the right context.

Interested in exploring programmatic advertising, media buying, and marketing for your organization? Get in touch with Yeager Marketing. We’re happy to help you find the most effective way to reach customers.