Programmatic buying refers to the purchase of media space through platforms. Unlike traditional direct buying, it happens in real-time and ad impressions are purchased using automation. In practice, the buying itself takes place on the buyer-side and the publisher-side platforms. The buyer side platform is called a DSP (Demand Side Platform) and a publisher side is an SSP (Supply Side Platform). Utilizing these two systems, the publisher (seller) and the advertiser (buyer) are connected to the advertising exchange where ad impressions change owners.
Digital advertising can be purchased programmatically, no matter the goal. It is well suited for tactical advertising, but it is also possible to build wider brand campaigns. From the advertiser’s point of view, the programmatic buying of advertising seeks efficiency and the role of data utilization is emphasized.
Targeting is more accurate than ever
Data is certainly one of the most significant new extents in programmatic compared to the traditional way of buying media space. Probably, programmatic would never have achieved its current popularity without the wide possibilities of data utilization. In programmatic buying the advertiser will be able to take advantage of three kinds of data – advertiser’s own, publishers’ data and third-party data by external data suppliers. Utilizing the data, the advertiser is able to find the most suitable audiences among billions of ad impressions and thus significantly increase the efficiency of advertising.
One of the beliefs about data is that the benefits of programmatic only get the concrete form when the advertiser has access to their own audience data to target advertising. Own audience data is valuable and should be used to make advertising helpful to the consumers, but it is not necessary at first. The key is to understand who you want to reach, what you want to communicate and what you want to achieve. In general, the most effective combo is to combine your own data and the data of an external partner. Only a few advertisers have enough data of their own and enriching it would surely open up new opportunities.
Utilization of data audiences
Although the various possibilities for purchasing data are growing rapidly, the quality and functionality of the data vary quite a lot. There are many providers of ready-made audiences on the market, but the buyer should also make sure that the data used is of good quality and that the data providers comply with the laws in force. A reliable data provider can always tell you how audiences are built and what the data sources are.
Typically, data usage in a campaign is priced per thousand ad impressions (CPM). The advertiser does not actually buy the data for themselves, but only rents it for use in the campaign.
The available data can be based on, for example:
- Of interest: Website categories, articles read by the visitor (e.g. motorsports, football or interior design).
- Intent to Purchase: A visitor has fetched or viewed a particular product from a price comparison site or other sites (e.g., a new car, an apartment or baby clothes).
- Geolocation: Information about GPS or WiFi devices (using a WiFi connection in certain places, such as restaurants, an airport, a concert).
- Demographics: Information provided during registration (Age, gender)
- Sociography: Social networks (Social status, family and professional status, education, earnings data.)
- For mobile applications: Registration and use of mobile applications.
- Device type: What devices are in use.
The best way to get started in data purchasing is to pilot different data sources and test their functionality in advertising. Even a small test can teach a lot.
Your trusted data partner – Relevant Audience
Relevant Audience provides audiences based on quality data for use in programmatic campaigns. Audiences are backed by a significant number of high-quality data partners. More than a hundred sites have been utilized as a data source to build the more than 1,000 audience segments available. By combining and modeling different data sources, we are able to granulate high-quality and reliable audience segments and also tailor them directly to the needs of the advertiser. You can make use of audiences in campaigns purchased through Adform, Google Display & Video 360, and Appnexus.
Check out our ready-made audiences in the Segment Finder
