Although a cost-effective and proven tool for many businesses, Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising has become universal within the digital realm. Popularity has come at the expense of novelty and efficacy, as competitors now leverage PPC’s capabilities against one another. Therefore, individuals and organizations must find more advanced tools before they can again stand out in the crowded digital marketplace. Enter programmatic advertising services, which not only reach audiences on mediums untouched by PPC ads but also target ideal customers through cutting-edge technology.
Ashburn, VA, business owners can rely on KME.digital for guidance and best practices in programmatic buying and advertising. As a leader in PPC management and retargeting campaign services, our team is in an excellent position to deliver the latest and best digital ads option. Indeed, we can incorporate the latest technology into your marketing strategy to propel it further and continue growing your business. Reach out or call (703) 585-3321 for a digital evaluation of your website today!
We explain below how programmatic advertising works, its benefits over other advertising strategies, and how we can help integrate it into your marketing approach:
The Digitization of Advertising
Before digging into programmatic ads, let’s review how traditional advertising works. Businesses and individuals directly contact media outlets—such as newspaper publishers or billboard owners—to purchase ad space. Both parties sign a contract that specifies the price for and timeframe in which the ads will run; afterward, they either renew the contract or part ways.
As it did with everything else, the Internet revolutionized this process. While some businesses still place their ads the traditional way, many more leverage the web’s connectivity to reach further and faster. Google and other search engines gave rise to PPC advertising—also called paid search—wherein businesses bid and purchase ad space through search engines’ ad platforms. The ads appear in response to specific search terms—or keywords—that individual companies select and update as needed. Paid social advertising functions similarly, allowing businesses to place ads on social media platforms.
Of course, the digitization of advertising has automated many of the manual processes involved with traditional advertising, so the former moves much quicker than the latter. Plus, PPC advertising only requires businesses to pay for ads that potential customers click on, as its name implies—an enormous cost-saving measure for companies seeking new customers.
How Programmatic Marketing Works
Despite its advantages over traditional advertising, PPC still comes with limitations. For instance, a business that purchases keywords through Google Ads will appear in Google’s SERPs—specific placement being commensurate with bid success—but neither Bing nor Yahoo ones. Also, while it tends to work well on customers within the conversion funnel, paid search lacks the same efficacy on top-of-funnel traffic.
Yet programmatic advertising fills in these gaps by employing the automatic processing power of PPC advertising platforms and extending it to websites and mediums beyond search engines. Moreover, it applies Internet users’ personal details to identify individuals with a strong potential for conversion.
Whenever someone goes online, they usually visit one or more websites where algorithms—running in the background—gather data from their device (which may include their demographics, device type, interests, and online behavior). Meanwhile, advertisers and businesses trying to capture customers use Demand-Side Platforms (DSPs) to push out their ads. Working alongside a few other programs, DSPs determine the best publishers and mediums for each business’s ads by sifting through users’ data to pinpoint ideal candidates.
Programmatic Media and Placement
The exceptional value unique to programmatic marketing is how DSPs employ users’ preferences to show them ads correlating to those users’ likes and interests. For instance, a prominent use is local programmatic advertising, wherein businesses target customers via local outlets like TV stations, radio, and digital publications. DSPs determine subset populations through the data gathered from users’ devices. Yet local programmatic is just one form of location-based marketing, a category that also includes geotargeting, geofencing, and geoframing.
Furthermore, businesses can create numerous types of programmatic ads: programmatic display, video, social, native, and more. Finally, DSPs provide an additional advantage via the mediums they deliver the ads through. Videos appear on Hulu and YouTube. Native ads blend into static website content by matching the topic under discussion. Mobile ads crop up on internet-connected mobile devices via apps and websites.
Again, PPC ads work best for leads already within the funnel—by the time people go to Google and search for a product or service, they are generally inclined to purchase and are looking for the best option. However, programmatic ads reach top-of-funnel leads by engaging them in environments where individuals may not be considering purchases. Therefore, although programmatic ads may not prompt an immediate conversion or response, they introduce a company name and offerings into future customers’ minds. And adopting programmatic advertising in conjunction with PPC will maximize advertising campaigns’ reach.
Ashburn, VA, Businesses Can Implement Programmatic Advertising Today!
Reaping the maximum benefits of programmatic advertising campaigns requires a comprehensive grasp of the technology and a suitable marketing strategy. Thankfully, KME.digital offers these elements and more to Ashburn, VA, businesses across all industries. Our team possesses the expertise and tools to give our clients visibility in today’s ever-shifting online landscape. For more details on our services, call (703) 585-3321 or visit our website.