Programmatic advertising allows advertisers to use machine learning and highly intelligent software to plan and buy media effectively at scale. With highly targeted, data-driven programmatic ads covering all stages of the conversion funnel, it’s a powerful addition to any digital marketing strategy.
With 81% of total advertising revenue due to be generated through programmatic advertising by 2027, and 72% of brand decision makers saying that their investment in this ad type will increase within the next 12 months, it is becoming clear that programmatic is due to play a more prominent role in paid media in the future.
With this in mind, we’ve pulled together some of the upcoming trends and developments that look set to shape the future of programmatic advertising.
Artificial Intelligence
As with all things related to digital marketing, we couldn’t assess how we see this evolving in the future without mentioning Artificial Intelligence (AI). Seen as both a potential threat to everyone’s jobs and a way for businesses to drive efficiencies at scale, it’s also likely to have an impact on programmatic as well, although we’d argue this will feel less obvious than in other channels.
Historically, programmatic has always embraced machine learning and AI at scale, with many programmatic providers utilising complex bidding algorithms to help advertisers achieve the best results. Where we are likely to see an impact is with creatives, using tools to help brands produce creatives at scale likely to see exponential levels of growth in the coming months. Whereas previously programmatic might have been out of reach for some brands due to the high production costs of images and videos, AI can help you to turn stock images into banner templates within a matter of minutes. Not only will this allow more brands to start testing programmatic ads, but will also allow for greater personalisation of ad creatives, allowing advertisers to achieve greater ad relevance, efficiencies and, therefore, return on investment.
Multi-Channel, Cross-Device Targeting
We know that no consumer journey is either singular or linear, with one of the most long-standing marketing principles being that of the “rule of seven”, related to how many times you will likely need to interact with a consumer before they complete a purchase. Nowadays, consumers and brands are active across an ever-increasing number of platforms, and advertisers who can appear with the right message, in the right place, at the right time, are more likely to succeed.
Programmatic has always offered advertisers the capability to reach customers on multiple devices and platforms, but this is set to become even more powerful with the increasing contribution of being able to target through connected TV, audio ads, and even in traditional placements through digital out of home. Furthermore, the introduction of in-game and metaverse targeting will allow you to drive engagement with your target audience, wherever they may be (whether that’s online or offline).
Privacy and Data Regulations
Staying ahead of the game is critical for advertisers navigating the ever-changing digital marketing landscape. While the elimination of third-party cookies continues to be pushed back, organisations need to start testing and adopting new data strategies now in order to stay ahead of the curve and mitigate the impact this might have on their marketing efforts later on. One effective strategy is to begin using first-party data which allows advertisers to access more accurate data while maintaining user privacy, and remaining compliant with data regulations such as GDPR and CCPA.
These changing regulations will be felt across the programmatic industry as well, with targeting methods such as contextual targeting (matching your ad to sites with relevant landing page content) and targeting through topics (such as the recent launch of Google’s Topics API tool), seen as alternatives to the current cookie-based options.
We’ve created a ‘First-Party Data Guide’ as a free download to help you prepare for a cookieless world, assisting you in leveraging first-party data. It has been designed for advertisers and marketers looking for alternative data strategies, as well as understanding and leveraging first-party data to take their advertising strategies to the next level.
Summary
With programmatic ad spend set to keep on rising, it’s clear that this marketing channel will only increase in importance as time goes on. With advancements in AI, creatives, and formats, advertisers will have more options at their disposal to make their programmatic campaigns more relevant and effective, allowing them to reach their target audience in any number of ways.
At GA Agency we pride ourselves on our international team of digital marketing specialists who can help you reach the right audiences, implement important optimisations on your campaigns, and ultimately deliver the results you’re looking for.
If you’re looking to take your programmatic strategy to the next level, contact us today for a free consultation.
