The definition of programmatic may still vary sector to sector and company to company but with mobile and video becoming large scale in their offer, programmatic’s future is in implementing omnichannel strategies.
With machine learning, people are engaging with ads in much smarter ways in context to both platforms and targets. “Finally, we are moving to a place where mobile will be given credit for the role it plays in driving conversion,” said Yannis Dosios, Vice President, Platform & Exchange, Yahoo.
In turn, many new opportunities are opening up on the big media channels. As companies take data in-house and infuse it with data management platforms (DMPs), new conversations are coming to fore. “Programmatic is becoming a barrier unless you can use open real time bidding or premium inventory. Agencies are looking for a quick way to buy and planners are listening to signals. We are switching from interest to buy and finding users to listening and learning to them. That is the real opportunity,” observed. John Snyder, CEO & Co-Founder, Grapeshot.
One of the challenges that programmatic still faces is around the confusion that automation is equated with automatic. While going omnichannel, this is one area that would need to be better understood. Programmatic is still not in a place, where it is a single button that can be “just flicked on”. There is still the need to understand the strategy, think about each audience segment that a brand wants to reach, when and on what channel. That is the hard work,” said Mike Romoff, Head of Global Agency and Partnerships, LinkedIn.
Seen still as the future of marketing tech, the general response to the buzzwords associated with programmatic is ‘bingo’. To truly get it right, brands need to understand the importance of the ‘conversation’. Chris Copeland, President, Yieldbot breaks it in two pillars – exploit and explore. He said, “Have do we use machine learning to exploit locations and explore new environments for conversations with consumers. We need to seek better performing creatives that work, and explore new creative mechanisms from the system.”
Algorithms can help companies put brands right inside the conversation that people are having, making it a natural and relevant inclusion instead of intrusion. The concern is doing, competently, in real time.
“Omnichannel can take signals and make dynamic changes to creative in real time. There is a big opportunity there and brands are already pushing the envelope on that,” informed Mike Caprio, GM of Programmatic & Global Partnerships, Sizmek, cautioning that the road was still slow and that there was some time to go before this truly made a difference.
Mobile and videos have changed the game in native advertising, leveraging location based solutions. Publishers are looking to go past the click, engaging users and insights, where the persona creating of the audience has become more important than the clicks. Some challenges remain and the list begins with limitations in accepting the potential of programmatic or the role that it can play in brand building. For most industry players, those are some aspects that await answers.
