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Exchange-traded spending will account for a nearly 1/3 of U.S. display spend by 2017, according to research from industry analyst firm Forrester. This and other predictions on programmatic are available in Centro’s conversation with Forrester, view it here.
The exact range of how large the programmatic pie depends on who you ask. Some say it may even be as high as 80% in a couple of years. What’s clear is that programmatic media buying will be in high demand for brands, agencies and publishers alike.
Audience buying on the rise
As audience buying gains in popularity, particularly through biddable media available in exchanges and other programmatic channels, marketers will compete more heavily for specific audiences that perform well against predetermined goals. Driving this buying trend are two key aspects:
A complex mix of elements
When Centro walks a buyer through the programmatic options at his/her disposal, there is a lot to choose from. We evaluate scale, creative, data integration, pricing, transparency levels, and more. There are more elements to manage in digital than there are in traditional media. Therefore, there’s a lot more decisions for a buyer.
According to Forrester, the buying community is moving to a model that is:
Buying across channels and touch-points
Furthermore from Forrester, the industry should expect to see ad exchanges increasingly handling and offering all kinds of addressable ad inventory: TV, OOH, etc.The demand-side platforms of today will morph into buying platforms that access all channels and all possible touch-points: web, mobile, social, TV, etc. From the buyer POV, the critical work will be done managing first party-data and integrating third-party data to target real audiences. Media buying agencies will have two types of teams: programmatic buyers and brand experience buyers, with the latter looking after data driven, yet highly customized, deals with specific publishers.
A new kind of media buyer
As such, a new set of skills and capabilities will be in demand for the successful media buyers of the 21st century. Whereas before, buying clout, negotiation and manual management were the skills that mattered. Now, data-driven decision making, real-price dynamics analysis and automated and predictive management are the differentiators. This is a new type of professional that can nurture professional relationships AND do so based on a solid understanding of the data describing the performance of campaigns.
Programmatic advertising is beyond the conceptual stage. It’s time for experimentation, testing and learning. Brands should ask their in-house buyers or their agencies for programmatic media tactics as part of the plan – whether it’s programmatic direct, open exchanges or others. This is the future of media buying.