Whether or not you are actively using automation right now to reach your audience, it’s clear that the technology is already having a profound impact on how brands understand and approach their marketing investment. More importantly, it’s fundamentally changing the way consumers interact with brands.
As the rapid rise of automation continues, it is imperative that marketers harness its powerful potential and capitalize on the advertising solutions it provides. With automated ad spend expected to reach $37 billion by 2019, according to a recent Magna Global study, utilizing automation technology to power creative brand-building will be essential to helping brands stand out from the crowd. Here’s what marketers need to know about automation heading into 2016.
Data is still king
In an automated world, data is the glue that holds the marketplace together. Brands can leverage an extensive range of data, which can help them understand their audiences and optimize ad buys both pre- and post-campaign. Automation provides marketers direct and actionable insights into their target consumers through third-party data, allowing them to both custom target for the audience segments that matter most to their businesses, and analyse how those segments respond.
Go where consumers are
Today’s consumers are constantly connected to their devices, shifting the modern path to purchase and creating new challenges for brands. With the growing fragmentation of attention across mobile, tablet, and now wearable screens, how, when, and where to connect with their audience should be a brand’s top questions. With a multi-platform automation strategy, brands are able to target customers everywhere from in-app to in-store, and achieve the very best digital results. Location-based targeting is paying dividends to retail advertisers, particularly when data segments based on previously visited geo locations are leveraged.
As an example, Home Depot may be very interested in targeting users that have visited a Lowe’s or Canadian Tire several times in the past thirty to ninety days. Offline geo-behavioural data is a great proxy for intent, and can be used as an effective tactic for competitive conquesting and reaching desirable audiences.
Viewability still matters
There’s a common misconception that automated ad buys tend to be bottom-of-the-barrel digital spaces. But the truth of the matter is, if a brand leverages automation technology, they can purchase ads that have high viewability.
Today’s automation technology has controls for that. Many of today’s sellers have redesigned their digital platforms to be more viewability-friendly for brands, therefore increasing its value and efficacy. Innovative advertising units, like outstream videos that play only when in-view, offer viewability, brand impact, and a great user experience all at once.
Creativity and content are more important than ever
As advertising continues to evolve, consumers are getting more savvy and discerning of the ads they watch. Automation has improved the ability to reach consumers and gain insights around their behaviors, and creative should reflect these enhanced capabilities.
Effective creative drives engagement with consumers, and taking the time to develop a well-thought-out creative strategy for one’s brand identity is key. Serving unique messaging in real time that speaks to the individual behind the screen is paramount, and will mean the difference between missing out and opting in. Testing less intrusive advertising like native should be a priority for brands in 2016.
To adapt to ad blocking, build better experiences
We’ve been drowning in headlines about the widespread use of ad blocking software lately. Some publishers and ad technology providers are implementing solutions to circumvent ad blockers, but this is not necessarily the answer to ad blocking, and may even foster an arms race between ad blocking providers and publishers. Players in our industry would do better to innovate their way out of ad blocking — making advertising creative, relevancy, and performance such a value-add to users that they don’t feel compelled to block it.
As the digital advertising marketplace continues to grow and become more sophisticated over the next year, marketers should leverage the power of automation to create innovative solutions that deliver more targeted, accurate ads at scale, and allow brands to engage audiences more effectively.
Julian Mossanen is vice-president of sales and client development at Rubicon Project Buyer Cloud
