What are the top programmatic advertising platforms for managing multi-channel campaigns?

With real-time bidding (RTB), programmatic advertising platforms conduct lightning-fast auctions for ad placements across websites and apps. By examining user data like browsing history and demographics, advertisers bid for the opportunity to showcase their ads. The winning bid ensures ads are relevant and reach the right audience seamlessly, all in a matter of milliseconds.

Operating on the concept of real-time bidding (RTB), programmatic advertising platforms swiftly auction off ad spaces on websites, mobile apps, and other digital platforms. As you navigate the internet, these platforms analyze your data, including browsing habits and demographic details. Advertisers then compete to display their ads to you, with the highest bidder securing the ad space. This entire process occurs in milliseconds, ensuring efficient targeting for advertisers and relevant ad placements for publishers.

Programmatic advertising platforms are driven by real-time bidding (RTB), where advertisers compete for ad space across websites, mobile apps, and digital platforms. These systems leverage user data like browsing behavior and demographics to target specific audiences. Advertisers bid in instantaneous auctions to display their ads to users. The ad space goes to the highest bidder, ensuring that ads are relevant and publishers optimize their ad inventory efficiently. This process occurs in milliseconds, facilitating precise audience targeting and effective advertising placement.

Considering all the comments are super technical for this question, allow me to share how explain programmatic advertising to my 4 years old that love playing video games: Programmatic advertising is like a special helper that picks the right ads for you while you're playing video games or watching videos. It's like having a friend who knows exactly what you like and shows you things you might enjoy. So, if you're playing a game about racing cars, programmatic advertising might show you ads for other cool racing games or toy cars you can buy. It works really fast with computer programs to make sure you see ads that match what you're interested in while you're having fun! I am the one behind that fast program updating it and more.

When choosing a programmatic advertising platform, prioritize key features to enhance your multi-channel campaigns. Look for robust audience targeting capabilities, allowing precise ad placement based on location, interests, and browsing behavior. Cross-device targeting is crucial for reaching users across smartphones, tablets, and desktops. Creative optimization tools ensure ads are tailored for various formats, maximizing engagement and relevance across channels. Selecting a platform with these features optimizes campaign performance and audience reach.

Here's 4 basic questions to answer to help select your programmatic platform(s) also known as a DSP (Demand Side Platform): 1. What channels or strategies can I run in the DSP? (Audio + Disply + mobile + TV + Digital Out Of Home?) 2. Is it easy to set up and can I run any, if not all type of creative? (this is an important questions ot understand if you're able to run hosted message or via ad servers and how complicated it'll be to add) 3. What kind of reporting is included? Basic metrics are a must of course but I want to be able to have a true and clear view in the type of inventory I'm bidding on (from Sellers, sites, suppliers, etc.) 4. Cost: How much will it cost us to ru pay the DSP and data fees, etc.

There are approx. 10 targeting control(s) or lever(s) your DSP should offer: 1. Creative message/format 2. Audience/Data segment 3. Mechanics/Technologies 4. Placement Above or below the fold 5. Amount of time (think frequency AND recency) 6. Amount of money (budget at the advertiser, campaign or adgroup level) 7. Inventory diversification (access to sites, sellers, SSPs, and more) 8. Geographical areo 9. Number to start with (base bid or Max bids) 10. Schedule of Day and Hour Remember the Acronym C.A.M.P.A.I.G.N.S! You should have control over the above which also means you should have clear access to reporting on each and every single one. Most DSPs already offer them but some are not as transparent so make sure to request it!

Campaign control is pivotal in optimizing ad spend. Leading programmatic platforms provide intuitive dashboards and real-time reporting tools for monitoring campaign performance. With these insights, you can make data-driven adjustments on-the-fly. Set budgets, bid strategies, and targeting criteria effortlessly, and schedule ads for peak audience engagement. These features empower you to refine strategies and maximize ROI efficiently.

Integration with other marketing tools and analytics platforms is crucial for managing multi-channel campaigns effectively. Leading programmatic advertising platforms offer seamless integration with customer relationship management (CRM) systems, data management platforms (DMPs), and other marketing technology stacks. This connectivity allows you to track customer journeys across channels and devices, accurately attribute conversions, and optimize campaigns efficiently.

This is such an important ones because you will have to integrate additional partners to ensure you are bidding and performing as efficiently as possible. Most (if not all DSPs) already have access to audience data (such as an internal DMP(s) or direct partnership with one) The ability to easily set up and utilize our advertiser's first party data incl. CRM and or Web traffic is key. Lastly, most DSP(s) offer an internal reporting dashboard but they can have limitation so having a direct API access to the bidder can help connect any external data visualization tools (think of Tableau, DOMO, etc.) The most important thing here is to always ask how long it will take to integrate and how much visibility into the process.

This is the most underated part of choosing a DSP! Most DSP(s) offer video on demain training or tutorials and some even have live chats. The biggest thing to remember here is to select TRUE partners that will not only hold your hands while teaching you the best way to maximize their "engines" but most importantly, to guide you on a strategy level, to make introductions to external partners, and to continue educating about industry wide trends.

When you're choosing programmatic advertising platforms to handle your multi-channel campaigns, it's important to focus on ones that offer strong support and training. Platforms such as Google Ads, Facebook Ads Manager, and Adobe Advertising Cloud provide extensive support resources like tutorials, documentation, and customer service. Seek out platforms that offer personalized training sessions, account management support, and a dedicated support team. It's also wise to consider factors like platform reliability, user-friendly interface, and integration with other marketing tools. By selecting a platform with robust support and training features, you'll be able to manage multi-channel campaigns and boost campaign performance.