By Zuzanna Gierlinska, Managing Director of Xaxis UK.
With ongoing geo-political pressures, economic uncertainty, and an uncustomary winter football World Cup, we are in a period of complexity and uncertainty that many marketers may have never experienced before.
Understandably, brands are exercising caution with their media investments, and prioritising short-term campaign planning as they seek assuredness and flexibility to react to an ever-changing market.
But despite these challenges and unknowns, there is reason to be optimistic about the vast opportunities the crucial golden quarter period presents this year.
For example, on Black Friday (25th November) the World Cup will be in full swing with England playing the USA. Marketers can take advantage of this double-header, but they will need to be savvy to ensure their messages are reaching their audiences efficiently and in meaningful ways in order to cut through the noise. Campaigns will need to be agile and optimised for performance.
So how can programmatic advertising support marketers?
React and adapt
Programmatic media offers the flexibility that marketers are looking for since it doesn’t require lengthy lead times and an upfront commitment to pre-buying ads. In fact, it provides brands with the ability to change strategic direction in real time.
The in-flight capabilities of programmatic, which allow for the prioritisation of the best performing channels and digital creative once a campaign is underway, cannot be underestimated. Being able to pull the levers available to them at the exact time they need to helps brands demonstrate they are maximising spend when their budgets are under scrutiny.
Leveraging first-party data has never been more important to brands, not only from a performance perspective, but also for driving awareness and consideration. Programmatic allows marketers to use data to inform their creative strategy and deliver improvements off the back of these learnings, minimising wasted spend.
Omnichannel means omnipresent
An omnichannel approach — where multiple channels of a campaign are managed and executed simultaneously, driving a single KPI — is essential in utilising programmatic to its full potential.
Rather than making specific media channel buys, with siloed performance and optimisation strategies, being able to buy through a single point of entry, holistically across multiple channels and optimise the best performing one, is where the in-flight opportunities of programmatic are realised.
Being able to target audiences through proximity messaging via digital out of home or CTV, digital display and mobile ads, not only creates multiple new opportunities for marketers, but offers greater control over media presence and frequency.
The mechanism of an effective omnichannel media strategy connects the turning cogs of multiple marketing efforts, ensuring the machine is well-oiled and exceeds the sum of its parts.
Guaranteed outcomes
In times of economic turbulence marketers want reassurance. Being able to guarantee marketing outcomes, especially return on ad spend, creates firmer ground when navigating strong headwinds.
Advanced marketing science and AI is now enabling outcome-driven media where campaigns can be planned and optimised against success metrics that connect directly with business objectives. This could be Cost per Completed View (CPCV) or bespoke metrics such as Purchase Intent that show how campaigns drive sales.
In the final quarter of this challenging year, marketers can be reassured that the tools to withstand the additional pressure of delivering both efficiency and performance from media investments are readily available in programmatic media.
