4 Immediate Benefits Programmatic Brings to CTV Ad Buying

As a global SSP, we’ve seen firsthand the surge in CTV ad dollars moving through programmatic pipes. Advertisers are embracing programmatic for its ease of use, agility, and data-driven buys. Programmatic essentially aims to solve for the linear TV processes that buyers have long complained about such as manual workflows, lack of addressability and limited flexibility. 

With highly engaged, addressable audiences to reach on CTV, marketers should no longer be looking at programmatic as an afterthought, but as an essential part of their strategy to bring more efficiency and accountability into their media investments. Here are four benefits that programmatic brings to CTV and why programmatic has become a more integral part of CTV buying strategy that will continue to grow in usage.

1. Agility in a constantly changing marketplace

Programmatic technology gives brands the dexterity they need in a changing marketplace. They can stop a campaign almost immediately and have a new one up and running within hours. In our 24-hour news cycle, having the ability to pivot messaging at a moment’s notice is crucial to connecting with audiences and staying relevant.

Because of real-time access to campaign reporting, programmatic also gives publishers the power to instantly optimize an ad and adjust its targeting parameters to reach more users and drive campaign performance. This type of data and reaction to performance is unprecedented for the TV buying universe.

2. Curated, premium deals

Programmatic doesn’t just pertain to the open marketplace. It also means gaining access to private, premium marketplaces and environments that give buyers assurance that their campaigns are running where they want them to. 

In fact, the majority of CTV transactions occur within curated, private marketplaces, giving buyers greater control as to how they structure deals and more insight into how their ad dollars get spent.

For example, with PG, brands can buy a fixed number of audience impressions at a guaranteed price. With PMP deals, brands get access to a clean, well-lit, invite-only marketplace with vetted top-tier publishers. These deal packages give marketers the opportunity to see the true value exchange for their investment and tailor their programmatic strategy to meet campaign goals.

Programmatic makes it much easier for buyers to manage all of their placements and vendors through a single source or deal ID, as opposed to a linear buy where they must manage disparate contracts and rates. 

3. Addressable audiences at scale

With programmatic buying, brands and agencies win access to addressable audiences at scale. For example, buyers can easily go to 50 premium CTV publishers at once, all with the ability to reach their target audience. This is a planning advantage so buyers do not have to buy from many publishers individually like they would have to in a non-programmatic environment. 

Programmatic pipes put CTV inventory on hyperdrive, and we’re seeing demand increase across the board. With programmatic’s data-driven targeting, advertisers of all sizes can deliver their messages for optimal impact to engaged viewers. Whether it’s a buyer from a major agency or a nimble DTC marketer, programmatic CTV opens up access to premium inventory, regardless of budget size. 

4. Frequency Management

Seeing the same ad over and over again is a common consumer complaint and needs to be managed in a premium environment such as CTV. By utilizing a single programmatic CTV and video advertising platform, buyers can prevent repetitive ads easily.  

With one platform, buyers do not need to manage multiple technologies and benefit from one unified source for frequency management. As a result, buyers can manage cross publisher frequency, pacing, and audience on-boarding using a single source, in one place. This is a needed benefit as CTV scales and becomes more mainstream.       

Over the past few years, we’ve seen buyers getting more sophisticated in terms of leveraging performance data, bidding philosophies, auction dynamics, and their overall CTV programmatic buying strategies. This strategic thinking is becoming more important as advertisers increase investment and publishers use programmatic to optimize campaigns and bottom lines. 

For more information about programmatic CTV, reach out to contact@magnite.com.