(8 minute read)

In previous blog posts, I have outlined the concept of Search Engine Marketing and its role in driving website traffic, explained the concept of Search Engine Optimisation, outlined some optimising techniques, as well as explained PPC Paid Search Advertising.

In this blog post, I will continue to expand on SEM by discussing Programmatic Advertising.

Programmatic Advertising

Programmatic Advertising is the automated buying and selling of online advertising. Targeting tactics are used to segment audiences using data so that advertisers only pay for ads delivered to the right people at the right time, and depend less on the “spray and pray” method of digital advertising. This method of advertising is almost entirely driven by AI and machine learning.

The method works through instantaneous selection, placement and display of ads in real-time at the moment when a user clicks on a particular site. At the moment the click is made the publisher of the particular webpage puts up the ‘impression’ for auction, which in turn is put up for auction in the online marketplace amongst advertisers competing for that particular impression. The highest bid wins the auction and is displayed. If the viewer clicks on the impression and it leads to a sale conversion, the advertiser pays the commission. All of this will happen within a micro-second.

Triple A Innovation

Programmatic Advertising works on AI innovations in three areas:

  • Assets (type and platform for ads – what ads are displayed where)
    • Responsive Ads – Smart Ads
    • New TrueView Video Ads
  • Audience (who are the targeted audience)
    • Customer Intent and Remarketing – follows customer search queries and those who have visited a website but left without making a purchase
  • Automation (Machine Learning)
    • Automated Bidding (Smart Bidding)
    • Smart Ads
    • Smart Shopping – Auto-bidding, Dynamic Remarketing

Types of Audience Targets

Through programmatic advertising a variety of customer audiences can be targeted based on numerous behavioural indicators gleaned from their online and digital footprint.

  • Affinity : Linked To TV and Online viewing habits and patterns
  • Custom Affinity: Business Focused, Linked Sites, Similar Interests
  • Life Events: Occasions, Milestones
  • In-market: Active Searches, In-market
  • Custom Intent: Real Time Decisions
  • Remarketing: Previous Visits

Remarketing and Retargeting

 This is a term used to denote the method of identifying those customers who visit a website but leave without making a purchase through their digital trail, and targeting them again with reminder messages either in the form of ads and / or accompanying emails. These methods are often successful in conversion and can increase the average shopping basket value. They take on multiple formats.

  • Display: Ads shown on Google and other sites and networks
  • Dynamic Remarketing: previously viewed product is displayed in ads in Facebook, Google, Criteo (product feed)
  • Remarketing Lists for Search Ads (RLSA): when search ad or bid is higher when previous visitors search (Google) – e.g. Using competitor, expensive, or generic search phrases
  • Social Retargeting: (FB custom audiences), loading pixel on site and showing ads to visitors on their social media feeds
  • Email: loading up database with customer match (Google), custom audiences (FB), matched audiences (LinkedIn), tailored audience (Twitter)
  • Lookalike or similar audiences: finding new group of users similar to above (FB)

Multi-Channel Remarketing

Remarketing and Retargeting efforts can integrate multiple channels from search engine and display networks to partner sites to social media platforms, messaging, and email. This is done to leverage the relatively low cost of paid social advertising to increase size of remarketing pool. It offers numerous benefits by allowing a business to target high cost, low Return On Ad Spend (ROAS), unbranded keywords through user qualification and bid adjustment which increases CTR. Many platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and email can also be targeted simultaneously.

Google Ads Integration

Google Ads and Analytics offers numerous features that help with Programmatic Advertising. It enables

  • Importing Salesforce Data Directly into Google Ads and Track Funnel
    • Track Ads and Funnel
    • Optimisation
    • GCLID Data Between Ads and Salesforce
    • Record Conversions
    • DataStudio
  • Auto Shopping Feed Creation
  • New Smart Shopping Ads
    • Auto Feed
    • Objectives Based Bidding
    • Dynamic Remarketing
    • Multiple Placements
  • Integrating with Shopify
  • Easy Visualisation
  • Informative Dashboards
  • Community Connectors
  • Metrics
    • Site Content
    • Channel Performance
    • Audiences
    • Browsers and Devices
    • Page Speed Metrics

Programmatic Advertising is an additional weapon in the arsenal of businesses in Search Engine Marketing to harness the power of search engines. Apart from organic and paid search, businesses can also tap into the power of external links and affiliates in building visitor traffic to their website. Learn more about these by clicking here…