I’m not sure if it’s up to the media owners, the vendors or the brands themselves to kick-start this kind of thing, but someone probably needs to because it’s not going away.
In the coming weeks we’ll be returning to this subject in much more detail, but for now I thought I’d leave you with three reasons B2B marketers need to be talking programmatic a lot more:
1. It is the future
Programmatic spend is expected to exceed $22 billion in the US alone this year (up almost 40% year-on-year). That’s not the kind of stat associated with something that’s going away any time soon. Obviously, the numbers in the UK are smaller (£2.5 billion), but the upward trend is similar. Programmatic counts for 70% of all display inventory here: it’s how digital advertising is going to be delivered in the future; this is a fact.
Indeed, 70% of B2B marketers planning to increase their spending on programmatic advertising in 2017, a strong indication that it isn’t going away any time soon.
2. It complements your content
While much more emphasis is placed on content creation in B2B than pure play advertising, don’t let the phrase put you off. Programmatic advertising fills the gaps left by search and social, both of which do a good job of helping people that know you or your offering find you. But for those that don’t yet know they need you, programmatic advertising offers a great opportunity for the discovery of new ideas.
3. It’s super-targeted
You’re not going to have to worry about paying for impressions that are never likely to convert. B2B marketers have always benefited from knowing exactly who they’re targeting, and programmatic is an example of the internet maturing as a place for brands and their audiences to get together in mutually beneficial ways. Visability, measurement and return sit right at the heart of programmatic advertising: music to any B2B marketer’s ears.
As proof, Forrester research predicts just 20% of programmatic spend will be invested in open ad exchanges (versus 65% today) by 2021.
If you’re interested in learning more about programmatic advertising, we’ve launched an in-depth investigation into adoption and sophistication.
