Janicke Eckbo is Commercial Director for MediaMath across the Nordics. Janicke recently wrote an article for Norwegian publication Kampanje, where she discussed the opportunity programmatic offers Norway and outlines the core practices marketers need to incorporate to achieve optimal results – below is a translated summary. You can view the original article in Norwegian.
Technology has transformed the advertising landscape, creating infinite possibilities. Even for experienced agency hands and marketers, navigating the vast array of new solutions and terminology can be intimidating and complex. Yet these tools are becoming essential in delivering truly customer-centric marketing in a world where connected devices are generating more information about consumers than ever before.
Programmatic buying ensures ads are served to the right consumer, via the right channel, at the right time. By delivering tailored messaging to the individuals most likely to engage with the featured product, marketers increase the chances of conversion. Without the wastage of targeting indifferent consumers, they can also maximise budgets and achieve the optimum return on investment.
Data is at the heart of programmatic’s impact. The valuable insights mined from data enable audience segmentation, contextual targeting and efficiency to be vastly improved. By using new streams of data to constantly adapt and refine messages, campaigns can be adjusted to ensure they are continually relevant and impactful for individual consumers.
Programmatic technology offers marketers in Norway the opportunity to greatly improve performance, but the right implementation is paramount. To achieve optimal results, marketers must incorporate the following core practices:
Adopt a customer-first strategy
The digital revolution has forever changed the path to purchase and heightened consumer expectations. Modern consumers expect to complete purchases across a range of different devices and to take their details with them. To successfully adopt programmatic advertising, it is essential for marketers to cater to the needs of omni-channel consumers by utilising first and third-party data.
With consumer information at their fingertips, marketers can provide shopping experiences that are not only personal, but also helpful. Data about past purchases can be used to make tailored recommendations regarding related products, and previously abandoned purchases can trigger unique offers. Using programmatic technology to the fullest extent requires interconnected campaigns that deliver a consistent experience from initial interest to final conversion.
Link programmatic into the business trajectory
As brand awareness becomes a crucial business goal, marketing departments are falling under scrutiny. Advances in technology are pushing performance metrics up the agenda and pressure to prove ROI is growing. This makes it essential for marketers to link their programmatic marketing goals with overall business KPIs from the start.
By embarking on campaigns with an aligned measurement strategy, marketers can provide tangible evidence of their impact on key business metrics. Sophisticated programmatic technology goes beyond purchases to monitor the wider influence of ads at each stage of the customer lifecycle. Marketers can track the effect of ads on a variety of metrics — such as social media, website traffic, brand loyalty and engagement — in meticulous detail. This allows marketers to demonstrate their effectiveness and assist businesses in making their goals a reality.
Foster a programmatic-friendly culture
Confusion is the fastest route to opposition and education is vital to ensure that programmatic adoption is met with enthusiasm. The responsibility of making automated technology accessible rests on the shoulders of tech providers. But while industry leaders are striving to demystify the basics of programmatic, bewilderment still abounds.
Marketers must therefore work within their organisations to promote greater understanding of programmatic and its ability to enhance advertising success. By increasing awareness of the improved targeting, relevancy, efficiency and reach of programmatic, marketers can encourage wider implementation. Marketers can also advance their knowledge by attending valuable industry events. For example, experts recently gathered at dmexco — the European hub of ad tech — to share their knowledge and drive industry advances.
As the advertising world moves further toward digitalisation, marketplaces that do not adapt to the latest technologies are at risk of being left behind. Debunking the myths of complexity and enhancing understanding of programmatic technology is vital to help marketers make programmatic a key part of their business culture. The marketing industry in Norway has the tools, people and resources to make great strides towards the forefront of advertising progression. The time is now to harness the power of programmatic.