This is the second post by Victor Lopez, Programmatic Media Director, Affiperf, a global trading desk that uses MediaMath’s TerminalOne Marketing Operating System to execute digital marketing campaigns on behalf of its clients. The first post in this two post series can be read here.
I recently published a blog post that addresses the state of the LatAm digital media market, and how agencies that combine regional expertise with deep programmatic knowledge are helping move the needle in markets like LatAm. As a follow up to that post, I outline some of the specifics that go into LatAm regional buys, and the intricacies of working in a rapidly growing market.
Because our LatAm clients look to the Affiperf Trade Desk for strategic guidance, our biggest responsibility is to stay educated in the latest technology. For us at Affiperf, that means that the entire agency has to be on the same page when it comes to understanding the latest innovations in programmatic As such, a good portion of our time is dedicated to training and learning. While our tech partners propose many of the new solutions that we vet and implement for our client, the agency also contributes feedback directly to their tech partner; some of the features available in T1 are a direct result of agencies providing feedback to MediaMath.
Each region has its own personality based on needs, wants and history, and the LatAm market is no different. Many of our clients come to us for a pan-regional buy, and, those pan-regional buys almost always include the request to include local sites. As more publishers get on board with an SSP, programmatic direct will more than likely help shape the media landscape in Latam, and ultimately meet the local need to include more local publisher sites in campaigns.
In addition, some clients investing in LatAm are asking for more advanced buys in the region. In the past year alone, we have seen an increasing interest in cross-channel marketing and have already started with several clients to execute cross-channel marketing campaigns. Search, combined with display, followed by video and measured against their TV spot is just one example. The testing for such campaigns depends largely on the client, but in this particular instance, the KPI was combined reach. For other clients cross-channel is just becoming a topic of conversation, and one of the ways we need to do it is to tie back combined KPI’s to TV. Looking into the future, the “perfect” programmatic media mix for Latam will probably include cross-channel with video at the heart for branding clients and data-centric approaches for performance clients.
The future of programmatic in LatAm looks bright and limitless as long as the players in the region continue to adapt all the lessons learned from other more mature markets, keep working together on building strong mutually beneficial relationships with agencies and partners. And above all, the lines of communication between agency, partners and clients need to stay wide open so all can work and learn together. This kind of collaboration will ensure that the programmatic shift occurring in LatAm will come full circle and take permanent hold.