By Mohammed Ajawi, Managing Director of RAW
Dynamic, inventive, and ever-evolving – the communications industry has always been on the move. From the early 1800s to the current times, the processes, structures, and technical bedrock of its very foundation have been continually changing. Just when the world thinks the industry has seen the biggest disruption ever, a new technology evolves, and the seismic fluctuations lead to an unpredicted paradigm shift in the way this industry functions.
The most recent of these disruptions in modern-day communication ecosystems is the programmatic concept. Although not a new system, programmatic, till a couple of years ago, was a marketing tool that was underexplored and under-utilised, with the wider industry only showing slight signs of its adoption and deployment. As the digital world continues its evolution, brands and communication professionals are consistently looking for ways to connect with their target audiences to evoke a lasting impact. As digital advertising becomes more and more effective with the use of advanced tech solutions like artificial intelligence and machine learning, communicators are unearthing effective and more sophisticated solutions, with programmatic tools topping the most recent list.
Such is the rise of programmatic in ad tech and its predicted bright future that according to Zenith’s Programmatic Marketing Forecasts 2019, by the end of this year, 69% of all digital media will trade programmatically, up from 65% in 2019. The total amount spent programmatically will rise to $127 billion in 2020 and $147 billion in 2021, with 72% of digital media becoming programmatic.
It is, therefore, safe to say that programmatic ad buying has changed the face of online advertising. Programmatic buying refers to the use of software to purchase digital advertising, without the use of traditional processes that involve human negotiations and manual insertion orders and others — it is basically handled and served through algorithms.
Before programmatic became a vogue, digital ads were bought and sold by ad buyers and salespeople. Programmatic advertising technology simply makes the entire ad-buying system more proficient and less expensive. It effortlessly allows for better and quicker targeting, enabling one to buy and sell on a per-case basis.
Given the effectivity of the process, more and more brands are trying to leverage programmatic media tools for brand-building campaigns as well as chasing short-term improvement goals. All you have to do is select a suitable high-engagement format and reap the resulting benefits.
Programmatic has rapidly developed for all the right reasons. Earlier, a publisher would call an advertiser, negotiate terms for different values of ad inventory, and use a manual insertion order process before going on to the final process of buying. However, with programmatic, ad exchanges have changed and so has the process of ad selling and buying.
RAW Agency, the Dubai-headquartered digital arm of Publinet Group, has become one of the early adopters of this technology. The agency has harnessed its experience and knowledge in the digital realm to develop Matic, a new systematic product that advances upon the programmatic push of digital mediums by establishing a launchpad for its clients from which their desired ads and content are positioned and shared with the agreed-upon demographic and target audience based on established data sets and KPIs.
As the latest addition to the innovations that shape the communication industry, programmatic reduced reliance on budgets and ensures that every potential customer or engaged audience benefits from the degree of ease and precision this methodology offers. Bringing advertisers on the same plane, it blurs financial limitations to provide everyone with an even and just platform to compete for consumer attention in a highly volatile communication world that is governed by disruptions and innovations.
Nonetheless, for all its innovative benefits, the full potential of programmatic advertising is yet to be tapped into. We are at the cusp of a 360-degree integration and utility of digital mediums for all they offer in engaged audiences to capture the essence of human psychology and the needs of online denizens that have slowly evolved the way we share content and access information.
