Programmatic Advertising and Direct Media Buys
You have a fantastic SEO strategy. You’ve implemented digital advertising, often referred to as PPC, to put you directly in front of your potential customers on search engines or their social media feeds. So why would you need another way to reach your target audience? Well – what if you wanted to advertise on alternative sites and publications that we could guarantee your target audience was reading? That’s where programmatic advertising and direct media buying comes in.

PROGRAMMATIC ADVERTISING EXPLAINED
What is programmatic advertising, and what are direct media buys? Programmatic advertising and direct media buys both enable you to access ad spaces on websites that aren’t available on traditional digital platforms, such as Google Display Network (GDN). Programmatic advertising tends to be run by AI-powered algorithms and 3rd party data, while direct media buys can leverage 1st party data to help you reach your exact target audience. While direct buys still need the human touch – you can’t book a direct deal with a publisher without first speaking to that publisher – programmatic can be far more automated.
Programmatic and direct media campaigns are typically associated with premium publishers such as Forbes or Financial Times. Programmatic campaigns tend to carry higher cost per impression (CPM) rates than other channels and there can be specific minimum spends or fees associated with each campaign you wish to run. However, the ability to target high-calibre websites and choose exactly how and where your ads appear is very appealing for advertisers, as it takes away a lot of the guesswork. At Relevance, we are experts in the art of targeting niche luxury audiences, with an extensive database of placements that are the right fit for different consumers.

HOW DO PROGRAMMATIC ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS WORK?
There are several ways to run programmatic or direct buying campaigns. You can broker deals directly with preferred publishers, supply a whitelist of websites, or even browse a catalogue of websites and pick the exact placements you wish to serve ads against. For large-scale campaigns, you may wish to set up a demand-side platform (or DSP) which can access numerous exchanges (including GDN) and direct deals you set up with preferred publishers. For smaller campaigns, an online programmatic platform, such as Match2One, may be more efficient. But for direct buys with specific publishers, a platform like AdSlot can connect you with the right people instantly.
In each platform you can specify your date range (or ‘flight dates’) and the number of impressions you are aiming to purchase. Once the creatives are picked and the order is placed you will need to set up an ad server to host the ads on your behalf (some programmatic platforms host ads, but not all). Once this is done and you’ve generated the tags and sorted any tracking pixels/links, the publisher will audit your banners to ensure they meet advertising standards and technical requirements. Once approved the campaign will run for the allocated flight times. That’s programmatic advertising explained in a nutshell.

LET RELEVANCE DO EVERYTHING FOR YOU
Sounding like a lot of work? Relevance’s digital advertising team are experts in programmatic advertising and direct media buying, and would love to work with you to reach your exact audience, ultimately getting the results you want from platforms your brand wouldn’t otherwise reach.
WANT US TO WORK ON YOUR NEXT PROJECT?
Reach out today to find out how we could help you. We will provide you with an initial analysis on your market position and recommend a strategy to pursue – all without any obligations.