By Iryna Kozirevych
Have you ever heard of programmatic TV advertising? If not, it’s just about time to shed light on this subject — the advantages it offers and the hurdles you may encounter while dealing with it.
Whether you’re seeking insights on free ad supported TV ads to understand how this type of TV media buying works or just looking to optimize your programmatic TV ad buying, buckle up — you’ll find out many interesting insights in our content piece today. Tap into the potential of programmatic television advertising and discover how this innovative approach can revolutionize your marketing strategies.
Key Takeaways:
Programmatic TV advertising automates the process of purchasing TV ad inventory, which eliminates the need for negotiations and allows marketers to launch their campaigns quickly.
The key metrics to track include impressions, video completion rate, ROAS, incremental reach, and view-through conversion rate.
Programmatic CTV advertising is gaining momentum due to its automated nature and the opportunity to reach viewers beyond traditional linear TV.
Ad exchange solutions from Attekmi support the CTV environment and allow you to gain greater control over your operations.
The programmatic TV workflow: from data to delivery
The CTV programmatic workflow involves several key stages, which are as follows:
1. Data ingestion: First and foremost, the data is collected and integrated from multiple sources: first-party audience data, device graphs, and so on. This data is essential for precise targeting.
2. Audience segmentation: Using this data, advertisers create audience segments based on demographics, behavior, viewing habits, and other factors. These segments allow for personalized ad delivery across streaming platforms and devices.
3. Real-time bidding auction: When a streaming session starts, the ad opportunity triggers a real-time auction. DSPs (demand-side platforms) evaluate bid requests and submit offers based on audience value, campaign goals, budget rules, etc. The winning bid is usually identified within milliseconds.
4. Ad delivery: After a specific bid wins, the ad is delivered to a viewer.
5. Measurement and optimization: After delivery, advertisers analyze the performance data and use these insights to optimize future bids and the overall strategy.
Metrics & attribution for programmatic TV campaigns
Unlike traditional linear TV marketing, programmatic connected TV advertising makes connected TV measurement possible, giving advertisers clear insights into how their campaigns perform. Here are some of the key metrics:
Metric | Definition | Why measure |
Impressions | The number of times an ad is shown to viewers | To understand a campaign’s reach and scale |
Video completion rate | The number of times an ad has been watched entirely | To understand engagement and creative effectiveness |
Return on ad spend | The revenue you earn for every dollar you spend | To understand the effectiveness of the campaign in terms of driving revenue |
Incremental reach | New audiences reached by your ad | To understand the value and effectiveness of your CTV campaigns |
View-through conversion rate | The number of users who converted after seeing your ad | To understand the indirect impact of an ad |
However, it is important to remember that attributing outcomes to CTV ads remains pretty challenging. Advertisers rely on probabilistic and deterministic matching using unified IDs and device graphs, as well as on cross-device attribution models that connect CTV exposures to actions on mobile or desktop. Data clean rooms are also helpful in terms of measuring the impact in a secure and privacy-friendly way.
Key benefits of programmatic TV advertising
Investments in programmatic advertising keep growing. According to Statista, global CTV advertising revenue reached almost $23 billion in 2022. By 2028, this figure is projected to surpass $42 billion.
Let`s explore a couple of reasons why algorithmic buying gains relevance.
A chance to work with various segments
CTV, or Connected TV (addressable TV), has gained tremendous popularity and is outshining traditional linear TV for several reasons. Firstly, CTV allows viewers to access content through Internet-connected devices, such as Smart TVs or streaming devices, providing a more flexible and personalized viewing experience.
Users don’t have to stay indoors to watch their favorite shows. Plus, they are not bound by a single gadget as content can be streamed via different CTV devices — game consoles, Smart TVs, mobiles, etc.
This shift in consumer behavior has caught the attention of advertisers who recognize the immense potential of reaching their target audiences with programmatic TV buying.
Programmatic advertising TV ads deliver targeted experiences
While previously advertising on TV was only possible through linear TV sets, it meant that users could only consume the same ad content. Mass advertising was popular during the last decade only because, technically, there was no chance to tailor every TV ad to every user.
Because users consumed the same TV shows simultaneously (broadcasted according to the schedule), advertisers also had to line up their ads according to the broadcasting time slots. Now addressable TV lets users stream content everywhere and whenever they want, which means that programmatic TV ads can also be seen on various devices. Users can see different ad messages tailored to their preferences (since programmatic TV ad buying is data-driven).
Programmatic TV buying provides measurability and transparency
With programmatic television advertising, marketers can leverage data-driven insights to precisely target their desired audience, ensuring their ad reaches the right viewers at the right time.
By leveraging programmatic TV media buying, advertisers gain transparency into the ad buys, including real-time reporting and analytics, ensuring they have full visibility into how their budget is allocated and the impact it generates.
What are the challenges of programmatic TV advertising?
TV media buys with programmatic can be very beneficial; however, like everything else, it has certain weak sides one should remember:
Ad fraud
Ad fraud involves intentional misrepresentation of TV ad impressions or interactions. In order to get rid of ad fraud on CTV, one needs to work with reputable programmatic platforms.
Brand safety concerns
Placing ads near inappropriate content — that’s the most common fear of brands. Brand safety guidelines for programmatic TV buying can eliminate this problem.
Technical complexities
Technical complexities in programmatic television advertising include data integration and ad delivery across multiple devices and platforms. Advertisers can overcome this by partnering with experienced programmatic agencies, adopting standardized protocols, and leveraging the expertise of professionals.
Need for transparency and accountability
Transparency and accountability are essential for addressing ad fraud on programmatic advertising TV. Advertisers need visibility into ad placements, performance, and campaign effectiveness. This can be achieved through working with transparent programmatic CTV platforms, demanding transparency in the ad supply chain.
Linear TV vs programmatic linear TV vs programmatic CTV
TV advertising offers different approaches, and it is important to understand the differences between them.
Linear TV advertising implies delivering ads according to a schedule through satellite or cable TV. Such commercials cannot be skipped and are shown to multiple viewers at the same time. While this type of advertising allows you to avoid the fraudulent aspects of digital marketing, it requires negotiations and is usually more expensive than programmatic approaches.
Programmatic linear TV advertising combines traditional linear television with the power of programmatic technology. It eliminates the need for manual negotiations and allows you to purchase TV ad spots via a demand-side platform.
Programmatic CTV advertising involves delivering ads through streaming services on devices like smart TVs, gaming consoles, and so on. Apart from offering precise targeting, optimization, and measurement capabilities, this type of advertising allows you to reach viewers beyond traditional linear TV. Besides, viewers are increasingly switching to streaming platforms instead of linear TV, so the demand for programmatic CTV advertising is growing.
The table below proves the efficiency of programmatic CTV marketing:
Linear TV Advertising | Programmatic Linear TV Advertising | Programmatic CTV Advertising | |
Buying mechanisms | Manual negotiations are required | Automated ad insertion into linear streams | Real-time bidding through DSPs |
Targeting | Too broad | Improved | Precise |
Inventory | Fixed broadcast slots | Linear slots sold programmatically | Streaming services, OTT platforms, etc. |
Typical metrics | Reach, frequency, gross rating points (GPRs) | Impressions, completion rate | Impressions, completion rate, view-through conversion rate, ROAS, etc. |
Best practices for programmatic TV advertising
1. Define clear campaign objectives
2. Leverage data and analytics
3. Collaborate with reputable programmatic platforms
4. Implement cross-device targeting (TVs, smartphones, tablets, etc.)
5. Optimize creative assets for viewing (aspect ratios, visuals, and messaging)
6. Test and iterate: Continuously test different ad variations and targeting strategies
7. Leverage AI-powered content analysis and brand safety tools
How Attekmi can be your trusted programmatic partner
At Attekmi, we aim to meet all your AdTech needs and enable you to join the programmatic environment with ease. Our ad exchange solutions support CTV advertising, and all the other essential traffic channels are also on the list: desktop, in-app, and mobile web. The supported ad formats include CTV, banner, video, audio, and native ads. With precise targeting features, you can match your demand and supply partners effectively and drive media trading income.
Note that our White Label Ad Exchange solution is fully customizable, so it is tailored to your needs: from UI to features. Additionally, you can opt for custom AdTech development, Ad Ops and AdTech training, and Ad Ops outstaffing services.
FAQ
Advertisers should track metrics like impressions, ad completion rate, view-through conversion rate, incremental reach, and ROAS. Attribution models, such as view-through, data-driven, and cross-device attribution, help link TV exposure to measurable outcomes like website visits or app installs, which ensures a clearer picture of campaign effectiveness and true business impact.
Key challenges in programmatic CTV include ad fraud, potential brand safety issues, technical complexities, and slightly limited transparency and accountability. Additionally, privacy regulations restrict data sharing, making accurate attribution and audience targeting more complex. Solving these requires interoperable IDs, standardized metrics, and stronger fraud prevention tools across the CTV ecosystem.
The key features to prioritize should be targeting and filtering capabilities, as well as ad fraud prevention and analytics functionalities. Compliance with data privacy regulations like GDPR is another crucial aspect. When choosing an AdTech partner, it is also essential to pay attention to support service and platform update frequency.
Programmatic TV buying is the automated process of purchasing TV ad inventory using data-driven algorithms across linear and connected TV environments. Note that getting your own ad exchange solution provides you with greater control over your operations. Ad exchange platforms from Attekmi support the CTV environment, along with desktop, in-app, and mobile web.
Programmatic CTV advertising implies using audience data to segment viewers and participating in real-time automated auctions to match ads with the right impressions. When a viewer watches streaming content, the platform evaluates bids, selects and inserts the winning ad, and tracks performance metrics like impressions, completion rate, and view-throughs for ongoing optimization.
