# Here’s Your Crash Course on Programmatic Advertising

- Link: https://chatterblast.com/blog/heres-your-crash-course-on-programmatic-advertising/
- Published: 2019-02-20T16:29:10-05:00
- Author: Joe Mineo

Advertising has come a long way from the days of reading the classifieds on the 
back page of your local paper. If you haven’t noticed, [machines run the world](https://www.roboticstomorrow.com/article/2018/08/yanu--the-robot-bartender/12396)
and humans are extremely mistake-prone. In marketing, human error could cost a company
thousands, or as evidenced by [Proctor & Gamble’s digital budget cut](https://www.wsj.com/articles/p-g-slashed-digital-ad-spending-by-another-100-million-1519915621),
millions. **Programmatic advertising** can fix that, but there’s a lot to consider
before throwing your money at a computer.

Lucky for you, **ChatterBlast University **is offering a [**FREE **45-minute webinar](https://zoom.us/webinar/register/9215494016776/WN_ogV_Gcq7RK6q3LLLMnvgTg)
on what programmatic advertising is and how to do it. You can register [**here**](https://zoom.us/webinar/register/9215494016776/WN_ogV_Gcq7RK6q3LLLMnvgTg).
And keep reading for just a taste of what we’ll be covering.

## **So what is programmatic advertising?**

Simply put, it’s the use of a software program to purchase or deliver digital ads
through an exchange. Digital ads come in a lot of shapes and sizes, and they pop
up on websites, apps, videos, billboards and bus stops. The problem with this is
that unlike radio, tv and print ads, there’s an infinite amount of potential online.
If a website increases its traffic, there are now more ad slots available for people
to advertise with.

## **How does an advertiser take advantage of this?**

Think of a gumball machine, where you put a quarter in, crank the knob and out pops
a gumball. Programmatic direct advertising works exactly like a gumball machine,
where a website publisher (think CBS, FOX, and other media companies that own their
own websites) allows you to buy ads on their website at the cost and rules they 
set.

[[

_Programmatic Direct is a gumball machine, where you can only buy whatever’s in 
the machine at the __price set by the person who owns the machine._

The incentive for the publisher is the ability to set costs and control who’s buying
ads. The incentive for the advertiser is access to premium or protected content,
and a guarantee that a certain number of people or impressions will be delivered
on that website.

The other popular method of programmatic delivery is called ‘Real-Time Bidding’.
Every time you see a digital ad, hundreds, thousands or even millions of auctions
are happening within seconds to purchase that ad inventory. The auctions are set
by an ad exchange, which makes a deal with the publishers to kick back a percentage
of the sale. The winning advertiser gets their ad displayed at the highest cost 
of the auction, and the money goes back to the publisher.

[[

_Good news! Real time bidding uses machines, so you don’t have to guess a price 
to win an auction._

## **Ok, I get how it works. What now?**

It’s time to do some research into what your digital marketing goals are and what
tools you want to use to achieve those goals. Are you looking to drive traffic to
your site? Increase brand awareness? Drive ticket sales?

Chances are there’s a platform that can get what you need done at a cost you can
afford. Going directly to an ad buying platform might be pricey, and will likely
take more effort than you can handle. Learning from our [free webinar](https://zoom.us/webinar/register/9215494016776/WN_ogV_Gcq7RK6q3LLLMnvgTg)
can help you develop a strategy, set Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) and use 
the tactics suited to your business and audience to drive actions. Agencies also
operate enough business to get you access to the platforms you can benefit from 
without the headache of dealing with reps yourself.

[[

_At ChatterBlast, every client is Oprah._

## **What kind of tactics are we talking?**

There’s **a LOT** to learn. Here’s a bit more of what we’ll be covering:

 * How to map out a service area and serve ads to people within that fence, which
   is called **geofencing**.
 * **Search retargeting** to serve ads to users that have searched for specific 
   terms you’ve come up with in a set amount of days
 * **Site retargeting** to serve ads to people that have visited a specific website.
 * **Conquesting** competitors by retargeting or serving ads based on _their_ websites,
   geographic areas and keywords.
 * **Contextual advertising** to serve ads on specific websites that fit into your
   business category, and [can help provide value in a data protected world](https://digiday.com/media/personalization-diminished-gdpr-era-contextual-targeting-making-comeback/).

Yes, programmatic is complex. Scary? Not so much. Scary is spending your money on
ads without measuring results. Scary is spending money and not seeing results at
all. With ChatterBlast, we’ll work closely with you to make sure scary doesn’t happen.
If you’re looking to dive into the programmatic world, reach out or [register for our free webinar today](https://zoom.us/webinar/register/9215494016776/WN_ogV_Gcq7RK6q3LLLMnvgTg).