The Power of Programmatic Advertising for Small & Mid-Sized Businesses

In today's fast-paced digital world, small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) face fierce competition from larger companies with bigger budgets and resources. Standing out and reaching the right audience has never been more challenging especially when competing against well-funded marketing campaigns.

Programmatic ads are a game-changing tool that helps SMBs survive and thrive in this competitive landscape. By automating and optimizing ad placements with precision, programmatic advertising empowers smaller businesses to target the right audience, maximize their budgets, and achieve impactful results leveling the playing field against even the largest competitors.

The global programmatic advertising market generated a revenue of USD 678.4 billion in 2023 and is expected to reach USD 2,753.0 billion by 2030. - Horizon Grand View Research

What is Programmatic Advertising?

Programmatic advertising is the automated buying and selling of digital ad inventory in real-time. Unlike traditional methods that rely on manual negotiations, programmatic advertising uses advanced algorithms and data to deliver ads to the right audience at the right time. This process ensures efficiency, precision, and scalability, making it accessible and effective for businesses of all sizes.

How Do Programmatic Ads Work?

Here are a few things you should know: 

Data-Driven Algorithms: Programmatic advertising leverages algorithms to analyze vast amounts of data, such as user behavior, demographics, and browsing history. This ensures that ads are shown to the most relevant audiences, maximizing impact and minimizing waste.

Real-Time Bidding (RTB): RTB is the backbone of programmatic advertising. It enables advertisers to bid for ad placements in real time, as users load web pages or apps.

The highest bid that meets the targeting criteria wins the ad placement, ensuring efficient allocation of ad spend.

Ad Exchange: An ad exchange is a marketplace where publishers and advertisers can buy and sell advertising inventory. Ad exchanges are typically used in programmatic advertising, which is the automated buying and selling of advertising space in real-time. For example, OpenX and AppNexus are ad exchanges. 

Demand-Side Platform (DSP): A demand-side platform (DSP) is a type of programmatic advertising that allows advertisers to buy ad inventory from publishers through an automated process. DSPs typically work with ad exchanges, which are platforms that allow publishers to sell ad inventory to multiple buyers in real-time. MediaMath and Adform are examples of demand-site platforms. 

Supply-Side Platform (SSP): A supply-side platform (SSP) is a type of programmatic advertising that allows publishers to sell ad inventory through real-time bidding (RTB). SSPs help publishers manage their inventory and maximize revenue by giving them control over who can buy their inventory and how much they are willing to pay for it. Publishers can also use SSPs to track performance and optimize their campaigns. Verizon Media & Amazon Publisher Services offer supply-side platforms. 

Why Does It Matter for SMBs and Mid-sized Businesses?

It gives small & medium businesses a cost-effective, efficient, and highly targeted alternative to traditional ad buying.

• Cost-effective automated bidding reduces unnecessary spending by targeting only relevant audiences. SMBs can stretch their budgets further compared to traditional methods that often lead to broader, less effective ad placements.
• An efficient process from selecting ad inventory to launching campaigns is streamlined. SMBs can save time and resources, focusing instead on growth and customer engagement.
• Highly targeted programmatic advertising allows SMBs to pinpoint their ideal customers using precise targeting options. This includes location, interests, behavior, and even device type, ensuring their message reaches the right people at the right time.
• Scale & Flexibility to adjust campaigns whenever necessary or refine your targeting to maximize ROI. 
• Increase brand visibility by expanding your market reach with limited effort. 

By leveraging programmatic advertising, small and mid-sized businesses can effectively compete with larger companies, achieving better ROI and more personalized customer engagement.

3 Platforms for SMBs to Leverage Programmatic Advertising

You have likely heard of Google Ads Display Network, Facebook Ad Manager’s Meta Audience Network, or The Trade Desk.  So here are a few alternatives that our clients have seen success with: 

1. NextRoll machine learning technology gathers data, delivers reliable insights, and provides businesses with approachable tools to target buyers strategically in one platform. AdRoll & Rollworks are two of their business units. AdRoll delivers unprecedented growth for D2C brands with display ads, social ads, behavioral emails, and actionable insights in one platform. RollWorks drives B2B growth with an account-based platform that identifies accounts, engages them across channels, and measures campaign effectiveness.
2. StackAdapt is the leading programmatic advertising platform used by the most exceptional digital marketers. They offer Creative Studio which is an in-house creative team that will design your ads. There are industry solutions available for B2B, Travel, Politics, and more. 
3. Choozle connects your business to premium DSPs, giving you access to the best available media to maximize your budget and impact. You can pick between managed or service service. There are industry solutions available for CPG, Healthcare, Legal, and more. 

Tips for SMBs and Mid-Sized Businesses to Succeed with Programmatic Ads?

1. Set Clear Goals: Before launching a campaign, establish clear objectives to guide your strategy. Define your specific Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) such as Engagement metrics, Click-through Rates (CTR), and Conversions.
2. Start Small: Begin with a modest budget to minimize risk and test strategies. Consider running a Pilot campaign to experiment with targeting options, ad formats, and platforms. 
3. Use Retargeting: Reconnect with potential customers who have already interacted with your brand. This strategy can target people who didn’t complete a desired outcome, remind & encourage them to convert, or people who have already shown interest. 
4. Leverage Analytics: Robust analytics tools to track performance in real-time and review the insights that can help your performance. 

Recap

Programmatic advertising leverages advanced algorithms and real-time bidding to automate the buying and selling of digital ad inventory, offering SMBs a cost-effective and targeted alternative to traditional methods. Through tools like demand-side platforms (DSPs) and supply-side platforms (SSPs), businesses can efficiently target audiences based on demographics, behavior, and location. This approach enables SMBs to maximize their budgets, increase brand visibility, and compete with larger companies by delivering personalized ads to the right people at the right time.

Run a Pilot Program with programmatic ads.