In case you don’t want to read this entire 1500-word post (but we hope you do!), we’ll make it short and sweet – any business in any industry can benefit from programmatic advertising.
Regardless if you are a small business or an empire, programmatic advertising is the single most effective way to reach very specific audiences with very specific and personal messages tied to explaining how your goods or service can solve their problems, or fulfill their wants.
It’s not just our opinion. It’s a fact. A study by MarketDigits found that the global programmatic advertising market was valued at $21.1 Billion in 2023 and will reach $120.7 Billion by 2030.
Programmatic advertising means that you rely on any sort of technology (whether it takes the forms of algorithms, various websites, software, artificial intelligence, and platforms) to perform key parts of your advertising and marketing plans. At SEO Design Chicago, we have developed a proprietary system called the “Active Pixel Program” that you can use (or we can handle it for you) to set up programmatic advertising dashboards. From this dashboard, you can set target audiences, create ads, and set a maximum budget of what you’ll pay to run ads.
Our Active Pixel Program includes in person or online training on how to use the system, a CRM that regularly updates with new data as it’s acquired, ad campaign management, and data reporting.
The “Active Pixel Program” is a one-of-a-kind system we’ve developed to help our clients get their ads on the right websites, search engine results pages, digital billboards and screens in public places like gyms and malls, smartphones, and video/audio streaming services.
What’s the Cost Difference Between Programmatic Ads and Regular Advertising?
Traditional marketing and advertising involves tons of staffers at one company meeting with tons of people at other companies to buy, sell, create and show what’s working or not working about the ROI for ad campaigns.
Traditional ads, like commercials that air on regular TV networks or on radio stations are very time consuming and very expensive. For example, according to Ad Age, a 30-second TV ad during The Bachelor costs over $90,000. An ad during a fall Sunday night NFL game costs $883,000.
Programmatic advertising is far less expensive and targets specific people who are likely interested in your goods or services instead of “everyone” who happens to be tuned into a show or game (and remember – most people leave the room when TV commercials come on).
Programmatic ads are much less expensive, and the cost varies depending on industry and format, i.e. if you want a video ad, banner ad, native ad, audio ad, or in-app ad.
Digital ad costs also fluctuate in price due to market demand.
The cost of programmatic ads is based on ad impressions. For every cost per thousand impressions (CPM), you pay a specific price depending on the specificity of the audience targeted. Video ads typically cost higher CPMs compared to banner ads because people tend to engage more with videos. Engagement means clicking on the ad, sharing the ad or taking another action.
When we work with a company using our Active Pixel Program, we help you decide what to offer to pay for an ad based on industry benchmarks, historical data, and working with you on clarifying what you think the value of an ad is. The value of an ad shouldn’t just be a direct purchase of a product or service. Value can also include getting increased web traffic, inquiries, phone calls, and more.
So the price isn’t easy to figure out, but in 2023, most programmatic video ads will cost between $10-30. Display ads cost between $2-$5. Social media ads cost between $6-$12.
According to EMarketer, programmatic videos are being invested in the most this year, driven by CTV, mobile, and social media advertising on TikTok and other platforms.
So your options are wide, and so in the price range. We can help you narrow down what you’re willing to pay as you work with our agency. Our Active Pixel Program allows you to set the maximum amount of money you’re willing to pay for their ad to appear on a specific platform to a very specific audience (based on demographics a company can choose between) and at a very specific time (when people search for certain terms on a search engine, before they watch a certain streaming video or listen to a specific streaming service and more).
What Industries Are Best for Programmatic Advertising?
It’s our opinion that any business in any industry can benefit from programmatic advertising. That said, we can tell you who spends the most amount of money using programmatic ads.
But just because these industries spend the most doesn’t mean they’re the only ones who should invest in programmatic advertising. They just understand the benefits enough to realize they should devote a lot of their advertising budget to programmatic ads.
EMarketer, a leader in analyzing digital ads, found that programmatic digital display ad spend will total $157.35 billion in 2024.
According to their research, the four industries that spend the most on programmatic ads are:
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Tech Industry
Unsurprisingly, 15% of all programmatic ads come from tech companies like AT&T, Verizon, and Microsoft.
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Media/Entertainment Industries
Media and entertainment companies like National Amusements, Disney, and Comcast invest a lot in programmatic ads too. That makes sense since they know the types of activities and entertainment content people will likely also enjoy if they’re watching a certain TV show or movie through a streaming service.
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Finance/Real Estate Companies
Since financial and real estate companies make a lot of money off of single customers, they invest in programmatic ads targeting people who are about to purchase or sell a home, or those who need financial services. Hence, LendingTree, TD Ameritrade and Wells Fargo are three companies who run a lot of programmatic ads.
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Retail Companies
Retail accounted for a tenth of programmatic advertising spend recently. Walmart, Amazon and Best Buy use programmatic ads to get people to buy online or in person.
Other big industries in the programmatic advertising space include:
- Consumer packaged goods
- Healthcare
- Big Pharma
- Automotive
- Telecom
- Travel
So in other words, almost every industry sees the benefit. We are happy to talk to you about who is doing what with programmatic advertising in your industry. And then we’ll show you how you can beat the competition.
What Do These Industries See in Programmatic Advertising?
1. The value of precise targeting
Programmatic marketing allows companies to target specific groups of people based on indicators like gender, income, zip code, marital status, and more. You pay less for more precise targeting of potential customers.
2. Fast changes based on real-time data
With real-time access to who is seeing your ad and what, if anything, they’re doing, companies can change their ads in minutes. That means you can quickly change the group of people you are trying to reach and your maximum bid price.
3. Programmatic advertising saves time
Technology does what phone calls, in person meetings and emails used to do. Companies can then assign their staff to bigger projects that require creativity and inventiveness.
4. High ROI for a lower price
Programmatic advertising often leads to a higher ROI compared to traditional ad methods. Many studies cite that for every $1 spent on Google Ads, for example, companies see a $2 ROI. That return isn’t always sales 100% of the time. However, increased web traffic and phone calls indicate people may be getting ready to make a purchase.
So Do I Need Programmatic Advertising?
If you’re still reading, and we haven’t convinced you yet, let us be very clear. Yes, yes, yes = regardless of your industry, you should invest some if not all of your ad budget in programmatic advertising.
Companies need a programmatic advertising strategy if they want their business to survive, and more importantly, grow and thrive.
Studies show this is a fact, not our opinion. Experts have estimated that programmatic advertising will account for 87% of global digital ad spend by 2026.
So reach out to us for a consultation about programmatic advertising and our unique solution. We call it the Active Pixel Program. We can tell you more about it when we talk. We don’t want to reveal everything about our system in this post – we don’t want our competitors to steal our formula.
But we’d love to have you benefit from our program.
Contact Us today!