"Programmatic" is this year's buzzword: programmatic buying, programmatic trading, etc. Agencies want to encourage their clients (advertisers) to let them do programmatic buying and enjoy the benefits of enhanced targeting, lower cost, and increased efficiency.
Clients don't always believe in programmatic buying, however. In fact, most advertisers are very hesitant with automatic buying as they are uncomfortable with the lack of transparency and suspicious of the intentions of the supply-side providers.
It's not that programmatic buying lacks transparency or is trying to rip you off... In fact, it is extremely efficient with measurable metrics and transparency. But when advertisers want this information from their agencies, they seem to hit a brick wall, especially in regards to signing their programmatic contracts. Those often enforce a "no audit" rule, which entails two major issues:
- They have absolutely no commercial transparency. Advertisers lack commercial transparency, which means that they don't know what inventory they are buying and whether the deals involve arbitrage.
- They have absolutely no campaign transparency. Advertisers need to know exactly where their ads are appearing, whether the right creatives are being used, whether their ads are appearing on only pre-approved sites, and whether their ads are being used in risky situations.
Because the agencies are doing the programmatic buying through their Agency Trading Desks (ATD), they feel that they don't have to operate them in a transparent manner. But this is problematic for agencies because their clients may just decide to take their business elsewhere as they are growing increasingly cautious of the issues caused by the "no audit" rule. So what does this mean for ATDs? That they should really begin to revolutionize the way buying is done and make it much more transparent and accessible to the client.
What to Include in Your Programmatic Buying Pitch
With the abundance of marketing intelligence tools in the market, such as AdClarity, there is no excuse for agencies to not be able to provide their clients with what they need in an efficient and effective manner.
To make it even easier, we've created a list of the top features you should look for in your next marketing intelligence tool.
Creatives
You should choose a tool that allows you to show your clients exactly which creatives they are running and how their landing pages look. Advertisers need to make sure that their ads are designed in an appealing and effective manner and that their landing pages are portraying their exact brand messaging.
Where your campaigns are running
Show your clients the exact sites their campaigns are running on. Let them see for themselves that, yes, the correct audience is being targeted. Additionally, use a competitive intelligence tool to find out where your clients' competitors are running their ads and which sites are most successful for them. By doing so, you can persuade them to increase their bid for these sites so that their ad can be displayed ahead of their competitor and they can stay on top of their game.
QA your geo-targeted campaigns
Use a premium proxy server that allows you to change IPs in a click of a button and surf the Web in locations around the world as if you were a local user. You can do your QA with confidence, knowing that you are not being bombarded with an inaccurate portrayal of how the content on the page actually looks (which happens often with cheaper and free proxy servers). Give your clients accurate results and see yourself become more reliable in their eyes.
Proof
Have a tool that lets you take a snapshot of the entire page—above and below the fold. You can show your clients the proof they need that their ads are running in the correct site and in the correct spot without any speculation.
* * *
Marketing intelligence tools enable you to provide your clients with the insights they need to feel comfortable and confident with your work. Show them that everything you are doing can be measured, monitored, and relayed reliably to them—and they'll be coming back for more.
