Self-serve programmatic advertising has made quite an impact in the marketing world over the past several years. Automated software platforms reduce the need for multiple services to operate campaigns while simultaneously making information about the campaign available in real-time. But, many other benefits also come with using self-serve programmatic advertising strategies, including performance, control, efficiency, transparency, intelligence, strategic positioning, and value capture. Below we explain the top benefits you stand to gain by using self-serve platforms to create marketing campaigns.
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Campaign and client performance
Take a deeper look at where your money is going when you’re not using self-serve platforms
Campaign and client performance:
Directing more of the client’s budget toward the media purchase will proportionally increase the campaign’s return on ad spend (RoAS). By utilizing your client’s knowledge in a self-service platform operation, you can drive lean campaigns fueled by what you know works. And who is better suited to run the campaign than the people working directly with the client?
Control and efficiency:
Platform operators that are less reliant on multiple vendors can act quickly and precisely during both the strategic planning processes, as well as the execution and optimization phases. Instead of never-ending email chains and conference calls with multiple vendors, the agency platform operator can make key changes in minutes, freeing up more time for impactful and strategic activities.
Transparency:
The Association of National Advertisers’ study conducted by K2 revealed rebates, and other non-transparent business practices, were highly pervasive in the agency ecosystem, leaving marketers and brands in the dark about the real cost of media. Since then, over two-thirds of agencies have responded to have their media contracts reflect rebates and other kickbacks that were previously not disclosed. Despite the efforts of the agency ecosystem, running an advertising platform in-house enables you to have real-time access to every cost source (media and data), which can easily be shared with the client in real-time.
Intelligence:
Rather than investing in resources and solutions for an individual campaign, investing in a self-serve platform and training up the expertise and knowledge needed to build custom marketing campaigns is an asset that scales and differentiates an agency—it is transferable between clients and can be leveraged as a competitive differentiator.
Strategic Positioning:
Platform expertise makes client relationships stickier and reduces churn as the data and campaign expertise lives within the walls of the respective agency. As the platform operator, you can effectively position your knowledge as a valuable asset, making it a bigger undertaking to switch providers.
Value capture:
As agencies and service providers have been disintermediated over time, the value captured at the client and primary agent level has become the focal point for marketing value. By enabling further investment and innovation in self-serve platforms, you are able to represent a larger slice of the value captured by campaigns.
With the learning curve getting lower (platforms getting simpler—reduced onboarding, training, and ongoing support costs) and the entry-level costs being kept at a minimum (platforms are cheaper to license and/or have lower or zero media minimums to get started), most agencies stand to gain both monetarily and strategically by investing into in-house platform operation.
Have other questions about self-serve programmatic advertising benefits? Reach out!
