How To Not Have Ads That Annoy People

Programmatic is all well and good, but it’s bound to piss of a customer or two if they keep receiving the same ad over and over. In this opinion piece, Sam Smith, managing director at programmatic company TubeMogul says cross-channel advertising is the answer, a way for brands to have their brand across multiple devices in a non-annoying way.

You watch video right? Think back to how you did that five years ago. You might have used your desktop or laptop to stream a few clips, but this was a bit of a novelty and your TV set remained your primary source for visual content.

Sam Smith

Now, think about your habits today. You move seamlessly from your TV to your mobile phone, tablet or laptop. It doesn’t matter where you watch anything – all you seek is the content.

Premium, broadcast-style programs, short-form videos, sports events, or shows on your social media feed: It’s available wherever and whenever you want it. You don’t care how you access it as long as you can get it on your own time at your convenience – because you (like everyone else these days) are a screen nomad.

But, this evolution is not how the buying process for marketing works today. We plan and buy in silos as if consumers were five different people who only ever enjoyed media on one screen. The result? One consumer could be presented with the same ad over-and-over again as they view it on their mobile, laptop, tablet and – yes, their TV. In the end, your potential brand champion could be transformed into a brand hater because they are sick of being bombarded with your message.

The era of silo ad selection needs to disappear as everyone now transits across devices. For advertisers, the outcome is an inevitable disruption of the media planning and buying process. Programmatic brand advertising is accelerating this revolution. It has already transformed the world of display, online video, mobile and, recently, outdoor advertising.

The next chapter will emerge early this year when programmatic comes to the largest screen in the house – television. As the biggest mass-medium channel available to advertisers, brands need to add TV to the digital planning mix in order to measure reach, frequency and brand impact in a transparent and effective manner.

Television is proliferating across the internet. Free-to-air television networks and new-age television content has launched online video content services that are growing in viewership at exponential rates every year monetised via ad-supported offerings. Brands want advertising content expertly spread across as many devices as effectively as possible. This is the perfect environment in which cross-channel advertising can be introduced.

Cross-channel enables brands to measure true ad effectiveness across screens, by letting brands know which campaign is performing best on a particular screen. This means advertisers will be able to reach target audiences while minimising duplication, frequency control, and lowering the incremental on-target CPM. Eventually, advertisers will be able to buy specific TV audiences, using automated, data-rich software tools.

Programmatic software will play a large part in bringing cross-screen campaigns to life. Brands will be able to plan messages in sequences and optimise their spend per screen in real-time.

The benefits of cross-screen advertising include:

Advertising frequency control, de-duplication and optimisation across screens to maximise audience participation and effectiveness
Advertising can be targeted using deep data sets to, eliminate wastage across screens. This ensures that you are getting the most relevant consumers enjoying content without repetition.
It increases reach. It’s not about inundating the same audience again and again. It’s about reaching out to the audiences you want by ensuring it’s on the devices they use.
It allows brands to optimise in real-time. One team can execute and manage the ad buy – instead of multiple teams only understanding certain elements of the campaign.

The burning question for brand advertisers in a noisy and cluttered media world will be better answered: “How do I know if my ads worked? How can I replicate what resonates with consumers with the least effort and lowest cost?”

The ability to accurately plan media and reach audiences across all media channels and all screens will be a critical component to answering those questions.

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