10 Things You Should Know About Programmatic But Were Afraid to Ask.

As programmatic marketing evolves and reaches new heights of complexity, more questions, discussions, and debates undoubtedly pop up. For people new to programmatic, it can feel daunting even to know where to start — but lend me your eyes for 5 minutes, and I'll try to give you a few pointers.

What programmatic buying is — and what it isn't.

1. Programmatic buying is not a channel or a display ad platform but a form of buying that includes display ads. But it also includes video, text ads, native advertising, etc. It is not limited to only reaching users on desktop; it can be executed cross-device and OOH even, depending on your technology of choice.

1. Programmatic marketing is not rocket science. Yes, it requires specialist competence within several disciplines to be executed well, but so does CRM, social and TV. You should not throw everything you know about marketing out the window — the principles are the same, but the possibilities are greater than before, thanks to better tools and technology.

1. Programmatic buying is, first and foremost, about data. It starts and ends with data; it is what fuels this ecosystem. Data makes it possible to reach the right user, in the right context, at the right time — with the right message. We separate between 1st, 2nd and 3rd party data. 1st party data: Data collected directly from a company's customers. 2nd party data: Data shared between two partners. 3rd party data: Data provided by an external data provider not directly involved in the transaction.

1. Programmatic buying is about technology. Technology is the enabler of programmatic marketing and buying; thus, it is the foundation on which everything is built. Technology allows us to connect advertiser data with the right audience and underpins modern media planning and buying.

1. Programmatic buying is all about people! Data and technology are pointless without the talent and skill to connect them. Understanding the local media landscape is still an essential aspect of programmatic and undoubtedly human. Technology serves to automate tedious and repetitive tasks and gives us better tools to create better efficiencies.

1. Programmatic buying is about reducing advertising loss. Identifying and targeting specific audiences instead of taking a media-centric approach and combining it with frequency capping across media and devices reduces advertising loss and creates a better effect. In other words: More for less.

1. Programmatic is not a cesspool of ad fraud. Yes, on a global scale, there are massive amounts of fraud, but with the right technology, strategies and expertise, it is possible to reduce the risk significantly. It will never completely vanish, but it can be managed.

1. Programmatic buying is not synonymous with ad networks. As an advertiser, you should choose the solution that gives you the best results on the KPIs you set, both short- and long-term.

1. A DSP is not a trading desk, which is not a media. A DSP is a buying platform from vendors like Adform, AppNexus, DoubleClick, MediaMath, The TradeDesk, etc. A trading desk is a specialist company or department that utilises DSPs to buy media. Media is still media, enabling their inventory through their platforms (SSP: Supply Side Platform) so that trading desks can access their inventory.

1. Programmatic buying is all about creating better efficiencies. It is not up for discussion whether programmatic buying should give you a better effect per invested krone, Euro or Dollar compared to similar activities. If the results you're getting are not up to par, reallocate your budgets — but measure against actual business outcomes, not proxies like clicks or CTR.