Programmatic advertising is the automated process of purchasing and placing digital ads using software and algorithms. Instead of manual negotiations, this system uses data to make real-time decisions about which ads to show to which users. This ensures ads are strategically positioned where and when they will have the most impact.
This automated approach offers significant advantages over traditional methods. By leveraging technology, advertisers can enhance their campaigns' effectiveness and efficiency. The primary benefits include:
While powerful, programmatic advertising is not without its hurdles. Navigating the ecosystem requires vigilance to overcome significant obstacles and ensure campaign success.
While often used interchangeably, programmatic advertising and real-time bidding serve different functions within the automated ad buying landscape.
Artificial intelligence and machine learning are set to redefine programmatic advertising. These technologies will drive hyper-personalization and predictive optimization. The shift away from third-party cookies will also accelerate the adoption of first-party data strategies.
The expansion into new channels like connected TV (CTV) and audio will continue to grow. This creates new opportunities for cross-device campaigns. Concurrently, the industry is pushing for greater supply chain transparency to combat fraud and improve brand safety.
To maximize your return on investment, adopt a strategic approach. This involves leveraging data-driven insights and continuously optimizing campaigns for performance.
How is brand safety managed in programmatic campaigns?
Brand safety is managed using tools like blocklists, allowlists, and contextual targeting to ensure ads appear alongside appropriate content. Working with reputable platforms is also crucial for maintaining control and protecting your brand's reputation.
Can programmatic advertising work without third-party cookies?
Yes. The industry is adapting by shifting to first-party data, contextual targeting, and other privacy-safe identifiers. These methods allow for effective audience targeting while respecting user privacy, ensuring campaigns can perform well in a cookieless future.
Is programmatic advertising only suitable for large companies?
Not at all. While powerful for large-scale campaigns, programmatic is accessible to businesses of all sizes. Self-serve platforms offer flexible budget options, allowing smaller companies to run highly targeted and cost-effective campaigns without a massive initial investment.
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Cold emailing is sending unsolicited emails to potential customers you haven't contacted before, aiming to start a business conversation.
A Call for Proposal (CFP) is a document that solicits proposals, often through a bidding process, for a specific project or service.
Ramp-up time is the period a new hire takes to get fully up to speed and become a productive member of your go-to-market team.
Lookalike audiences are groups of potential customers who share similar characteristics and behaviors with your existing, high-value customers.
Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) are websites that look and feel like native mobile apps, offering features like offline access and push notifications.
Employee engagement is the emotional commitment an employee has to their organization, motivating them to contribute to the company's success.
A sales kickoff (SKO) is an annual event for a sales team to celebrate wins, align on goals, and get motivated for the upcoming year.
Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) is the predictable, recurring income a business expects to receive each month from all active subscriptions.
Buying criteria are the specific requirements and standards a customer uses to evaluate products or services before making a decision.
Webhooks are automated messages sent by an app when a specific event occurs. They push real-time data to another app's unique URL.
Video selling uses personalized video messages to engage prospects, build rapport, and guide them through the sales funnel to close more deals.
Workflow automation uses rule-based logic to run a sequence of tasks that would otherwise require manual human effort to complete.
Account-Based Marketing (ABM) is a focused B2B strategy where marketing and sales collaborate to target and convert high-value accounts.
Sales workflows are a set of automated actions that streamline the sales process, helping teams engage leads consistently and close deals faster.
Account-Based Selling is a B2B strategy where sales and marketing treat high-value accounts as markets of one, using personalized outreach.
Lead scraping is the process of automatically extracting contact information and other relevant data about potential customers from online sources.
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Email marketing is a digital strategy where businesses send targeted emails to prospects and customers to build relationships and drive sales.
Pipeline coverage is a key sales metric. It's the ratio of your total open pipeline value to your sales quota for a specific period.
A sales territory is a specific group of customers or a geographic area that a salesperson or sales team is responsible for managing.
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Load testing is a type of performance testing that determines how a system behaves under both normal and anticipated peak load conditions.
A Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) API is a web service that uses XML to exchange structured information between different applications.
Content Rights Management involves controlling the use and distribution of copyrighted digital media to protect intellectual property.
The FAB technique is a sales framework connecting product features to advantages and then to the specific benefits for the customer.
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Regression testing ensures that new code changes don’t negatively impact existing features. It's a key step to maintain software quality after updates.
Key accounts are a company's most valuable customers, vital due to their significant revenue contribution and strategic importance for growth.
Intent data tracks a user's online behavior—like searches and site visits—to identify signals that they are ready to make a purchase.
A Content Management System (CMS) is software for creating, managing, and modifying website content without needing specialized technical skills.
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Sales automation uses software to streamline and automate repetitive, manual sales tasks, freeing up reps to focus on selling.
GDPR compliance means following the EU's strict data protection laws to ensure the secure and lawful handling of personal data.
A Target Account List (TAL) is a focused list of high-value companies that a business specifically aims to convert into customers.
De-duping, or data deduplication, is the process of eliminating duplicate copies of data within a dataset to improve accuracy and save space.
A Marketing Qualified Account (MQA) is a target company that has shown significant engagement, indicating it's ready for the sales team to pursue.
Voice broadcasting is an automated system that delivers a pre-recorded voice message to a large list of phone numbers simultaneously.
An Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) is a detailed description of the perfect, hypothetical company that would get the most value from your product.
Sales coaching is a process where managers help reps improve their skills and performance through personalized feedback, training, and guidance.
Network monitoring is the continuous process of tracking a computer network's performance and health to detect and resolve issues proactively.
Contact data is the set of details, like names, emails, and phone numbers, used to get in touch with a person or business for outreach.
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Direct sales involves selling products directly to consumers in a non-retail setting, such as at home, online, or person-to-person.
Customer retention refers to the strategies and activities a company uses to prevent customer churn and encourage them to continue buying.
Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) is a web security vulnerability that allows attackers to inject malicious scripts into trusted websites.
Product recommendations are a marketing strategy that uses customer data to suggest relevant products, boosting sales and customer engagement.
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Process Builder is a Salesforce automation tool that lets you create 'if/then' business processes with a user-friendly visual interface.
A sales demo is a presentation where a sales rep shows a prospect how a product or service works and solves their specific problems.
Personalization in sales means tailoring outreach to a prospect's specific needs, interests, and context to make communication more relevant.
Lead scoring is the process of assigning points to leads based on their attributes and actions to determine their sales-readiness.
A buying committee is a group of stakeholders within an organization who are jointly responsible for making major purchasing decisions.
Precision targeting is a marketing strategy that uses data to identify and reach a highly specific audience most likely to convert.
A marketing play is a repeatable tactic used to achieve a specific marketing goal, like generating leads or driving engagement.
Intent leads are prospects who show buying signals through their online actions, indicating they're actively looking to make a purchase.
Predictive lead generation uses data and AI to find prospects most likely to buy, helping teams focus their efforts on high-value leads.
Competitive intelligence (CI) is the ethical gathering and analysis of market data to inform strategic business decisions and gain an advantage.
Event tracking is the method of collecting data on specific user actions, or 'events,' on a website or app, such as clicks or downloads.
Customer buying signals are the actions, behaviors, or statements a prospect makes that indicate they are moving towards a purchase decision.
“No Spam” is a commitment to sending only relevant, solicited messages. It means avoiding bulk, unwanted emails to respect the recipient's inbox.
Sales enablement provides sales teams with the necessary tools, content, and information to help them sell more effectively and efficiently.
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A demand generation framework is a strategic process for creating awareness and interest in your product, ultimately driving new business.
Warm outbound is a sales strategy for contacting prospects who've shown interest in your brand through prior engagement, like website visits.
A marketing automation platform is software that automates marketing actions. It helps manage tasks like email campaigns and lead nurturing.
Psychographics categorizes people by their attitudes, interests, and lifestyles, revealing the 'why' behind their purchasing decisions.
CRM integration connects your CRM software with other tools, creating a unified system for all your customer data and business processes.
Rollback procedures are a set of steps to restore a system to a previous, stable version after a failed update, ensuring minimal disruption.
GPCTBA/C&I is a sales qualification framework for understanding a prospect's goals, plans, challenges, timeline, budget, and authority.
An enterprise is a large-scale organization, often a corporation, defined by its complex structure and substantial number of employees.
Account-Based Everything (ABE) is a strategy aligning sales, marketing, and success teams to focus on a specific set of high-value accounts.
Demand generation is the process of creating awareness and interest in your products to build a pipeline of qualified leads for your sales team.
A canary release is a deployment strategy where new software is rolled out to a small user group first, minimizing risk before a full release.
Email verification is the process of confirming that an email address is valid and deliverable, which helps improve campaign performance.
Average Revenue per User (ARPU) is a key performance indicator that calculates the average revenue generated from each user or subscriber.
CRM enrichment is the process of adding third-party data to your existing customer profiles to make them more complete and accurate.
A Point of Contact (POC) is the designated individual or department that serves as the main hub for information and communication on a matter.
User interaction is any action a user takes within a digital interface, like clicking a button, scrolling a page, or filling out a form.
Sales prospecting software automates the process of finding, contacting, and tracking potential customers to help sales teams build their pipeline.
A lead list is a curated database of potential customers (leads) with contact information and other key data for sales and marketing outreach.
A sales coach is a mentor who trains and guides sales reps to enhance their skills, boost performance, and ultimately close more deals effectively.
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Competitive analysis means identifying your rivals and assessing their strategies to pinpoint your own business's strengths and weaknesses.
Total Addressable Market (TAM) represents the maximum revenue a company can earn by selling its product or service in a specific market.
Sales intelligence is technology that gathers and analyzes data to help salespeople find and understand prospects and existing clients.
Sales enablement content refers to the materials and tools that empower your sales team to engage prospects and close deals more efficiently.
Cross-selling is a sales tactic of encouraging customers to purchase products or services that are related to what they're already buying.
A Marketing Qualified Opportunity (MQO) is a lead vetted by marketing as a genuine sales opportunity, ready for direct sales follow-up.
A consumer is an individual or entity that buys products or services for personal use, not for resale. They are the final user in a supply chain.
“End of Quarter” (EOQ) refers to the final weeks of a business quarter when sales teams rush to meet quotas, often leading to a flurry of deals.
Sales operations analytics is the practice of analyzing sales data to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the entire sales process.
Inside sales is a remote sales process where reps sell products or services via phone, email, and other digital tools instead of in person.
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A value statement is a clear, concise declaration of the unique benefits a company provides to its customers, outlining its core purpose.
An Operational CRM is a system that automates and improves customer-facing business processes like sales, marketing, and customer service.
Serviceable Addressable Market (SAM) is the portion of the market your business can realistically serve with its current products and sales channels.
Lead enrichment tools are platforms that automatically add missing data to your leads, like contact info, firmographics, and buying signals.
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A Request for Information (RFI) is a formal process for gathering information from potential suppliers before issuing a more detailed proposal.