Tl:DR: B2B companies can use programmatic ads to reach their target audience with relevant and personalized messages, use account-based marketing to target high-value accounts, retarget users who have engaged with their brand, and measure and optimize their ad campaigns in real-time. Programmatic advertising aims to increase brand awareness, engagement, and conversion rates.
Programmatic advertising is a form of digital advertising that uses automated technology to buy and optimize ad inventory in real-time. This type of advertising allows B2B companies to target specific audiences with relevant and personalized messages across multiple channels and devices. In essence, programmatic advertising enables companies to reach their ideal prospects wherever they are online, with precision and efficiency.
To understand how programmatic advertising works, it’s essential to know the various players in the programmatic ecosystem. These players include advertisers, agencies, publishers, ad networks, ad exchanges, and demand-side platforms (DSPs). Here’s a brief explanation of each:
- Advertisers: These are the companies that want to promote their products or services to a specific audience.
- Agencies: These are companies that specialize in creating and managing advertising campaigns on behalf of advertisers.
- Publishers: These are companies that own websites, apps, or other digital properties where ads can be displayed.
- Ad networks: These are companies that aggregate ad inventory from multiple publishers and offer it to advertisers.
- Ad exchanges: These are platforms that facilitate the buying and selling of ad inventory in real-time.
- Demand-side platforms (DSPs): These are platforms that allow advertisers to buy ad inventory in real-time through an auction process.
Now, let’s take a closer look at how a B2B company can use programmatic advertising to achieve its marketing goals:
- Targeting Specific Audiences
One of the primary benefits of programmatic advertising is the ability to target specific audiences with precision. B2B companies can use data to identify and target users who are most likely to be interested in their products or services. This data can include demographic information, location, industry, job title, and more.
For example, let’s say a B2B company sells software solutions for logistics companies. With programmatic advertising, the company could target logistics companies based on their location, company size, and job titles of decision-makers within the company, such as logistics managers or supply chain directors. This targeting ensures that the company’s ads are only shown to the most relevant audience, increasing the likelihood of conversion.
- Personalized Messaging
Another benefit of programmatic advertising is the ability to deliver highly personalized messages to specific audiences. B2B companies can use data to tailor their messaging to the specific pain points and challenges of their target audience. This type of messaging resonates better with the audience and can lead to higher engagement rates and conversion rates.
For example, a B2B company that sells HR software solutions could create personalized messages for HR managers that speak to their specific needs and challenges. This type of messaging would be more effective than a generic message that does not address their specific pain points.
- Account-Based Marketing
Programmatic advertising can also be used as part of an account-based marketing (ABM) strategy. ABM is a B2B marketing strategy that focuses on targeting specific high-value accounts rather than individual leads. Programmatic advertising can help B2B companies target these high-value accounts with highly personalized messages.
For example, a B2B company that sells cybersecurity solutions could create personalized messages for a specific high-value account that addresses their specific cybersecurity challenges. These messages could be shown to decision-makers within the company, increasing the likelihood of conversion.
- Retargeting
Programmatic advertising can also be used for retargeting users who have already engaged with a B2B company’s content or visited their website. Retargeting allows B2B companies to stay top-of-mind with users who have already shown an interest in their products or services. This type of advertising can be highly effective, as retargeting ads can often have a higher conversion rate than ads shown to users who have not engaged with the brand before.
For example, let’s say a B2B company that sells IT services notices that a user has visited their website and browsed their services page. The company can then use programmatic advertising to retarget that user with ads promoting the specific services they viewed. This can help to reinforce the company’s message and increase the likelihood of conversion.
- Measurement and Optimization
Programmatic advertising provides B2B companies with real-time data on their ad campaigns, allowing them to measure and optimize their ad performance in real-time. This type of data includes impressions, clicks, conversions, and more. By analyzing this data, B2B companies can optimize their ad campaigns to improve performance and increase ROI.
For example, let’s say a B2B company is running a programmatic ad campaign promoting their new software solution. After analyzing the campaign data, the company notices that their ads are performing well on desktop devices but not on mobile devices. The company can then optimize their campaign by adjusting their targeting or ad creatives to better target mobile users, which could lead to increased conversions and ROI.
Overall, programmatic advertising is a powerful tool that can help B2B companies reach their target audiences with precision and efficiency. By targeting specific audiences, delivering personalized messages, using account-based marketing, retargeting users, and measuring and optimizing ad campaigns, B2B companies can increase their brand awareness, engagement, and conversion rates. The real-time data provided by programmatic advertising allows B2B companies to continuously improve their ad campaigns and maximize their ROI.
