While advertising as a whole has taken a battering as a result of the pandemic, it’s not been the same story for programmatic media buying. This section of the industry has actually seen an increase, as was demonstrated by IAB Europe’s Attitudes to Programmatic Advertising Report 2020. It found that the proportion of advertisers spending more than 41% of their display budget via programmatic channels had jumped from 55% in 2019 to 77% in 2020.
As an area that’s evidently growing, what does the future of programmatic advertising look like?
It used to be that programmatic capabilities were mainly tended to by in-house or agency staff, but the desire for increased visibility and control means a shift towards those with a specific skill set. In fact, this is already starting to happen, as the IAB report showed that keeping programmatic in house fell from 38% in 2019 to 20% in 2020.
What’s being seen in the short term is a hybrid model, with in-house staff working with agencies and programmatic experts for maximum benefit. This allows for the right infrastructure to be put in place and an appropriate level of support to achieve ever-evolving goals.