Rubicon Project Reveals the Secret of Programmatic Buying and Selling Success in Contexxt

Rubicon Project, a programmatic buying and selling firm, recently completed a study with data firm Contexxt that demonstrated the effectiveness of programmatic advertising. The study concluded that buying ads programmatically can increase return on investment by 20 percent, and raise bottom line sales by 5 percent.

The study, to be released this week, carefully noted that these results will not be realized unless there is a strategy at the onset of a campaign. Mari Kim Novak, Global CMO Rubicon Project, explained, “You also need smart a thoughtful strategy with smart allocation across desktop, mobile, and video. Brands that are thoughtful about their channel-specific investment are the ones that will maximize returns from their overall programmatic strategy.”

The study set out to understand the impact of programmatic across all channels, how properly executed programmatic campaigns could impact sales and the impact of marketing return on investment via programmatic. “Programmatic will continue to grow in revenue and importance to advertisers as we continue to increase the level of consumer response level data,” noted Shelly Zallis, CEO Contexxt.

The methodology included a focus on $20.0 Billion in spend analyzed across Fortune 500 companies in ten vertical categories. Multivariate data sets were created to determine the channel allocation, creative unit and sales impact. Included was competitive action and cost data in order to determine measurable business results. Additionally, comprehensive tactics included time decay, reach, frequency and flighting.

Here are the conclusions:

           The average brand should double their programmatic allocation
Doubling the percentage of programmatic media spend from 4 percent, which is the average for Fortune 500 brands, to 8 percent will yield the optimal return on investment and sales outcomes. Investing less, according to the study, means that brands are leaving sales and ROI on the table.

           Use private marketplaces to leverage first party data
Applying a brand’s own customer data and intelligence to campaigns is one of the most impactful ways a brand can leverage programmatic. More advanced tactics using customer data can present even more incremental efficiencies.

    Allocating for the future

      There are differences in media behavior between younger and older audiences. Younger audiences are more fragmented and their media consumption habits are more on-demand than appointment based. The younger your target, the greater the media budget allocation should be towards programmatic. Twelve percent is the optimal level for this audience, according to the study results.

          Mobile and video
Mobile and Video are two areas where programmatic buying can help brands reach consumers where they are and make the right decisions about what to show them and when. The study concludes that mobile should represent 33 percent of a brand’s programmatic investment, and video should represent 35 percent, keeping in mind that video and mobile can overlap.

“We at Rubicon Project believe that the average brand should double their programmatic allocation, advertisers should use private marketplaces to leverage first party data and brands should be allocating for the future, especially in Mobile and Video,” concluded Novak.

This article first appeared in www.MediaBizBloggers.com