Should you go in-house with your programmatic campaigns?

There is a growing trend in the industry today of companies taking complete responsibility for the management of their programmatic advertising activities.

Taking campaigns “in-house” appears to be increasing among tech-savvy companies of all sizes as they become more aware and experienced with programmatic advertising. As confidence and knowledge grow, it makes financial sense to begin handling the campaigns independent of agencies for a variety of reasons.

According to a recent IAB report on the growing trend of companies taking their programmatic activities in-house, nearly 40 percent of advertisers execute in-house digital RTB trading, and even 50% of publishers now have an in-house model:

•    45% Currently running programmatic campaigns

•    25% Do not have in-house programmatic capabilities

•    30% Completely or partially handle programmatic activities in-house

•    18% Plan to move programmatic activities in-house

Here are the main benefits for companies taking their programmatic advertising in-house and an overview of how companies can begin aligning themselves to the new strategy of internalizing their programmatic activities.

Benefits of managing programmatic entirely in-house

Independence

• • Remove reliance on external agencies.

• • Design ideal advertising strategy based on company goals and strategy.

• • Determine ideal ad placements and websites to present brand marketing and campaigns.

• • Creative rotation and testing.

• • Growing comfort managing and controlling their campaigns internally with an experienced and capable staff of experts.

Financial prudence

• • Cost efficiency for purchasing inventory.

• • Enjoy 15-30% in savings compared to agency fees/costs.

• • Avoid vague, hidden, and unclear service fees.

• • Utilize resources more efficiently across programmatic activities.

Data control

• • Keep your own proprietary first-party and third-party data internal and secure.

• • React in real-time to campaign behavior and analytics – faster than agencies.

• • Collect, manage and interpret your data internally to draw unique conclusions.

• • View campaign results transparently in the platform, and not from agency reports.

• • Improved data analysis and ROI attribution.

Campaign management

• • Better audience targeting.

• • Increased campaign effectiveness.

• • Ensure brand safety and avoid fraud.

• • Supply path optimization and increased reach/scale.

• • Transparency to selectively choose inventory to purchase.

The path forward: How to go completely in-house?

Surround yourself with experts

• • A knowledgeable and capable team of programmatic professionals to manage the campaigns.

• • Assess your organization’s ability to handle all of the aspects of your programmatic activities – perhaps consider outsourcing some of the work to outside companies

• • Develop plans for training staff.

Plan and strategize

• • Define internal goals for going in-house?

• • What do you aim to achieve?

• • Obtain executive administrative, logistical and financial support for in-house

• • Budgeting for the change in strategy

• • Bring in self-serve solutions

• • Supply path optimization to reduce costs for accessing 3rd party technology

• • Data, Technology Set-Up, Sign Contracts, Hire Expects to Manage Operations

• • Expect at least one year of preparation before being entirely in-house

Build an algorithm

• • A company needs to maximize its activities to build robust original user profiles independent of the generalized user profiles formerly provided by a mobile measurement partner (MMP).

Build a technology stack

• • Build your ideal organized and interconnected technology stack

• • DSP, DMP, ad server, viewability tracking, dashboard, fraud protection

Conclusion – Next steps

Long gone are the days when marketers and companies were willing to simply pay agencies fees due to a lack of knowledge about how to set up, manage, and evaluate their programmatic campaigns.

Today, companies are becoming increasingly empowered to achieve their agenda and preserve their resources for maximizing their programmatic activities.

Time will tell if taking programmatic buying in-house will become the norm for companies of all sizes.  Based on the current trend, it looks more likely than not.

If you’re considering going in-house with the Google Marketing Platform with Display & Video 360.  We offer custom-tailored consulting services for companies of all sizes seeking assistance building and training your team, charting and setting strategy, and creating plans for building the ideal technology stack for your programmatic activities.

Whether you need information for solving a digital bottleneck or a steady partner to build your in-house activities, we can assist you in meeting your digital goals.
Get in touch with our team, and we’ll be happy to help you reach your business goals.