Programmatic Billboard Buying for Dummies
When it comes to programmatic billboard buying there is a lot to understand. We’ve broken it down into simple terms without a lot of fluff so you can get what you need to know and not get bogged down with technical jargon.
What is Programmatic Billboard Buying?
Programmatic billboard buying is simply a way for advertisers to be able to purchase billboard time without ever having to speak with a sales person. It’s done 100% online. The advertiser sets their desired budget (in most cases), choses when the want to run and uploads their own artwork. A credit card is used to pay for the ad space, usually after their ads have ran or budget has been maxed. In many systems, the advertiser sets the amount they are willing to pay, if someone else is willing to pay more for the same billboard/time frame, they will get outbid.
How Programmatic Billboard Buying Works:
Who’s Using Programmatic Buying?
Mostly small businesses, independent artists/musicians, small authors, local politicians, and others with small advertising budgets.
Most Well Known Programmatic Companies:
• Blip
• Adomni
• AdQuick
• Plus about a dozen more. Too many to list!
The Pros and Cons of Programmatic Billboard Buying for Billboard Owners:
PRO: Available inventory (mostly digital) can generate revenue with little to no work.
CON: Less control over pricing.
PRO: You get advertisers that have never advertised with you before.
CON: Artwork is not always designed correctly for billboard purposes.
PRO: If you’re selling an advertiser with little to no advertising budget, you can refer them to your programmatic billboard slot(s).
CON: You may have to reject a lot of the ads because of the content.
PRO: Take some of the sales burden off your sales team.
CON: You will have to take the time to upload your inventory to the provider and use their scheduling software.
What’s Holding Programmatic Buying from Taking Off?
The main issue with programmatic billboard buying is that there are no standardized rules for everyone to follow. Advertisers want to know how many people are going to see their ad. Some billboard companies offer traffic counts, some are using new measurement systems that use cameras to count the vehicles and people in them and some use even newer technology which uses cell phone data collected from the people driving by the billboards.
The other big issue is that there are so many companies offering programmatic billboard buying that the market is too spread out. There is no one place to go and see ALL available billboards in the US or world. You have to search multiple platforms for larger ad space buys.
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Notes Adomni submitted in reference to this post:
CON: Less control over pricing.
Adomni Response: The Adomni open online marketplace offers advertisers and screen owners 100% transparent pricing. Screen owners have direct, real-time control over their prices and can see the prices that are publicly listed for sale on Adomni.com. Adomni encourages screen owners to set rates that are competitive, but not overly discounted.
CON: Artwork is not always designed correctly for billboard purposes.
Adomni Response: For every campaign that is launched, Adomni performs the first wave of content review. This ensures that the content is suitable from a size and content type perspective and has the best chance to deliver results for the advertiser. Once it passes Adomni’s check gate, it is sent to the screen owner for quick and easy final approval. This is all done via an automated system and the average approval time for a new ad is less than 4 hours from the time the ad is first uploaded.
CON: You may have to reject a lot of the ads because of the content.
Adomni Response: Because of Adomni’s two-stage content approval process, less than 1% of ads are rejected by screen owners.
CON: You will have to take the time to upload your inventory to the provider and use their scheduling software.
Adomni Response: Adomni has onboarded over 60,000 screens in the past three years. Over this time period, Adomni’s onboarding team has developed deep expertise in getting new screen owners setup efficiently. A dedicated Adomni operations specialist is assigned to each new screen owner and they help guide the process from start to finish. The entire process can take less than one week.
