As a modern marketer, it's practically impossible to ignore the impact that programmatic media buying is having on the digital world. The technology involved with programmatic buying is having a profound impact on the way that consumers interact with brands, as well as the way that brands develop a greater return on their investments. Programmatic buying, which programmatic media buying automates the purchase of media, has demonstrated an unprecedented amount of efficiency in a world where customers are constantly connected to their devices.

As the rise of programmatic buying continues to show promise in the digital world, it's crucial for businesses and brands to stay on top of the latest updates, and understand the powerful potential this strategy has to offer. Following, we'll cover a few of the steps you'll need to consider in developing your own programmatic media buying strategy.

Step 1: Ask Yourself the Right Questions

Just like in any business strategy, setting yourself up for success means answering the important questions about your long-term, and short-term goals. For instance, are you hoping to simply move goods off the shelves faster, or do you want to change the way that customers think about your brand with a new commercial spot. Programmatic media buying can be a highly effective strategy for most businesses - but it only works when it's used correctly. The more time you take to brainstorm your needs with your internal team, the more likely you are to come up with valuable ideas that will prepare you in finding the right partner for success.

Step 2: Understand the Technology

While you might not need to understand the deeper inner-workings of the technology that you use for programmatic media buying - you will at least need a basic understanding of what's going on in your brand. Any programmatic partner that you work with should be willing to answer the various questions you might have regarding the technology that powers your campaigns - so don't be afraid to ask.

For most advertisers, the first step on the programmatic journey will begin with a choice of demand-side-platform - the minimum technology required for effective programmatic buying. The clear view that you've already established for your marketing goals will help you to select the right DSP for you.

Step 3: Use a Multi-Platform Approach

For some brands, using one DSP is enough to achieve minor goals. However, for many companies, the advantage of trading through multiple demand-side platforms allows them to take advantage of various opportunities. The differing strengths provided by alternate DSPs can be singled out and emphasized to improve the performance of your campaign.

At the same time, having multiple views of the inventory available through different platforms will also help to promote value and competition for your investments, so that you can reach as many customers as possible, while limiting your budget. 

Step 4: Focus on Creative

Creative has a significant part to play in any digital marketing strategy, so it only makes sense that it would be crucial from a programmatic perspective too. Programmatic marketing is all about delivering the right message to the right audience, at the best possible time. What's more, this approach will give your creative team the information that they need to improve your branding messages across various platforms.

Make sure that you devote time and effort to delivering incredible creative, and upgrade that creative whenever possible, using contextual, audience, and environmental signals to provide dynamic content that personally appeals to your market.

Step 5: Programmatic Isn't a One-Size-Fits-All Solution

Although it might be far more convenient for marketers to simply invest in a pre-made programmatic solution that they can forget about by the end of the day, the truth is that every brand campaign has unique objectives to accomplish. Some will be driven by awareness, whereas others will be looking for specific actions, engagement, or sales. A proactive programmatic media buyer will need to create a custom-made solution by understanding their market, alongside the data they have collected.

Carefully plan out your programmatic strategy, and make sure that the teams you work with speak the same language in terms of measurement. After all, programmatic buying can be highly effective for marketers when they have a clear line of communication between themselves, and the team that is executing or advising a campaign.