By using data science and artificial intelligence to plan, target and measure the effectiveness of digital campaigns​, marketers can automate many day-to-day tasks​, saving time, reducing costs and allowing teams to focus on higher-value activities. Custom bidding strategies, in particular, can support a future-proofed identity solution by providing marketers more choice in how to reach their audience with the power of AI. 

Unpacking custom bidding strategies and why they’re necessary

While this makes sense in theory, marketers and agencies are each pressured to achieve more with fewer resources. When this happens, there’s often a race to the bottom during which data can become so commoditized it loses most of its value. If everyone is pulling from the same pool, each company and its competitors are in the same boat. Imagine if Coca-Cola and Pepsi used the same recipe; their branding might differ, but they would lose differentiation and competitive advantage by offering identical products.

So, what exactly is custom bidding, and why is it important now? Essentially, custom bidding empowers media buyers to package their own data science and unique insights as model-based algorithms, which can be vastly more detailed and expressive compared to out-of-the-box optimization performance settings provided by a DSP. And, this will be more important than ever in the cookieless world.

As identity evolves, custom bidding strategies offer a future-proofed solution

Changes in the identity landscape are causing seismic shifts in the ways marketers find and reach their desired audience. In this evolving landscape, advertisers are looking to future-proof themselves for a world without third-party cookies with scaled, viable solutions that reach audiences with relevant advertising in effective ways.

As user identity is increasingly limited, context is becoming more valuable. AI-enabled custom bidding is another alternative to third-party cookies, offering marketers the ability to apply contextual targeting in a scaled way. When done well, contextual targeting is as effective, if not more so, than user-based audience targeting but achieves the scale and efficiency marketers demand through the power of AI.

The ability to understand and accurately value the context of an advertising placement has never been more paramount in driving performance. Marketers and agencies alike are looking to differentiate themselves by deploying intelligent, proprietary, cross-channel programmatic media activation strategies in a DSP landscape that is increasingly commoditized.

In short, AI-enabled custom bidding reaches audiences and contexts at scale despite a changing identity landscape. It should be considered a must-have for media buyers to keep pace with the competition.

Leveraging an experienced partner unlocks a competitive edge for marketers

Media buyers have looked toward customized buying with proprietary bidding algorithms to stay relevant. While this may solve some problems, designing and activating custom bidding strategies can …read more

Source:: Digiday

Author: Aaron