I see a growing conversation among advertisers about programmatic media buying. Some are still trying to grasp what programmatic marketing is, while others are working to convince others in their organization of the need to expand their programmatic efforts.

ividence throws something of a wrench into the already complicated works by bringing a programmatic approach to an advertising channel that had typically been bought on a more traditional audience model: standalone or dedicated email advertising. With that in mind, I wanted to help bring a little clarity back to the market by providing a view of what programmatic buying is and how standalone email ads fit into that approach.

What is programmatic media buying?

Because of the evolving nature of applying technology and big data to media buying, there are a lot of different definitions out there.

The IAB defines programmatic marketing as “a method that enables advertisers to show a highly targeted piece of content (advertising, email, web page etc.) to a consumer based on their online behavior.” Effectively, programmatic buying is the purchasing side of that equation.

Another great resource is this AdExchanger post that taps into industry expertise to define the term in a practical way.

A good basic definition of programmatic media buying would be: “an automated method of purchasing ad media that is targeted on an individual level rather than an audience level, typically guided by predictive and behavioral data.”

How does email advertising fit into that?

OK, so that was a mouthful of a definition, but it doesn’t explain how email can be incorporated into your programmatic media buying.

The traditional method of buying dedicated email ads on a CPM basis doesn’t. However, as a standalone email ad exchange, ividence works within the programmatic buying model because it provides:

• Granularity – An email address is a unique identifier. That enables email marketers and advertisers to build an understanding of an individual, rather than relying on audience information or targeting based on an IP address or cookie.

• Actionable insight – Email is practically made for tracking and insight. A marketer can see who is opening, clicking, and taking action within an email campaign. They can then optimize for maximum conversions rather than maximum impressions.

• Pricing clarity – Just as with search or display exchanges, an advertiser can bid based on performance rather than eyeballs. Thus, it’s more clear exactly what’s being paid for and how it affects the company’s revenue and sales.

All of this adds up to the ability to overlay bid and ad performance onto past behavior and predictive models to automatically target and deliver standalone email ads. Because the bid is made on a particular action that an advertiser wants a prospective customer to take, it’s easy to compare price and performance across multiple channels, including display and search.

With search and display difficult to scale efficiently, email is an ideal candidate for expanding your programmatic media buying efforts and delivering clear results.

What does email add to your programmatic buying program?

Email brings an added oomph to the equation because it is:

• An engagement medium – ividence’s avg. CTR is 15x display’s avg. CTR.
• A personal connection – Your email ads come into the inbox next to emails from trusted sources.
• 1-to-1 targeting – Email is a unique identifier across the web.
• Highly trackable – Understand how consumers respond at each step in the process.
• An effective ad medium – 66% of U.S. online consumers say they have made a purchase after receiving an email vs. 16% for SMS and 20% for Facebook –ExactTarget 2012.

For more info on getting started, check out our easy cheat sheet on how to start a standalone email ad campaign.

Have you considered incorporating email advertising into your media mix? We’d love to hear your thoughts.

Related articles
Growing Your Email List: Getting Creative with Incentives
How to Maintain the Health & Hygiene of 1M+ Email List
3 Big Data Don’ts: What to Never Do With Marketing Data

Mary Byrne

Mary Byrne leads ividence’s sales and marketing team in the U.S. as SVP, Americas. She has nearly 15 years of experience in the technology sector, with special emphasis on advertising technology and email deliverability. Previously, Mary led the sales, marketing, and client services efforts at DoubleClick, Microsoft and Level 3 Communications. She can be reached at mb@ividence.com.