By Tanvi Kapoor, InMobi
The jump to programmatic advertising on mobile is a key item on any retailer’s to-do list for the year. Understanding the opportunities and challenges presented by mobile programmatic is paramount for driving success with this advertising channel.
Programmatic advertising represents a class of advertising that is characterized by transparency, efficiency and automation. It allows advertisers to be done with the cumbersome processes of raising and clearing I/Os (insertion orders) with ad networks. It also provides complete hands-on control to bid on impressions that they deem worthy of the ad creative, with full visibility of what properties it appears on.
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When combined with mobile, it is further enhanced with that one data signal that is the unique selling proposition of the mobile ecosystem — the real-time location of the user. Utilizing this signal correctly and sidestepping the tons of fraudulent location data signals is of course another lengthy (but interesting) monologue worthy of its own blog space. Mobile programmatic offers the discerning advertiser the opportunity to handpick its audience, based on signals such as device characteristics suggestive of the disposable income of the users, mobile app/web usage behavior indicating their interests, and location history representing how they navigate life in the brick-and-mortar world.
How To Win On Mobile
As consumers spend increasing amounts of time on their mobile devices — for utilities, entertainment, shopping, travel, education etc. — the importance of this channel is not lost on anyone. Ad spend on programmatic is estimated to jump tenfold to over $20 billion in 2016, and unsurprisingly, more than 60%of this spend is going to be on mobile.
However, mobile programmatic comes with its own sets of challenges. Programmatic advertising, which thrives on transparency and availability of data signals for accurate targeting, lacks champions on the mobile front. The ability to draw meaningful inferences from mobile usage behavior and linking retail purchases to an anonymized mobile identity are not as developed in the mobile ecosystem. This knowledge is limited in the hands of the astute few who have invested in making mobile their bread and butter.
Similarly, the mobile programmatic ecosystem is also not yet as advanced in terms of supporting the latest OpenRTB spec or mobile specific ad formats like MRAID (for rich media ads). Attributing mobile programmatic spends to offline purchases is another challenge that is a legacy from the digital world. Companies like Nielsen try to bridge this gap, but such studies are costly affairs and not yet the norm.
The Battle Against Ad Fraud
Advertisers are also taking cognizance of the increasing levels of mobile ad fraud, where bots and un-viewable impressions have resulted in many a wasted dollar. Audience verification and viewability solutions from independent third party companies, such as comScore and Integral Ad Science, are hence becoming popular in mobile programmatic to provide advertisers with peace of mind.
Much like retail therapy, mobile programmatic allows advertisers the chance to window shop for the right users, strike for the cheapest deal and deliver their message when the user is in the right context. By quickly adopting new strategies that can transform or augment today’s shopping experience, retailers can stay ahead of mobile trends. Making the most of mobile-first experiences, marrying existing experiences with mobile, and utilizing mobile programmatic to reach consumers are worthwhile steps for any retailer, to make this a year that will enable them not just to survive, but thrive.
Tanvi Kapoor is Director, Global Product Marketing at InMobi. Kapoor spearheads product marketing of brand solutions and programmatic advertising at InMobi. She represents InMobi at industry bodies including MMA and IAB and has authored papers to set industry standards and best practices. Previously, Kapoor led product marketing for monetization solutions at InMobi. She is passionate about the mobile industry and is successfully using her understanding of the mobile user in the exciting mobile advertising ecosystem. Prior to InMobi, Kapoor led product management for mobile health solutions for emerging markets at Vodafone, successfully reducing operational costs by 60% for rural healthcare projects. She holds a Masters in Business Administration from the Indian School of Business and a Bachelor degree in Engineering from the National Institute of Technology.
