Welcome back. If you’re reading this chances are you read part one of this blog and have been anxiously awaiting part two so that you can be ahead of your competition when it comes to advertising. Well fear not, because once again, here we are to discuss the future of programmatic advertising. Last time we spoke, we talked about OTT and OOH as well as the rise of location data and how we can use this data to take your campaigns to the next level.

You can read more about these opportunities in part one of this series and learn all about how over-the-top (OTT) allows an advertiser to apply the targeting capabilities of digital media to TV, as well as how you can use out-of-home advertising (OOH) to reach people on billboard, bus stops, and more!

Moving on the better things in life, in this part of our series I am going to let you in on two additional fast-approaching programmatic opportunities. I’m talking about programmatic audio/radio and smart speakers.

Music Streaming with a Twist

Picture this, you’re singing along to your favorite tune and in the jump between songs you hear an ad for your favorite local coffee shop. How did they do that? How did they know that you love their coffee and that you are one of their key audience members? Well this is because of programmatic advertising through audio!

In early 2017, Spotify announced its plan to join the likes of Pandora and Soundcloud in the programmatic advertising world. Fast forward to Q1 2018 and Spotify’s programmatic advertising business is now live in 20 countries and reaches over 140 million users. Not too shabby, if you ask me.

Looking to the future, we are sure that this is only the tip of the iceberg. On the surface, advertising through audio may seem dated and unexciting but as you dig deeper you will notice that programmatic audio advertising comes with great potential.

Audio advertising has been a thing for a while now and as the music industry evolves so must your advertising efforts when it comes to radio. About 90% of the one billion global streaming listeners choose ad-supported channels, reports XAPPmedia. With the increased growth, ad-supported internet radio is projected to triple from $1.6 billion in 2015 to $4.7 billion by 2025! Why would you want to miss out on this many listeners?

Now what makes this form of audio advertising different? Well instead of you just having access to spots, with the targeting powers that programmatic advertising offers, you will be able to tap millions of engaged listers with data relevant to their streaming account!

Virtual Assistants are Taking Over

ALEXA! ALEXA! ALEXA! In yet another digital trend of 2017/2018, smart speakers with a virtual assistant are blasting off. Now you have the Amazon Echo, Google Home, and the newly launched Apple HomePod! In fact, eMarketer reports that 45 million voice-assisted devices are now being used in US homes and will continue to rise through 2019.

Assuming everyone already knows what a Smart Speaker is, let’s get into how these assistants are paving the way for programmatic. With this trend on the rise Amazon, Google, and Apple have some work ahead of them when it comes to striking up a balance for its users, developers, and advertisers. While it is a long road, these industry heavyweights are already paving the way. The question here is how will this be done and once it is done how long until we can tap into all of this data and better fine tune our campaigns.  

At the end of the day, programmatic advertising is increasingly growing and is on the fast track to taking over the industry. Having a programmatic partner with the knowledge and skill set to take your campaigns to the next level is key for all business owners and that is why Red Shark Digital is here to help. Contact us today for more information on our programmatic campaigns!