Quick Guide: Top Programmatic Trends To Keep An Eye On In 2021

Digitalization has advanced rapidly due to COVID19 and 2021 has seen a major increase. This has helped Programmatic trends gain popularity due to their efficiencies and capabilities. But keeping up with the pace of change isn’t always easy. 

Last week, I was talking to a friend about streaming services thanks to the home-stay. 

And she suggested many names of streaming platforms like Apple TV+, Disney+, and Amazon Prime.

And I was amazed! 

New streaming services, social media platforms, and technology seem to emerge every day. And then there has been a hike in the most important piece of the advertising puzzle – “programmatic”. Programmatic advertising is rapidly growing as eMarketer’s forecast, suggests more than 88.2% of the U.S display ads will be purchased via programmatic by 2022.

Programmatic Trends 2021 That Have Our Eyes and Ears

We have listed the programmatic trends 2021 that will factor heavily into your ad spending strategy and targeting. They will be shaping the adtech industry in the coming times. There is tremendous growth within connected TV (CTV), podcasts, DOOH, and other emerging channels. Programmatic advertising is full of opportunities.

Programmatic Trend #1: Data and Cookie Deprecation

Privacy was one of the most notable programmatic trends in 2020 and still, it is. The focus is on consent-driven first-party data and cookies are set to bid farewell in 2022. Marketers, publishers & adtech stakeholders can now take the advantage of the time to become increasingly self-reliant in setting up their own CDPs, DMPs, and unique audience identifiers. 

Interesting Read: Impact of Delay in Deprecation Of Cookies By Google On Adtech

Which exact models are expected to arrive? 

-Data management platforms will re-engineer their algorithms to collect consented, personally identifiable data, and move them to programmatic platforms without defining anonymous segments.

-Another model proposed by Google is Federated Learning of Cohorts(FLoC). Cohort solutions process local data using machine learning algorithms that run on the device. Anonymous groups of people based on behavior and interests are targeted. 

-Shared User ID Solutions is another model where publishers collect 1st party cookies, forward them through API to providers. With user consent, the ID provider creates an anonymous ID to be shared with brands and adtech companies. Publishers will store it in their first-party cookies.

Interested Read: End Of Third-Party Cookies, What Is There For Marketers: Takeaway!

Programmatic Trend #2: The Unmistakable Power Of OTT, Connected TV(CTV), And Mobile

Streaming services and Internet-enabled TV have opened up new opportunities for publishers, advertisers, and AdTech companies. Connected TV, OTT, and mobile-friendly ad formats are also a rapidly growing programmatic trend of 2022. Who knew that “Netflix and chill” would become so mainstream whereas 1 in 3 Americans cut the cord and banish the cable to a dump. 

A Comscore report suggests that over-the-top (OTT) streaming services added 20 million households in the past 4 years. But here is the real kicker – CTV reports that OTT ads have an average completion rate of 98% as viewers have to watch the ads till the end. 

Connected TV(CTV) usage increases and continues to be a big piece of overall marketing spend in the U.S. CTV ads are persuasive, engaging, well-targeted, and have a high completion rate. eMarketer study estimates that CTV ad spending will reach at least $14 billion by 2023. It is typical in advertising,  where high competition drives the price of advertising down. However, the outcome is yet to be seen.

The advertisers’ favorite big screen is now also dominated by mobile small screens. From watching Netflix to browsing YouTube videos on smartphones or tablets, it is an absolute favorite choice of consumers. No wonder, mobile accounted for 68% of the digital advertising spend as it is the most easily accessible device to browse the web or watch videos anytime.

Programmatic Trend #3: The Most Compelling Audio Format – Podcast

The podcast is the radio of Millennials and Gen-Z. They have become a popular choice among digital consumers and an important part of omnichannel digital advertising strategies. The below statistics are staggering:

• Total U.S. podcast listeners are expected to increase by 20 million over the next two years, surpassing 160 million in 2023
• The average number of weekly podcast listeners in 2020 was 68 million people
• U.S programmatic podcast ad spending will double and reach $106.5 million by 2022

There is a real opportunity here, especially since only 4% of total U.S. podcast ad spending was programmatic. Podcast ads can either be host read ads or dynamically inserted ads. The former is seamless and non-invasive. 

Another data goldmine is a voice assistant in programmatic advertising. The use of voice assistants like Siri, Alexa, and others can help marketers spot trends using programmatic advertising. 

Programmatic Trend #4: DOOH Advertising

Digital Out-of-Home(DOOH) is prominent in programmatic advertising and will be one of the must-haves in programmatic trends 2022. The two primary reasons are: it allows marketers to utilize creative content as well as User Generated Content through their brand’s social media. Secondly, DOOH can support omnichannel marketing using location data to target ads, and direct prospects to the brand’s nearest sales point.

In 2021, DOOH will likely start its slow yet steady recovery. When COVID-19 hit full force, travel was severely impacted but it seems people got tired of lockdown policies and are less prone to stay at home. A study forecasts that the global market for Digital OOH will reach US$35.1 Billion by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 9.3%.

The number of supply-side platforms that integrate with DOOH is relatively low. As the segment, direct forms of media buying remain more prevalent than traditional online advertising, which continues to shift toward programmatic. However, the SSP market for DOOH is picking up steam, so companies with DSPs and access to custom supply partners can benefit from early programmatic DOOH adoption.

Interesting Read: All You Need To Know About The Rise Of DOOH Advertising

Programmatic Trend #5: AI And Machine Learning Is Golden

One of the top programmatic trends of 2021 is automation. 41% of marketers say that AI and machine learning have the greatest contribution to their revenue growth and performance.

COVID-19 and the data revolution have greatly accelerated the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning in programmatic advertising, and this trend is likely to continue in 2022. AI and machine learning will place programmatic ads based on criteria and relevance. Besides reducing inventory wastage, it also creates a win-win system for both publishers and advertisers. In the new trend, cohorts will be used to gain insight into how new users act on the internet and when the right time is to target them. As a result, advertisers will be able to improve their targeting and bidding as well as increase their ROI.

Interested Read: 5 Programmatic Advertising Case Studies That Yielded Exponential Results 

Programmatic Trend #6: 5G Boost For Programmatic

5G internet will significantly bolster programmatic advertising. With 100 times more bandwidth than 4G, it will make processing power-intensive programmatic a mainstream form of advertising. The display ads will load faster and advertisers can reach more channels at a higher speed. Additionally, 5G will drive the growth of in-app and in-game advertising, as well as ads in wearables and smart home devices.

It will complement other technologies and mediums, such as augmented reality ads, virtual reality without the heavy headsets, and innovative new digital outdoor advertising. It is predicted that 5 G-based adtech to expand to 1.4 billion users by 2024. This means programmatic advertising will cater huge audience to run sharper and interactive ads without lags around mediums.

Programmatic Trend #7: Hyper Relevance It Is!

Hyper Relevance over Hyper-Personalization is the new programmatic trend. Relevance must be the determining factor when targeting a customer instead of targeting and adjusting revenue based on needs. This can be achieved through programmatic targeting. Advertisers and publishers can serve ads more effectively through this method without collecting invasive data that users must fill out. 

Geofencing on mobile is a classic example of hyper-relevant advertising combined with a smart choice of device targeting. It focuses on highly localized areas to provide relevant ads even if personal information is not available. Geofencing gives more importance to location as it plays a crucial factor in purchase decision-making.

Interesting Read: The Ultimate A-Z Glossary Of Digital Advertising!

Summing Up

Programmatic is expanding to new media formats, like CTV, DOOH, and Digital Audio. Meanwhile, the adtech industry is also facing privacy and data collection issues. Hence, new regulations and transformation to a cookie-less world are a requisite.

The programmatic trends mentioned can be a part of your advertising strategy irrespective of its complexities. Programmatic advertising will gain more prominence in the future and this is the right time to jump the bandwagon to reap the benefits of the innovative technologies.