Some people refer to programmatic advertising as “set-it-and-forget-it marketing.” While that is an overly simplistic statement, it captures the spirit.
However, understanding the spirit of pragmatic advertising is not enough. It’s time to bring clarity to the topic, especially as it pertains to OOH marketing. Understanding the attributes, benefits, and opportunities of programmatic marketing positions you to utilize OOH advertising more skillfully. When you master the topic, you’ll know why you—and every other results-driven marketer—is eager to adopt or continue using programmatic OOH advertising.
The Basics: What is Programmatic Advertising?
The term “programmatic” is most commonly associated with digital marketing (think the Google Display Network). In that scenario, programmatic means the automated buying and selling of digital ad space.
But that’s only one application.
Programmatic functionality is not limited to digital applications, that is, individual consumers’ personal screens. It is applied to many forms of advertising, including OOH. Ultimately, programmatic advertising means automating tasks or a series of tasks to improve efficiency and campaign performance.
Programmatic advertising tactics are a modern marketer’s dream. They handle tedious work while often delivering the best campaign performance outcomes with the least effort and human intervention.
Explaining Programmatic OOH Advertising
When it comes to OOH advertising, programmatic strategies automate the production and delivery of marketing messages to highly targeted audiences. From design to logistics, a programmatic OOH campaign handles thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands, of tedious yet critical details throughout the campaign and across placements.
Brands and agencies can be sure that programmatic OOH advertising saves them countless hours of work. However, the most significant benefit of programmatic OOH is increased accuracy.
Automating the OOH advertising process with programmatic technology removes human errors from a campaign’s backend. That’s the real win because that’s where many OOH campaigns have issues. As you’d expect, fewer errors at any point in the process create a greater chance of campaign success.
Programmatic OOH Targets Audience Behaviors
A solid OOH planning strategy focuses on audience demographics and daily behaviors. Who they are, where they commute, and which stores and restaurants they visit. All of those audience data points affect how programmatic OOH advertising can intersect with the audience’s everyday routines.
So the process starts with audience research. Once those data points are established, programmatic OOH placement locations and formats are defined and implemented.
Placement options include convenience stores, grocery stores, bars and restaurants, and other retailers. OOH provides marketers with a deep catalog to consider.
A Simple Example of How a Programmatic OOH Advertising Campaign Works
After the audience and the placement locations are established, it’s time to layer in programmatic technology. Doing so brings the OOH programmatic strategy to life and hyper-optimizes a campaign’s efficiency.
Let’s examine how to use programmatic practices in a simplified OOH scenario.
Solving the Complexity of Programmatic OOH Campaigns
A brand has settled on a 12-month wall poster campaign. Based on audience behavior, the brand wants its posters placed in 500 convenience stores within targeted zip codes.
Each month, a new poster must be hung to promote an offer or feature, or to display updated artwork that captures consumer attention.
As simple as that campaign sounds, it’s incredibly challenging to execute without robust programmatic OOH technology and partner expertise.
Let’s start with a fundamental aspect: each store’s wall space.
There’s a very good chance that not all 500 desired store locations have the exact physical dimensions and architecture. That means the brand can’t send out the same poster to all 500 stores and expect the same performance. They may need several versions of the poster, in various sizes, orientations, and substrates, to accommodate placement opportunities in each store.
The brand also needs to ensure the properly formatted poster reaches the correct store with the proper mounting hardware and ample time to post it for the campaign launch date.
When all of that is completed, the posters also need to be audited to ensure they are correctly installed and in good condition.
Don’t forget, all of that effort was for the first month of the campaign. Those same steps need to be repeated eleven more times throughout the campaign contract. Impossible? Not at all. Momentara deploys complex campaigns employing physical creative every day, in locations nationwide. But this is exactly the type of campaign that could be supplemented with or executed entirely with digital programmatic, with expert help from a partner like Momentara.
Technology Powers Programmatic OOH Advertising
The viability and potential of programmatic OOH marketing depend on navigating a complex, fragmented digital ecosystem. The digital ad universe is vast, with different players owning physical assets and networks. Success requires more than just buying inventory; it requires deep connectivity and the ability to orchestrate these disparate sources into a cohesive strategy.
Momentara powers your campaigns through robust, strategic alliances and direct access to major ad exchanges. We leverage exclusive partnerships to unlock access to tens of thousands of screens across the country. We cut through the noise of the open exchange to secure premium placements, ensuring your message appears exactly where it needs to be—efficiently and accurately.
Crucially, we understand that the most effective campaigns often live in two worlds: the physical and the digital. Because Momentara is an industry leader in static OOH, we can deploy programmatic elements in concert with your physical signage. This approach is complementary and additive: your static assets build permanent brand presence, while programmatic layers add agility and hyper-targeting. By managing both through a single partner, you ensure a unified strategy where every asset works harder to drive ROI.
The Flexibility of Programmatic OOH Advertising
What’s excellent about programmatic OOH advertising is its agility. Even if you establish the parameters for the entire campaign up front, it’s simple to make changes, additions, or modifications along the way.
All OOH campaign details are controlled through the programmatic technology. Nothing about the campaign is ever chiseled in stone. With the right programmatic technology in place, campaigns remain open to ongoing optimization if needed.
Agile Marketing Opportunities of Programmatic OOH Campaigns
- Deploy special pricing and promotions
- React to competitor claims and offers
- Shift campaign creative directions
- Change budget allocation
- Target specific messages to particular areas/zip codes
- Scale campaign size/locations
- Alter featured products or images
- Add seasonal holiday messaging
- Play to emerging trends or customer habits
Ready to Consider Programmatic OOH Advertising?
Programmatic OOH advertising is just one aspect of in-the-moment marketing—a strategy created by Momentara. We turn in-store, out-of-home, and event promotions into useful touchpoints that sync with the customer’s routines to encourage behaviors. The Momentara approach makes your marketing messages a welcome, impactful, and natural part of the customer’s day.
Whether your media buying needs are focused on programmatic OOH advertising or if you’re intrigued by the omnichannel opportunities offered by Momentara, we invite you to reach out. We bring you the technology, experience, production, scale, resources, and national presence to build certainty and programmatic success.
