How programmatic advertising can deliver democracy to the midmarket of online travel

A brand new EyeforTravel white paper sponsored by Adadyn reveals how mid-market advertisers can quickly, easily and affordably benefit from programmatic ad campaigns

There has been plenty of hype around about the benefits of ‘programmatic advertising’ but there is a perception that it has been reserved for those with big budgets.

Not so, argues this fresh off the press EyeforTravel white paper – Personalizing Through Programmatic - which shares insights from Adadyn, a technology firm specialising in programmatic advertising, personalised creative and retargeting for small and medium-sized businesses.

Traditionally ‘programmatic’ has been the domain of large travel brands but Raj Beri, Chief Operating Officer, Adadyn, says it doesn’t have to be that way.

“Our idea is to democratise programmatic for the mid-market in order to deliver value to those who may not have a 20-strong marketing team and a huge budget,” he says. 

As somebody who has worked for both big and small travel brands alike, Beri knows that as a marketer for a big online travel agent (OTA), metasearch engine, airline or hotel, calling in an ad agency to run a $226,000+ campaign is second nature. But for companies with smaller, more conservative or seasonal budgets  - the ski resorts, destination marketing organisations, local tourism and activities players of the world - budgets are much tighter, and the need to deliver return on investment more pressing. So it’s much tougher to take advantage of technologies like programmatic.

these challenges drove Beri to what he jokingly refers to as the ‘dark side’ of technology; he wanted to address some of the pain points that marketers in small organisations experience.

One major challenge for smaller companies is competing in the highly competitive keyword landscape of search. Because, if you aren’t Priceline, Kayak, Expedia, Trivago or the like, chances are you being outpriced and outbid.

“To rely on all your traffic acquisition efforts from pure search in a competitive keyword landscape is very difficult,” says Beri.

The good news, however, is that it is possible to get 15 to 20% incremental conversions from programmatic advertising. In addition, it’s not as competitive from a pricing perspective or as crowded a landscape as search. Better still, there is overlap in the skillset required which makes it more effective. There are many benefits from programmatic campaigns but, according to Beri, the two main ones are:

  • Increased efficiency by replacing things like manual processes and insertion orders
  • Allowing you to target like search and buy on a real-time bidding basis

3 programmatic tips for marketers

This new white paper delves into programmatic issues in greater detail but for a preview, here are three tips from Beri on what smaller brands can and should prioritise today.

1.  Understand your various options

Are you looking to acquire new customers, to retarget old customers or both? Or do you want help optimising creative campaigns? Once marketers understand this, they will have a better idea of what direction to head in.

For example, if it’s more customers then you’ll narrow it down to what platforms or partners you wish to work with. You’ll also need decide if you wish to outsource or bring your advertising efforts inhouse? Adadyn sees a growing trend towards advertisers today wanting to take control and bring things inhouse, which is one of the reasons it launched self-service programmatic platform.

2.  Start small

Based on the decision made above, it’s important to start with a small pilot campaign and test and learn. Beri suggests a targeted two-week campaign, to see how programmatic compares with other ad efforts.

3.  Keep it simple, have clear goals

Reducing complexity and cost, while increasing transparency should be the top goals of advertisers. One problem with programmatic, says Beri, is that it’s been a bit of a ‘black box’.

“Money goes in and money goes out but beyond that you don’t know where you’re spending or if it’s performing better,” he says.

So when choosing a technology partner insist on transparency, a cornerstone of any democracy.

For more information on how programmatic can benefit your business download the white paper - Personalizing Through Programmatic

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