• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, September 10, 2012

Forrester Research analyst Joanna O'Connell emphasizes the need for media planners and marketers to pull together programmatic buying, data and audience management and multichannel measurement to optimize results of media campaigns.

The option of real-time bidding gives marketers improved targeting, more efficiencies and less waste, and, theoretically, better results.

When it comes to the creative piece in the campaign, O'Connell believes marketers "tend to not put enough consideration into the creative, compared with all the algorithmic optimization available tools." If the message doesn't resonate, the ad fails.  

Media buying has begun to "bifurcate," according to O'Connell, who describes the trend as separating real-time automated buying from brand experience buying. Automation will replace manual processes, but agencies will still need skilled technologists. These two types of media buyers will co-exist, at least for now.

"Data wonks and search geeks are the programmatic buyers of tomorrow, and marketers must embrace the value of data-driven thinkers, analytics specialists, and buyers who are facile with technology, according to O'Connell, who co-authored the revised report, "The Future of Digital Media Buying," the first in a 12-part series that Forrester will publish.

The series creates a playbook outlining that concept in four strategies: discover, plan, act and optimize.

Marketers that understand programmatic buying for display ads might want to think about tying it into video, mobile, and paid social. The series encourage marketers to think about staffing and the types of tools required, or ways to benchmark market maturity.

O'Connell believes the model will aid marketers working with agencies to development unique, creative concepts and brand experiences.